RSC Partners, Inc.

Now brand managers and marketing executives are jumping on the New Media bandwagon.  According to the Washington Post:

For companies like ConAgra, the individual opinions blasted out in cyberspace are becoming an increasingly powerful force. Together, they form the fabric of online word of mouth that can determine the hottest new product, make or break a TV show, or set off a customer revolt. Eager to tap into the buzz, a growing number of companies are turning to sophisticated new technologies that track what’s said on Internet social networks, blogs, message boards, product review sites, “listservs” — wherever people congregate publicly online.

For years, companies have spent ridiculous amounts of money on opinion research like polls and focus groups.  Now, everything they need to spot a consumer trend, gain feedback on a product, or evaluate market opportunities is just a few clicks away.

At RSC Partners, we encourage our clients to embrace this “reactive” component of the New Media as a complement to their efforts to promote, publicize and advocate through blogs and other online media.  

One of the first things we did after opening the doors was to design a comprehensive online monitoring program that can track what is being said in the blogosphere about our clients and their issues and products.  (Just as importantly, we can also track what people are saying about their competitors and their products.)

The Post article notes that all of the blog chatter before and during the Olympics could have– and should have–tipped off NBC to its impending ratings disaster in time for the network to make key changes to its programming:

Even NBC’s weak Olympics ratings were partly foreshadowed by chatter in the blogosphere. A sweep of postings shows that conversations about the Olympics peaked around the time of the opening ceremonies then fell off precipitously to just above the low hum weeks before the Games began, according to an analysis prepared for The Washington Post by BuzzMetrics. The survey, which measured the quantity — not the tone of the statements — also found that bloggers posted their thoughts about the hugely popular Fox TV show “American Idol” with just about as much frequency as they did about the Olympics.  Sifting through the economic carnage after the Winter Olympics, this is no doubt a painful and expensive lesson for executives at NBC, but it is one they won’t soon forget.

Blog Buzz Helps Companies Catch Trends In The Making [Washington Post]

Writing in The Wall Street Journal earlier this month, Rebecca Buckman noted how a Spanish Internet start-up, Fon Technology SL, broke the news about new funding it secured from Google and Skype in the blogosphere, rather than in the traditional business press. Buckman’s piece highlights the growing influence blogs have in the high-tech sector, creating buzz and driving stock prices.

The avalanche of blogging about FON, much of it from people now tied to the four-month-old company, highlights the rising influence of blogs in shaping opinions about tech start-ups, particularly in Silicon Valley.

Although Buckman’s primary concern was about the disclosure obligations of bloggers, the point she makes most effectively is the power of the Internet in supplementing traditional media campaigns.

Blog Buzz on High-Tech Start-Ups Causes Some Static [WSJ]