Having a great brand is something most businesses aspire to. A business or product with a better brand can command a higher price for comparable products. Organisations spend a lot of resources trying to shape their overall brand, products and services. The stakes are very high because of the sheer size of the investments necessary to develop the right brand.
To improve their ability to manage their brand initiatives and thereby secure a greater ROI on these initiatives, most organisations conduct surveys to understand how customers feel about their brands. These surveys are often conducted every six-12 months. However, in today’s fast moving world this is clearly too infrequent to support an increasing number of tactical decisions.
Being able to quickly understand the effects of an organisation’s marketing communications (and those of their competitors) is essential. By having a constant feedback loop from the market place marketers can constantly understand which initiatives they might want to amplify and which they might want to adjust or scale back.
At Onalytica we are putting enterprise listening and analytics solutions in place for an increasing number of organisations. Several of these solutions include the ability to constantly measure the brand profile of the organisations as well as understand what is driving the brand in the right direction.
One of the models we use to analyse brands describes the brand in relation to a number of different personality traits. These traits are defined as “pillars”.
These pillars form part of “The Davies Model”, which can be found in the great book on corporate reputation; “Corporate Reputation and Competitiveness” by Professor G. Davies et al. (Rudledge, 2003).
The pillars of the standard Davies model are shown below:
Naturally, the pillars and the traits can vary according to the brand and our solution allows full flexibility on how many pillars can be used and the descriptive words that go into each pillar.
I had a look at some brands and how they are discussed in the context of mobile phones, below, is what the brand profiles look like.
First up is Blackberry. For this example, the original pillars taken from the Davies model, shown above, have been used. Notice how the brand changed slightly from Q1 to Q2 of 2011: Chic, Enterprise and Informality were down – Machismo was up:
Then I took Motorola. Motorola’s brand also changed during the first half of 2011:
Enterprise and Chic were also down, but Machismo and Competence in particular were up.
The general model of using pillars and traits can be configured to compare brands according to the dimensions that are deemed important to those brands.
The next graph shows how three mobile phones compare on a number of features such as camera, design and security:
Notice the substantial differences between the three phones that largely target the same consumer segment. Also notice how the Motorola Pro scores so much higher than its competitors on “security”. The Motorola Pro has extra strong encryption and a number of new security features that mean the phone can be controlled and wiped clean, should the need arise. These are features that Blackberry used to be more associated with, but the current positive differentiators for Blackberry Bold 9900 seem to be apps/applications and design.
Battery life and camera are key differentiators for the Nokia E6. Talk time for this particular model is said to be 14.8 hours, with 31 days standby. The phone has an 8-megapixel camera with full-focus and support for HD video recording.
It is clear to see how maintaining an up-to-date understanding of a brand’s profile can help in the management of that profile. Combining this with our solution’s ability to interactively run root-cause-analysis on changes, marketers can quickly see what is driving their brands in the direction they want and thus which of their marcomms initiatives they might consider increasing.
Our latest report covering analysis on the talk of Mobile World Congress is now available - this week's report focuses on handsets:
- The Global English debate on MWC experienced a slight dip in volume the w/c 24th Jan.
- Samsung gained on its lead over the other tracked brands in terms of volume and attention. Samsung’s Galaxy family (including Galaxy S range) remained a key driver of the debate.
- The announcement of four new handsets to Samsung’s Galaxy family sparked discussion.
- A leaked document outlining the appearance of the Galaxy Tab successor at this year’s MWC ignited discussion of customer expectations for the tablet.
- The number of news media sites among the top 10 Influential Stakeholders increased this week as City A.M. (www.cityam.com) and Reuters (www.reuters.com) entered the list. There were three new entrants into the top 10 Stakeholders with high relative influence scores. These included a forum and technology news media site.
- HTC experienced the most significant gains in attention week-on-week, boosted by rumours it would be teaming up with Facebook to create the first ‘Facebook Phone’.
- Glasses-free 3D displays are becoming increasingly important in the debate. The LG Optimus experienced the largest gain among the top handsets this week, driven by rumours that a 3D version of the handset will be launched at MWC.
As before, if you would like to receive a copy of this report, please contact Sophie Hill [sophie.hill@onalytica.com]. If you have a general interest in the event and analysis relating to it, or want to know how we help companies interpret and understand the discussion around industries, brands, themes and issues then please contact us on 0207 407 7642. You can also subscribe to this RSS feed where we will be posting some of the findings.
*this report was produced using data analysed from the period 27th Sep 2010 – 30th Jan 2011.
Our latest report covering analysis on the talk of Mobile World Congress is now available!
In summary, during the last week of debate the following details have come to light:
The Global English debate on MWC continued to increase week-on-week. In terms of absolute volume, the debate increased by just over 50%.
- Samsung contributed significantly to this increase. Official communication from Samsung announcing the launch of the Galaxy S successor at MWC was a key driver of discussion.
Influential Stakeholders continued to consist predominantly of technology media sites. There were four new entrants and three re-entrants into the top 10 Stakeholders with high relative influence scores. These included a blog and a community. These sites are becoming increasingly referenced in the debate on MWC.
Samsung retained its position as the most mentioned brand and moved ahead of Sony Ericsson to draw more interest among influential Stakeholders.
Tablets are of significant interest. Their presence in the debate has fluctuated from 10% to just over 50% of the debate during any particular week since tracking began.
- The iPad is, unsurprisingly, the most prominent tablet, however, its share of the debate has significantly declined over the past two months as other tablets have begun to move into the spotlight.
- In regard to tablets, online commentators are particularly interested in operating systems, processors and release dates as they race to report on these before anyone else.
As before, if you would like to receive a copy of this report, please contact Sophie Hill [sophie.hill@onalytica.com]. If you have a general interest in the event and analysis relating to it, or want to know how we help companies interpret and understand the discussion around industries, brands, themes and issues then please contact us on 0207 407 7642. You can also subscribe to this RSS feed where we will be posting some of the findings.
*this report was produced using data analysed from the period 27th Sep 2010 – 23rd Jan 2011.
We have now completed the second in this series of reports covering the debate surrounding the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. Key insight uncovered in this report includes:
- The Global English debate on MWC hit its highest point the w/c 10th Jan. Samsung was a key driver behind the increase in debate.
- Handsets were prominent as Samsung’s Galaxy S2 range and rumours of a Galaxy S Mini handset drew particular attention.
- News from J.K. Shin, Head of Samsung Mobile Communications, also contributed to debate as the company’s plans for 2011 were discussed online.
- Influential Stakeholders continued to consist predominantly of technology media sites. There were seven new entrants into the top 10 Stakeholders with high relative influence scores. These included a number of - blogs and communities.
- Samsung overtook Google as the most mentioned brand, while Sony Ericsson continued to draw more interest among influential Stakeholders.
- Android has held a large portion of the debate between w/c 27th Sep 2010 and w/c 10th Jan 2011. The various versions of the operating system (OS) drew interest and were strengthened by the sheer number of handsets and tablets running on the OS.
- Despite generating a smaller share of attention than Android, MeeGo appears to have a passionate and dedicated following, MeeGo fans are eager for more information on the OS and for demos and release dates for the first handsets running on the system.
As before, if you would like to receive a copy of this report, please contact Sophie Hill [sophie.hill@onalytica.com]. If you have a general interest in the event and analysis relating to it, or want to know how we help companies interpret and understand the discussion around industries, brands, themes and issues then please contact us on 0207 407 7642. You can also subscribe to this RSS feed where we will be posting some of the findings.
*this report was produced using data analysed from the period 27th Sep 2010 – 16th Jan 2011.
The latest release of InfluenceMonitor™ is now available, incorporating a number of new features and important enhancements. Not only does this new release increase the overall speed of the application, but it also provides valuable new types of analysis, including:
Root Cause Analysis
The all new Root Cause Analysis allows users to quickly identify what has caused or is causing a shift in attention and/or sentiment. Users can immediately see when people stop talking, or talk less about their brand or product as well as understanding why.
This functionality also automatically identifies changes in the debate between two brands, and also the topics that are being discussed in relation to different brands, and whether this is in a positive or negative light. In summary – with just the click of a mouse, the user is better informed about what is causing changes in discussions relating to them and their industry.
News Clusters
This feature automatically provides the user with the key stories relating to them or their industry with the stories listed in order of significance – those that are most influential and that are most talked about. The reader only needs to read the top stories to ensure they are kept informed and spend time reading only the pertinent stories to them.
Insight Box
The new insight box is an intelligent web-log providing commentary and insight that has been generated by designated users. This new insight panel can be shown or hidden according to user preference, and also incorporates a user profile icon to indicate who has made the comment. A selected comment will also highlight the analyses it relates to on the main dashboard ensuring easy interpretation.
The first of our reports on the Mobile World Congress is now available. Amongst other interesting discoveries the following insights have been uncovered:
- The Global English debate on MWC fluctuated between the w/c 27th Sep 2010 and w/c 3rd Jan 2011 with a significant build up between Dec 2010 and Jan 2011, boosted by the HTC ‘Scribe’ tablet, leaked photos of the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini successor and rumours of the debut of the Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone.
- Influential Stakeholders were predominantly technology media.
- Washington Street Journal was the only News media site to make it into the top 10 influential Stakeholder list.
- Google was the most mentioned brand, whereas Sony Ericsson drew more interest among influential Stakeholders.
- Despite the Apple iPhone being the most discussed handset, the PlayStation Phone was one of the key drivers of the debate and sparked more discussion among influential Stakeholders.
- Although a key driver of debate, the PlayStation Phone grabbed the majority of its attention during the middle of Nov 2010, while Microsoft Windows Phone 7 (WP7) held a lesser but more steady stream of interest during the period analysed.
If you have a particular interest in the event or want to know how we help companies to understand the discussion around industries, brands, themes and issues then please contact Sophie Hill [sophie.hill@onalytica.com] who will provide the reports as they are released. You can also subscribe to this RSS feed where we will be posting some of the findings.
*this report was produced using data analysed from the period 27th Sep 2010 – 7th Jan 2011.
For those in the industry, the Mobile World Conference is one of the most hotly anticipated events going into 2011. With much new innovation and some of the most recognised global brands operating in this space the event is likely to cause much debate and discussion.
Onalytica will be providing real-time market insight on the debate surrounding the Mobile World Conference 2011 in Barcelona in the run up to, and during the event which starts on Monday February 14th and ends on Thursday the 17th.
In particular we will be continually answering the following questions before, during and after the event:
- Who and what is grabbing the attention?
- What is driving the debate and how is it changing and developing?
- Who are influential in the discussion?
Our analysis will include the key companies, products, themes and issues discussed throughout the event.
So for all of you who have an interest in the event or in understanding how we help companies to understand the discussion around industries, brands, themes and issues then please contact Sophie Hill [sophie.hill@onalytica.com] who will provide the reports as they are released. You can also subscribe to this RSS feed where we will be posting some of the findings.
Onalytica’s InfluenceMonitor has for over three years been telling customers “what” is happening in the marketplace and what is likely to be happening in the near future. Using human analysis Onalytica has also helped customers understand “why” something happened. To complement this, Onalytica now takes an important step towards automatically and constantly answering the “why?” by introducing new functionality: Debate Drivers.
Debate Drivers answer six core questions:
- What is driving the total debate on an issue or brand?
- What is driving the
positive debate on an issue or brand?
- What is driving the
negative debate on an issue or brand?
- What is
increasingly driving the total debate on an issue or brand?
- What is
increasingly driving the
positive debate on an issue or brand?
- What is
increasingly driving the
negative debate on an issue or brand?
These are important answers because they in themselves go a long way in answering questions about why a brand is performing as it is. It not only surfaces what is drawing attention but also what is driving the sentiment. Debate Drivers automatically discover the answers to the above questions – the analyses do not have to be pre-seeded with any hints.
Brand owners will benefit from the addition of this new functionality in a number of important ways:
Participating in what is drawing attention:
Brands can now automatically and constantly understand what is driving the total and positive attention. This represents a fantastic opportunity to engage in the right debate at the right time.
Improving brand sentiment:
By helping to amplify what is driving the positive debate on your brand and potentially helping mitigate what is driving the negative debate, brands can more directly improve the net sentiment on their brand.
Root cause analysis
If brand owners observe a loss of (or increase in) market share – or a change in net sentiment – they can use Debate Drivers to understand why this happened. This is done through an understanding of what drove the attention from one brand to another and/or what increased the positive or negative attention to a brand.
Of course Debate Drivers cannot only be used to answer these questions for the brand owner. A lot can be learned from understanding what is (and what is not) working for competing brands.
We are delighted to be able to launch our new product: Industry Dashboards. Industry Dashboards are the solution for clients needing a high-level industry snapshot of analysis that is relevant to their business activity and have been designed to be highly cost-effective in extracting analysis from the market place that can impact businesses across an array of sectors.
Analysis available ranges from market-share indications and trend lines to competitive information and key stakeholders and influencers within the particular topic area. Data is drawn from several million news and consumer comment sites and is updated on a daily basis to help users understand:
- Are we going to win or lose market share among online communities and news providers? What is the likely driver? - What is driving the debate in our industry? How closely are we associated with the core industry issues? - Are our competitors more successful in gaining comment among the influential online stakeholders than we are? If you are interested in signing up for our standard Industry Dashboards, you can do so here.
You can read more about the solutions here.