••• consumer research
Study shows the impact of positive brand experiences
When it comes to brand-related chatter among consumers, a study has found that the most powerful conversations are started by a positive brand experience, both in terms of quantity and quality. Topline findings show that over 50 percent of conversations triggered by an in-person experience spark action to pass along and purchase.
For the study, Experience-Driven Word of Mouth: The Key to Powerful Social Marketing, Keller Fay Group, Chicago, looked at the beverage; household product; media and entertainment; technology; and food and dining categories. Results from over 30,000 consumer interviews among consumers ages 13-69, showed:Experience-driven earned media (earned media is publicity gained via non-advertising promotional efforts) sparks the most action, especially when it references the brand’s media/marketing: 55 percent rate it highly likely to spur them to pass it along, eight points (17 percent) higher than media/marketing word-of-mouth (WOM) alone; 45 percent rate it highly likely to spur them to seek more info, eight points (22 percent) higher than media/marketing WOM alone; 56 percent rate it highly likely to spur them to purchase, 10 points (22 percent) higher than media/marketing WOM alone.After “need,” “good experience” sparks the most earned media (17 percent and 15 percent, respectively). Ads spark just 5 percent and social media sparks just 3 percent.
Experience-driven earned media is the most credible: 63 percent rate it highly credible – 10 points (19 percent) higher than media/marketing WOM, at only 53 percent.
Over half (51 percent) of experience-driven earned media contains strong recommendation to buy/try – 11 points (28 percent) more than media/marketing WOM alone.
One fast-growing marketer is all over this magic combination. SodaStream, a maker of at-home soda-making products, has been using word-of-mouth driven by an in-person experience. “We’ve built our business on word-of-mouth and turbocharged our campaigns by adding the in-person experience,” says Kristin Harp, SodaStream U.S.A’s marketing manager. “We have seen that putting our soda makers and flavors into the homes and hands – and the social networks – of consumers leads to powerful advocacy coupled with sizable lifts in awareness as well as purchase intent.”
••• media research
Meet the media omnivores
According to New York-based Nielsen’s U.S. Entertainment Consumer Report, consumers in households earning an average annual income of $66,000 account for more than 70 percent of spending on entertainment – things like books, video-on-demand and music. These high-entertainment spenders not only have more discretionary income than low or moderate spenders, they also participate in more entertainment activities. This group is also more likely to be female, ethnically diverse and have young children in their household.
High spenders who enjoy an array of activities are ultimately limited in how much time they dedicate to each. Thus, content providers and advertisers have a slightly larger window of opportunity to engage with moderate and low spenders.
So what’s the best content for capturing each group’s attention? All three segments spend the most time each week playing video games and listening to music, with low spenders clocking the most time, at nearly nine hours. Low spenders also spend the most time perusing print books, magazines or newspapers (5.3 hours per week, on average) and watching mobile video (3.4 hours), while moderate spenders find more time to read content online (4.8 hours) and watch DVDs/Blu-rays (4.7 hours) and video-on-demand (4.6 hours).