FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
MaryBeth Clayton
646-935-4186
marybeth.clayton@ketchum.com
Ric Sweeney
513-618-6714
ric@planetfeedback.com
Unique Tool Captures, Monitors and Analyzes Real-Time Consumer Feedback
July 16, 2001 (New York) Ketchum, one of the top ten global public relations agencies, and PlanetFeedback.com, the nation’s leading online consumer feedback service, are pioneering a partnership to offer Ketchum clients a unique marketing tool that enables them to access and analyze real-time consumer feedback, and mobilize peer-to-peer networks.
Known as Influencer E-PulseTM, this proprietary reporting technology will enable Ketchum clients to gauge consumer reaction to new products or marketing initiatives; monitor consumer trends and peaks; provide an early-warning system for potential product or brand problems; identify disgruntled and opinionated consumers; and discover and verify unchecked rumors.
Ketchum Influencer E-Pulse also offers valuable insight into the emotional side of consumer behavior by providing access to consumers’ verbatim accounts. Clients will be able to view actual customer letters to better understand why consumers have a positive or negative opinion of their brand or product.
Armed with these insights, communications professionals and brand managers will be better equipped to create communication and sales strategies designed to enhance their corporate image and brand reputation while improving sales and increasing revenue.
“Consumers who are passionate about their opinion and are likely to vocalize it to others are seen as `influencers,’” said Barri Rafferty, director of Ketchum’s Global Brand Marketing Practice. “Whether they are experts, celebrities, or those who simply use their peer status to influence a wide range of others, influencers are playing an increasingly important role in shaping brand image and corporate reputation. Influencer E-Pulse is Ketchum’s way of enabling our clients to better understand how consumers feel about their brand, product or service and enhance their ability to initiate a dialogue and influence those perceptions.”
Pete Blackshaw, CEO and founder of PlanetFeedback.com. says companies need intelligent and insightful tools to help them navigate and react to a constantly changing marketplace.
“Today’s competitive economic environment makes it more critical than ever for companies to have access to real-time consumer opinion and feedbackand to understand how to make it work for them. This applies as much to positive news as negative news. With this proprietary tool, no company will ever again have to say, `If only we had known.’”
Influencer E-pulse offers:
Daily monitoring of thousands of consumer letters received by PlanetFeedback.com
Benchmark reports on feedback patterns (complaints and compliments) gauged internally and against competitors and industry standards
Early warning of consumer concern or dissatisfaction
Quarterly trend reports by industry sector
Surveys to better understand the consumer mindset behind both positive and negative feedback
Message testing against select influencers
Activation of peer marketing panels
The ability to customize their own web sites for real-time tracking and analysis of consumer letters
PlanetFeedback.com has also developed metrics to help corporations better understand, track and measure three key components tied to consumer behavior:
Virality: Do your customers share their opinions about your company with others?
Loyalty: How do you create loyal customers and how do you retain them?
Tipping Points: When are you most vulnerable to losing a customer to a competitor?
“In most corporations, customer comments are handled through Consumer Affairs, which is seldom linked directly to a company’s overall communications strategy,” notes Rafferty. “Many organizations are sitting on a wealth of powerful consumer information. Our staff in London at Ketchum Life opened our eyes to the power of the peer-to-peer network and the importance of helping our clients harness the power of consumer opinion.” The Influencer E-Pulse service is yet another product offering from Ketchum’s industry leading Research Department, which last year introduced the Corporate Reputation Laboratory in partnership with Roper.
About Ketchum
Headquartered in New York, Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC; www.omnicomgroup.com) is the tenth-largest public relations firm in the world with offices and affiliates in key capitals around the globe. Additional information on Ketchum, as well as previous press releases, can be found at www.ketchum.com.
About PlanetFeedback.com
Recently nominated for a prestigious 2001 Webby Award in the Best Services category, www.planetfeedback.com offers consumers a quick, easy and free way to register a complaint, compliment, question or suggestion with a company. Aggregated data collected in the feedback process analyzed around consumer attitudes, customer satisfaction, loyalty and "viral power." More than 350,000 letters have been routed through PlanetFeedback.com since its launch in February 2000. PlanetFeedback.com is the only consumer feedback site with both TRUSTe and BBBOnLine privacy certification. Consumers can reach PlanetFeedback.com through its home page or through over 900 Web sites, including CNNfn.com, Epinions.com, and many others.
# # #
Comments
Sign In to Make a Comment
Comments are moderated by Internet Retailer and can be removed.