Web 2.0: The next generation of Market Research

The internet has made the world of market research smaller and faster. As smart phones and internet usage on the go proliferate, advertisers gain more and more information from users.("Critical Components of a Successful Web Analytics Strategy" & "Advertisers Get a Trove of Clues in Smartphone,"). Also, the increased use of social media lets advertisers know a multitude of information about consumers, and the impact that trend setters have on product sales and recommendations.

The readings this week detailed how much information advertisers and corporations an gather from smart phones and internet usage, and how brands can interact on so many more levels with consumers. This is very interesting, as someone who works in a CPG company, I see opportunity to better meet consumer needs. I know there will always be competing interests between privacy and tracking, however the shotgun advertising approach on TV and Radio today is seen as boring and not useful. This is because the offers are not tailored specifically to our needs.

As an example, I have noticed that when I look at a table on Overstock.com, and I spend a good amount of time on the website visiting the table three or more times, when I move on to Google or People, the table follows me. Then, when the table is on sale, I see the item pop up on Overstock advertising on other sites I am visiting. Special sale? Let me go back and buy that table.

In CPG, I definitely see how tapping into this trove of data can improve ROI and increase conversion. The key is knowing the customers' interests, gauging their mindset, and finding the right channel to reach them.  In the article "The Worlds Most Valuable Brands, Who's Most Engaged?", Starbuck's best practices include understanding how each channel provides a different dimension of engagement. Starbucks wants to reach out to consumers as they are within a certain radius of a Starbucks store, not while they are many blocks away and not interested in coffee. Any marketing or awareness dollars spent on the wrong consumer or the right consumer at the wrong time are a waste of money and effort. Finding the right person for your brand, at the right time is key to conversion and driving purchases.

The timing is right for CPG companies to stand up and take notice. Most CPG companies today have low-involvement levels on the Web, and have presences in very limited channels. This current situation is dangerous because many people believe that by 2020, the mobile device will become the internet device of the future. Smart Phone adoption will be well over 60%, and this means the advertisers that are engaged and have tapped into this information will be lightyears ahead of other companies.

My recommendation to CPG companies would be to jump in now, start engaging with consumers on a number of fronts and channels, find your niche target market, and collect the data to understand this market better than ever before. This is connecting and marketing in the Web 2.0 world.

Thoughts on Social Media and Microsegmentation

This is the second post of the week, and is a follow up to my post on the Long Tail.

Evan Williams, the co-founder of Twitter, created a way for people to microblog, in an easy and fast way. A user doesn't have to spend time developing a blog, posting entries frequently and on a timely basis, nor do they have to have a goal or a topic to post something. Twitter allows people to instantly share ideas in a quick and simple way, in 140 characters or less. The irony with Twitter is that the constrained nature of the site and of the Tweets (text only, set characters) is what makes it so popular and endearing. It is easy to use, easy to follow, and is all about the message. Constrained = easier adoption, unique experience. Facebook and Google are constantly adding functionality and more "bells and whistles."

Twitter is a simple and easy way for people to connect with anyone, anywhere. Celebrities and political figures can connect directly with fans, people can follow people without permission, people become citizen journalists and can broadcast real time news, like pictures and information on the Tsunami, to anyone in the world - this is the new blogging - at its finest.

Twitter is a great example of how social media is leading to micro-segmentation. In the book Pandemonium, in Chapter 3, on the topic of the social web, the author describes segmentation through the lens of Old and New Marketing. In old marketing, segmentation was based solely on demographic or psychographic segments. In New Marketing, using the social web, there is micro-segmentation based on people's actions at a certain point in time. Twitter is a perfect example of New Marketing, because there is no way to classify twitter users or the follower/tweet relationship into segments.

Micro-segmentation is key to marketers because for the first time it allows companies to reach consumers on a more intimate basis....and with a better ROI. Marketing is not a nuisance if it relates to something that people want at the right time. In the article, "Seize the Occassion" by Rozanski, Bollman, and Lipman, the authors outlined 7 different usage segments.  These segments correspond with how a person consumes the internet, and the segments identify differences in length of time, number of pages viewed, and number of sites visited. By tapping into the usage occasion segmentation, marketers can target their messages and content to consumers at the right time.

For example, if someone is in the "Information Please" stage, a marketer of a new bicycle can provide articles, information, or a Q&A section on different websites to connect with this individual. Then, through a strategically placed link or advertisement on community sites, marketers can try to convert this person after they have received the information they were looking for. The goal of this occassionalization is to market to people when they are the most open and susceptible to your message and marketing goals.


Understanding how social media has created microsegmentation, and then how to market effectively in this environment is important for CPG companies. Occassion based segmentation is the new way to get marketing messages out to internet consumers, and it is a far under utilized tool for most CPG companies.

(also read and used information from James Surowiecki's lecture on "When Social Media Became News.")

Power to the People!

This week's readings and topics are all about the power of the people. My goal at the beginning of the week was to understand 1) the impact of internet communities on our culture, 2) the business opportunity at hand, and 3) why this is happening and why now - because at our local neighborhood community meeting attendance is low.....I work for a major CPG firm, so I will look at this groundswell shift through the lens of opportunities for consumer products.

I just got back from being in a friend's wedding in Jamaica last week, so I really didn't dive in to the reading until today. I will have to be more proactive and space this out, because I have spent the last 2 hours reading articles and watching videos! ("The Dawn of the Human Network", "Web Video", "Why the Groundswell?", video "Star Search").

Back to the topic at hand - Power to the people. First, "Why the Groundswell?" calls out the perfect storm of factors that have lead to this shift. People, Technology, & Economics. People have always organized and wanted to connect - whether to rebel, to share passions, to advance a social movement, etc. Technology has allowed people to organize, from every corner of the globe, in a cheap & easy way (sorry, local neighborhood meeting - you are too inconvenient). Finally, the economics of the internet rewards high traffic sites and blogs, therefore the business opportunity is about becoming a major community connection point in a relevant and authentic way.

The biggest thing that surprised me about the groundswell is how powerful it is or can be. It can take neutralize large organizations like the AACS LA in the Digg.com story, or it can help two college droupouts make $17 million in sales by having other people design their products (threadless.com). CPG companies can take advantage of this business opportunity by first plugging in to how their brands are discussed in these various communities. This means more than just watching your ratings on Amazon.com or other sites (Star Search - NPR video). Those can be "too nice" and don't always accurately represent the feelings on the brand or product.  

Once there is a clear understanding of the current brand reputation, companies can begin to join in on the conversation. The "prosumer" movement has proven that people want to create content and input into products. Ask about new ideas, ask about improvements, get prosumers to create commercials or package designs. Create a web video that becomes viral to get communities talking.

I think a brand that does this very well is Old Spice. This brand was once known as the "old guy" scent, and now is a hip, cool brand thanks to a hilarious campaign that reaches across TV, twitter, facebook, youtube, etc. The brand created a groundswell last summer by simply replying in Youtube videos to some tweets from fans. This immediately drove to a tweeting frenzy by fans, including celebrities who retweeted and the rest is history. You can read more about this at this link (and watch some of the videos). http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/07/13/shirtless-old-spice-guy-replies-on-twitter-with-hilarious-personalized-videos/

Great campaign....followed the Web Video axiom of keeping it funny too!

So the business opportunity here is to understand that the people have the power, and the internet has maximized that. Jump in and join the discussion - you will better understand your brand, relate to your buyers, and can use their feedback and input to design your next product.