Today Converseon is pleased to announce the launch of CHORUS™, the first measurement solution designed to holistically track and measure the relationship between online and offline word-of-mouth.

At Converseon, will have long recognized the need to integrate other measurement approaches to capture not just an individual’s digital persona, but also their offline dimension.   After all, Word of Mouth is an online and offline phenomena.  It is incumbent on brands to understand both these worlds and the interplay.   As such, we are proud today to announce another industry innovation that we have been working on for the last few months.

As a first in its field, CHORUS™ comprehensively fuses advanced social media listening and analysis together with offline word-of-mouth tracking, in partnership with WOM analytics company ChatThreads.

“Until now, online social media listening and offline word-of-mouth tracking have essentially been two parallel universes,” said Rob Key, CEO of Converseon.  “While an increasing number of brands are measuring online conversation, there has been a significant void in the measurement of online’s impact in offline word-of-mouth, and vice versa.  CHORUS™ solves the problem of how social media conversation impacts the proverbial offline kitchen table discussions.  For the first time brands can clearly understand and measure word-of-mouth in all its forms.”  Key notes that even with the growing proliferation of online social media conversation, an estimated 80 percent of word-of-mouth occurs offline.

Converseon’s proprietary Conversation Mining™ technology, together with the mobile-enabled touchpoint tracking developed by ChatThreads, bridge a long recognized chasm between what is put forth in multi-channel advertising and marketing campaigns, and what enhances brand affinity, stimulates word-of-mouth discussions, and drives purchasing decisions.

CHORUS™ combines, organizes and reports data gleaned via these two methodologies to create unique actionable insights to improve media and message optimization. This product now gives marketers a deeper understanding of what media fuels consumer discussions and decisions.

More details about the announcement are available at http://bit.ly/chorus-solution

Converseon will be hosting a WOMMA Wine Wednesday on March 24 at our New York headquarters. The event aims to bring together word of mouth marketing enthusiasts, WOMMA supporters and wine appreciation, in a unique networking opportunity.

Under a view of the Empire State Building, guests will sample a selection of fine wine and cheese, whilst mingling in the good company of their online peers.

During the evening, remarks will be made by Dr. Walter Carl, founder and Chief Research Officer of ChatThreads Corp, and Converseon founder and CEO Rob Key on new developments in converging online and offline WOM. Their experiences in listening and engaging will offer some enlightening thoughts on where these two, traditionally separate conversations, are headed.

To join us at WOMMA Wine Wednesday on March 24, please register here: http://bit.ly/networkingevents – get in soon as space is limited!

You can also find more information at our Facebook event page

Date: March 24

Time: 6PM – 8PM EST

Host: Converseon

Location: 53 w36^th St. 8^th Fl

New York, NY 10018

(212) 213-4297 x302

Parking is available for $26

Dr Carl and Rob Key will also come together next week in a separate event, the WOMMA Webinar ‘Listening 2.0: Social CRM and the Future of Social Listening’. They will also be joined by Jeff Zabin, CEO of Gleanster and Amy Laine, Principal Client Research Analyst from IBM.

The March 18 event will focus on the next generation of listening and how companies can apply this technique to drive business results and sustainable competitive advantage. In a digital environment where unprompted and unsolicited conversation is continuously expanding, listening has become the key tool to allow businesses to gain “deeper insights and actionable analysis”.

You can find more information on the Webinar here: http://bit.ly/dl5Zil

A feature of the recent iMedia Brand Summit we attended in sunny Coronado Bay was a series of ‘One Minute Meet Ups’ between brand marketers and agency folk.

iMedia throw an excellent event, and this section gave me access to influential marketers from brands like Honda, QANTAS, Target, Disney, AT&T, General Mills, Accuquote and more.

Rather than taking a sales approach (you want to know Converseon in 60 seconds? Google us!) I took the time to poll each brand marketer on their personal use of social media and their opinion of how it would impact their business with two simple questions.

Here are the responses from 33 high ranking marketers from a mix of Fortune 500 and other household name brands:

1. Which of the following social networks do you use personally:

• Twitter = 19
• Facebook = 32
• LinkedIn = 33

Facebook and LinkedIn are nearly universal tools for savvy marketers these day, with Facebook just getting its neck in front of LinkedIn and both being used by over 90% of those polled. Twitter was a different story… while only 19 out of 33 used Twitter, this number was also watered down with a number of people saying ‘I have an account, but don’t use it’ and responses were marked by the reticence of many towards the current social media darling.

2. On a scale of 1-5 (1 = not at all important, 5= incredibly important) how important would you say social media is for business?

• 1 (not important) = 2 brands
• 2 (not very important) = 3 brands
• 3 (somewhat important) = 7 brands
• 4 (important) = 14 brands
• 5 (very important) = 7 brands

Given that I’m in the employ of a social media agency, I was very happy to see big brand after big brand acknowledging the importance of social media. ‘Very Important’ was the most likely response, and two thirds of the marketers rated social media either a ’4′ or a ’5′ – the highest end of the importance scale. Only 5 brands put social media towards the low end of the importance scale – and these brands were either agriculture focused or blocked by regulation.

For some more great coverage frome the iMedia Summit check out this great article from Sean Cheyney of Accuquote recapping our CEO Rob Key’s presentation.

Converseon worked in partnership with Lion Brand Yarn on the ideation, development and implementation of an enterprise social media strategy. This case study is a submission for the 2009 Forrester Groundswell Awards.

The Challenge

Establish an authentic and relevant online voice for a beloved 130 year old crafting company and institute best practices that help build relationships with passionate consumers of online knitting communities.

The Approach

Lion Brand Yarn was not sure if its customer demographic would be likely to engage in social media but was willing to experiment with the new technology in an attempt to engage and connect with its passionate consumer base. They engaged Converseon to help them listen to the online conversation about knitting and crocheting, better understand their customers social media behavior, identify opportunities for engagement and develop a coherent and measurable social media strategy.

The brand’s approach to social media hinged on an open approach to conversation and a employee driven content and relationships. The brand focused on ‘talking’ to its customers and prospects and expanded its efforts in social media as the rigorous measurement framework indicated success. Lion Brand Yarn has taken a long term approach to community building and it is now, 18 months after the initial launch of the Yarncraft podcast, that the brand is seeing the most success and measurable return on investment.

Implementation

Lion Brand teamed with Converseon, utilizing our Conversation Mining technology to map the knitting/crocheting online community, identify influential online voices and identify opportunities for engagement in social media. This listening uncovered a deep, interconnected and highly engaged community of passionate users spread across blogs, podcasts and even dedicated knitting/crocheting social networks.

With Converseon’s strategic guidance, the ‘Yarncraft‘ podcast was launched. Hosted by a pair of LBY employees, the podcast was produced bi-weekly and focused on knitting and crocheting topics. The podcast was posted to a dedicated blog, distributed via iTunes and also given away as a CD in store for less tech-savvy consumers. The podcast was designed to be a conversation with customers and knitting community figures moreso than ‘internet radio’ in the broadcast model.

In April 2008, the ‘Lion Brand Notebook‘ blog was launched, providing content and links to other knitting sources. The blog was also powered by Lion Brand employees with content ranging from customer polls for product development through to ‘knit alongs’ that combine online/offline access allowing customers to knit the same project together. The ‘knit alongs’ alone have proven to be a measurable driver of ROI for the brand as each virtual event drives a direct link to increased sales of the yarn featured.

Results

• Lion Brand is one of the 2009 Internet Retailer’s ‘Hot 100′ Retail Websites, their site receives over 2 million visits a month
• The podcast regularly has 15-20,000 downloads while the blog attracts tens of thousands of readers each month
• A Lion Brand survey of 30,000 of their customers found that those customers who have interacted with the brand through social media are 83% more likely to identify as ‘very brand loyal’ than non-social media users and are several times more likely to recommend the brand to others
• Traffic analysis shows that traffic from social media routinely converts at a much higher rate than most sources, outperforming email marketing and banner ads
• From June 16 – July 16, 2009 traffic coming from the brand blog to the brand e-commerce website converted at 41.21% higher than the brand’s average traffic.
• From June 16 –July 16, 2009, the average per visit value of the blog traffic was 39.44% higher than the site average

Conclusion

Lion Brand Yarn initially set out to build relationships with the online knitting community by talking with their customers via a corporate blog and podcast. As a result of an investment in people rather than products, they found themselves with a passionate and brand loyal group of knitters, who not only engage with the brand but impact the bottom line by buying and using products as a result of social media engagement.

Further Resources

PR Week Case Study: Lion Brand Yarn finds success in measured approach to social media,

Slideshare presentation from 2009 Internet Retailer Conference:

In addition, the presentation above is a series of customer endorsements quoted verbatim from a survey of the LBY blog and podcast audience asking them to share their thoughts and feelings about the two venues.

To connect with Lion Brand Yarn online subscribe to the Lion Brand Notebook blog, listen to the YarnCraft podcast, follow them on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Early this morning New York time Converseon partner Vivaki launched their Real Social Suite for the EMEA region in London.

Converseon is proud to be at the core of this service offering alongside brands like Facebook and strong Publicis agencies such as Digitas. Converseon’s UK lead was in attendance at the London event and we’re looking to provide more updates about our continued expansion in EMEA throughout the year, be sure to subscribe to the blog for updates.

Brand Republic covered the launch in depth, here’s the highlights from their report:

LONDON – Vivaki, the Publicis Groupe strategic media unit, has partnered with a number of social media firms, including Facebook, as part of its launch and plans a range of tools of its Real Social Suite launch.

The launch of the Real (Reach, Engage, Amplify and Listen) Social Suite brings together social media firms from across Publicis Groupe and in the wider world.

The social media partners, including SocialMedia.com, BzzAgent, Converseon, GoViral and Techlightenment, will combine with a number of Publicis Groupe agencies, namely Denuo, MS&L, Digitas, BlogBang and Performics, to help clients engage with social media and work out how best to talk to consumers.

At the heart of the Real Social Suite are the three steps (reach, engage, amplify and listen) each of which focuses on a specific step in social media.

The various partners will each plug into one of the three steps other than Facebook, which will work with across all three areas through its Facebook Ads system and marketing tools.

The three steps of the Real Social Suite:

Reach – Publicis agencies will tap into the mass reach of social media across brand and performance marketing, and working with partners to expand both CPM and CPC buys.

Through partnerships with Socialmedia.com and Techlightenment, VivaKi agencies will have the ability to access social performance media at scale for their clients.

Engage and Amplify – The VivaKi partners enable clients to participate directly in the social web through the development engaging social experiences.

Techlightenment and Digitas develop social campaigns across social environments that it is hoped will increase and extend a brand’s reach through consumer engagement.

BzzAgent, Performics and MS&L will seek to deliver outreach services across the blogosphere and other consumer generated content.

Through partnerships with GoViral and BlogBang we are also able to offer highly effective video seeding in social environments.

Listen - Using proprietary tools developed in partnership with Converseon, Vivaki will frame social media content alongside search, traditional media and UGC data.

Nick Burcher, VivaKi’s social lead in EMEA, said: “We are effectively helping to build the social media marketplace with the help of premier social media partners and some of the top thinkers in the space.

“We will continue to welcome other social media leaders and pioneers, as we continue to create solutions that allow for engaging conversation with consumers.”

“The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.”
-George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

We’re happy to announce that we will be hosting the second installment of the Social Media Measurement Roundtable at our New York City headquarters on Thursday August 7. This intimate event will feature a select crowd of leading social media measurement thinkers and doers and follows on from the success of the first such event in Toronto earlier this year.

Katie Paine, author of Measuring Public Relationships and CEO of KDPaine & Partners will be assisting in leading discussion at the roundtable. She will also be joined by Marshall Sponder, the Chair of the Web Analytics Association`s Community and Social Media committee and Converseon’s Director of Social Media Constantin Basturea. Social media professionals, PR practicioners and web analytics experts will be present to discuss the methodologies and resources available today in measuring PR and social media initiatives.

Here are the details:

Date: Thursday August 7, 2008

Time: 5:00 – 7:00pm

Location:
Converseon
53 West 36th Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10018

We’d love for you to join us and throw your two cents on this topic. However, space is limited and it is essential to RSVP for this event, so if you’d like to attend please RSVP as soon as possible to Chrissie Hsu (chsu AT converseon.com)

There’s been a lot of talk about Twitter wasting time and money (it doesn’t). I don’t hide the fact I love the thing, but I was dubious about its potential direct benefit for clients. That was until last week when my client Graco‘s PR manager Lindsay Lebresco joined Twitter, and over a few days since I’ve witnessed a bunch of positive results.

These are not designed as a case study on why Twitter = ROI. However, they do point to the type of benefits you can find by investing in the community (a common theme in the social media world).

Twitter For Pitching Conversing

Shortly before our recent Graco Get-Together in DC I made sure I was following all the bloggers I’d be meeting at the event. The conversation below (and that’s what it was, a conversation – not a pitch), led to the first blog post pointing to the new Graco blog.

paullyoung Hi Devra! I work with Graco & I’ll be attending the DC Moms blog Get-Together on Mon. Found you via @mammaloves – nice to meet you! 06:29 PM January 05, 2008

Devra Hi Paull, Oooh Graco! You would have had me at “Pack N Play” LOVED that when my kids were little! Mamma Loves is tops tho! 09:48 AM January 06, 2008

paullyoung That’s great to hear! Did you know the Pack N Play just turned 20? 1 of our first posts on the new Graco blog: http://tinyurl.com/348tym 03:35 PM January 06, 2008

Devra What a riot! Aviva and I both used Pack N Plays extensively. We had them traveling all over the world! We should write up a birthday post! 06:31 PM January 06, 2008

paullyoung That would be great to see, we’d link back too. You could be the first blog linking to us as well (though I imagine a few will after Mon) 06:58 PM January 06, 2008

Devra Okay, then we’ll put up a post tonight! That would be great. I’ll see if we can dig up some pics of our kids in the pack n plays. Fun! 07:04 PM January 06, 2008

paullyoung Cool! John (the author) & the rest of the Graco blog team will be super happy to see it! They’re very attached to the Pack N Play 07:06 PM January 06, 2008

Devra As are Aviva and me. I guess you could call us “Pack N Playmates” Seriously, we’d love to put our hat in the ring to be spokespersons! 07:08 PM January 06, 2008

Twitter to Build a Knowledge Network

Lindsay was live tweeting from the celeb packed ‘Boom Boom Room‘ over the weekend. Here, she was able to rely on her Twitter network to get her ahead when the uber Urbanmama sent her through a detailed ‘cheat sheet’ on how to get the most out of the celeb derby (I think this is in Urbanmama’s nature though – she’s also promised me a list of Brooklyn’s top date spots )

urbanmama Hey Lindsay, what is your email? Do you have a PDA where you can access links? I sent info on many of the people who had confirmed to visit. 11:48 AM January 11, 2008

urbanmama Lindsay, I forwarded you my little stars primer, but only for those who had confirmed before the sisters left. There are tons more now! 12:30 PM January 11, 2008

Twitter as a Beta Tester

This tweet from Kristen meant that we fixed an important broken link (in minutes) outside of office hours:

Mommy4Cocktails @lindsaylebresco: trying to link to the Graco Baby Blog from the graco baby homepage. Dead link… 05:42 PM January 15, 2008 from web in reply to LindsayLebresco

There endeth the most visible Graco bonuses – but these little examples are secondary to the friendship and relationships developed. Here’s a couple more work examples I’ve had in the same time period:

Twitter to Recruit

The tweet below was for a freelance project and led to a bunch of informed recommendations in minutes. Much easier than finding an unknown through the standard channels.

paullyoung I’m looking for a WordPress Ninja for some freelance work – do you know someone who fits the bill? I owe you big time if you can assist 06:04 PM January 10, 2008 from web

Twitter as a Crisis Warning System

On the same day we saw the above results, we also got a first warning – way ahead of time – about a potential issue involving a 5 star brand we work with. Follow the right people and you’ll be in the know ahead of time.

I know none of this is particularly groundbreaking, but the fact it all occurred in such a short time frame really brought home to me just how much Twitter is enhancing my work. Can you share a Twitter example? No matter how big or small, I’d like to hear it below.

[cross posted on Paull's personal blog Young PR]

Life imitates Art – and the mainstream media imitates social media, as evidenced by The Simpsons parodying Noah Kalina’s photo-a-day YouTube phenomenon.

Here’s is Noah’s video – a masterpiece with over 7 million views, 32 thousand comments and 44 thousand ‘favorites’:

And here is The Simpsons version – played out as Homer’s life flashing before his eyes:

More and more we are seeing the power of compelling social media content connecting with people in innovative ways. A simple idea, such as Noah’s, properly executed in social venues can move far beyond online boundaries to the very core of popular culture. As brands push to cut through the clutter of today’s fragmented media universe it’s important to consider the creative power of social media to not just support, but lead, integrated marketing campaigns.

This morning Converseon sponsored New York’s first Social Media Breakfast alongside Text 100. Reuters Second Life reporter Eric Krangel (aka Eric Reuters) spoke about virtual worlds, the changing media landscape and his role as a Second Life journalist. You can see all our photos in the Converseon Flickr account.

We’d really like to see the New York social media scene come together and we think events like this are important for the community – not that virtual relationships moving into the real world is anything new, as this 1997 Wired quote about The Well shows:

In addition to electronic dialog, there should be a strong face-to-face element to The Well. (It was while on EIES that Brand had learned the value of online confrères having physical contact – a group of EIES regulars made a point of meeting offline as well.) He sensed that the most interesting possibility to arise from knitting electronic dialog into the fabric of everyday life would lie not in championing either the virtual or the human-contact model but rather in finding the place where they overlapped. “Brand had an awareness that you had to have that sense of the physical environment and the local culture and flavor for the community to work,” says John Perry Barlow, who joined The Well in 1986.

Thank you to all the friends of Converseon (new and old) who joined us for breakfast this morning; it was great to be able to sponsor a meeting of New York’s finest social media minds.

On a day to day basis our work at Converseon touches on a number of marketing disciplines and draws from widely different areas of expertise. This diversity is on show this week as our team speaks at three events with varying backgrounds and audiences

Search Engine Strategies – Chicago

Constantin Basturea will appear on a panel ‘Meet the Bloggers Who Can Make Your Cash Register Ring!’

There is a significant difference between popularity and influence. And it is important to find out which bloggers generate editorial coverage, influence your existing and potential customers, and drive traffic to your ecommerce or merchant site. While building relationships with these influential bloggers can be very time-consuming and resource-intensive, this session will help you to get started.

PRSA event: Social Media 101: What Every PR Practitioner Should Know – Pittsburgh

Social networks and online communities are transforming traditional PR strategies. The old broadcast system is on its way out. In this interactive session with nationally renowned digital marketing expert, Rob Key, learn how the social media phenomenon is rapidly changing the practice of public relations. In this session you’ll learn about the latest digital tools available to today’s PR practitioner as well as strategies for incorporating social media tactics into your organization’s marketing mix

SNCR Research Symposium

Constantin Basturea will appear on a panel on online communities and virtual worlds discussing our multiple award winning Second Chance Trees project.

The SNCR Symposium & Awards Gala will feature the latest research and winning case studies from around the globe. Learn, discuss and have fun with your peers, industry experts and the most notable thinkers and practitioners in the world of new media and communications.