••• social media research
Clusters, crowds and networks
Mapping how different conversations structure Twitter activity
People connect to form groups on Twitter for a variety of purposes. The networks they create have identifiable contours that are shaped by the topic being discussed, the information and influencers driving the conversation and the social network structures of the participants. Analysis by the Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C., and the Social Media Research Foundation, Belmont, Calif., of thousands of Twitter conversations finds there are six distinct patterns to the conversational and social structures that take place on Twitter.
Polarized Crowds often form around political topics. If the subject is political, it is common on Twitter to see two separate, polarized crowds take shape. The participants in one group mostly do not interact with people in the other group. Those in each cluster commonly mention very different collections of Web site URLs and use distinct hashtags and words in their tweets. Each group centers on different influential tweeters.
Why this matters: It underscores that partisan Twitter users rely on different information sources and commonly do not interact with those on the other side on Twitter.
Tight Crowds are shared spaces of learning and passion. Many conferences, professional topics, hobby groups and other subjects that attract likeminded communities form the shape of a Tight Crowd. There are different clusters of conversations in these networks but people are closely tied to each other, even to those in other groups.
Why this matters: These structures show how networked learning communities function and how sharing and mutual support can be facilitated by social media.
Brand Clusters are formed around products and celebrities: When well-known products or services or popular subjects like celebrities are discussed in Twitter, there are often many comments from participants who have no connections to one another. Well-known brands and other popular subjects can attract large, fragmented Twitter populations who tweet about the topic at hand but not to each other.
Why this matters: There are still institutions and topics that command mass interest but do not lead to the creation of connected conversations in a group.
Community Clusters are created around global news. Some popular topics may develop multiple smaller groups, which often form around a few hubs, each with its own audience, influencers and sources of information. Conversations in these Community Clusters look like bazaars that host multiple centers of activity. Global news stories often attract coverage from many news outlets, each with its own following.
Why this matters: Some information sources and subjects ignite multiple conversations, each cultivating its own audience and community. Community Clusters networks can reveal the diversity of opinion and perspective on a social media topic.
Broadcast Network structures are created when people retweet breaking news and commentary from pundits. Twitter commentary around breaking news stories and the output of well-known media outlets and pundits has a distinctive hub-and-spoke structure in which many people repeat what prominent news and media organizations tweet. The members of the Broadcast Network audience are often connected only to the hub news source, without connecting to one another.
Why this matters: Broadcast Network hubs are potent agenda setters and conversation starters in the new social media world. Enterprises and personalities with loyal followings can still have a large impact on the conversation.
Support Network conversations revolve around a singular source. Customer complaints for a major business are often handled by a Twitter service account that attempts to resolve and manage customer issues around their products and services. This produces a hub-and-spoke structure that is different from the Broadcast Network pattern. In the Support Network structure, the hub account replies to many otherwise disconnected users, creating an outward hub. In contrast, in the Broadcast pattern, the hub gets replied to or retweeted by many disconnected people, creating an inward hub.
Why this matters: As government, businesses and groups increasingly provide services and support via social media, the support network structures becomes an important benchmark for evaluating the performance of these institutions.
www.pewresearch.org
••• financial services
What Wells does well
Study ranks world’s most valuable bank brands
Most U.S. banks are growing strongly, thanks to monetary policy that has driven a recovery in the economy. And Wells Fargo, the world’s most valuable bank brand, leads the charge, according to The Brand Finance Banking 500, conducted by U.K. brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance. Wells Fargo has added $4.2 billion of brand value to reach a total of over $30 billion. Lending across a huge range of categories, the improved domestic economy has driven revenues and helped Wells Fargo overtake J.P. Morgan to become the world’s most profitable bank.
In addition to benefitting from broader economic growth, the bank has made attention to customers central to its brand. Interestingly Wells Fargo also enjoys a more favorable reputation than its peers with the general public, whether customers or not. This is reflected is its enhanced brand rating, up to AAA-. Despite the success, Wells Fargo is closely followed by Bank of America and Citi, which have grown their brands by $4.3 billion and $2.8 billion respectively.
www.brandfinance.com
••• media research
More, new, now
Binge-watchers value streaming services’ original content
As popular original programming such as Orange is the New Black and House of Cards continues to surge in popularity and make the case for compulsory binge-watching, research from Chicago research company Mintel suggests that the streaming media boom for television and movies is only just beginning. Nearly half of all online adults (46 percent) in the U.S. watched video content in the past month using a subscription video account, increasing to 71 percent of all 18-to-34-year-olds.
Multiple leading providers consider original content a chief means of establishing their brand: Netflix has already produced about 20 distinct pieces of original programming, including television series, movies, documentaries and standup comedy performances. Eleven new television series are in development, set to air in 2014 or 2015. Hulu aired 20 original exclusive series in 2013 and has 40 additional series in development. Amazon Instant Video is offering original TV programming as of November 2013.
Netflix is the clear leader for subscription usage, with about a quarter of all U.S. households carrying a Netflix subscription. Thirty-six percent of all adults had used it in the past month, more than three times the usage of the nearest competitor.
“Original content may be the most important means of differentiation between services but it is a costly means of establishing a brand name,” says Billy Hulkower, senior technology analyst at Mintel. “For subscription services, the ideal amount of content is just enough to encourage continued membership – 20 new series on the horizon may not be necessary, unless most of these target different demographic groups. The strategy followed by HBO in the 1990s presents perhaps the best model for streaming subscriptions – producing a small number of high-concept, high-production-value series and special events. Brands that do not feel comfortable supporting their service with original programming should be angling for partnerships, particularly if each brand can bring a key element of service, with leaders in digital distribution collaborating with leaders in original content.”
A cheaper route to differentiation might be through specializing in a specific genre or focusing on a particular demographic. For example, a service might excel in classic films, foreign films, horror films, dark comedies or other commonly-sought-after segments. These segments could even be sold as individual subscriptions, with a lower price tag than current monthly subscriptions.
While today some 41 percent are only willing to watch TV shows or movies online if they are provided free of charge, 59 percent of respondents are open to paying for the online content. Similarly, only one-quarter of respondents prefer to sit through commercials in order to view content for free, suggesting that three-quarters, when given the option, will prefer to pay to watch content instead of having commercial interruptions.
www.mintel.com
••• social media research
Managing damaging commentary
Most brands not prepared to address customer complaints via social media
While brands are plagued by negative posts created by customers, competitors and employees, more than 50 percent don’t have a strategy in place to manage this growing problem, according to a survey conducted by Social Media Marketing University (SMMU), Atlanta.
Nearly 60 percent of brands receive customer complaints via social media occasionally; 10.9 percent receive them somewhat often; and 4.9 percent receive them very often – and not for nothing, as over one-quarter of brands' reputations have been tarnished as a result of negative social media posts; 15.2 percent lost customers; and 11.4 percent lost revenue.
However, nearly one-quarter of brands neither have a strategy in place to manage negative social commentary nor plans to develop one. Nearly the same percentage of brands are in the process of developing a strategy and 7.6 percent have strategies in place that are currently proving to be ineffective.
“So many brands are buying into the ‘friending equals spending’ mentality,” says John Souza, founder of SMMU. “They want the benefits of social media but aren’t truly aware of the investment of effort that’s required to see a return. As a result, this lack of effort rarely produces desired results and can lead to alienation of customers, fans and followers. It can even escalate to a backlash of negativity.”
Customers expect a response to a complaint posted on a brand’s social media account within one hour but the SMMU survey found that only 17.6 percent of brands strive to meet this expectation. Most brands (52.2 percent) respond within 24 hours. An alarming 21.4 percent rarely or never respond to customer complaints in social media.
www.smmu.com
••• foods/nutrition
Overlooking labels
Could an updated Nutrition Facts label renew interest?
Nearly 20 years after the Nutrition Facts labels were put on the back of nearly every food and beverage in stores, interest in reading the label has steadily waned among U.S. households, according to Port Washington, N.Y., research company The NPD Group. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing updates for the Nutrition Facts label to make it more relevant to today’s consumers but according to NPD’s ongoing food and beverage market research, consumers did read the labels when they first appeared but as time went on, many stopped checking the label for what’s in their food.
NPD asked consumers their level of agreement with the statement “I frequently check labels to determine whether the foods I buy contain anything I’m trying to avoid.” In 1990, after the Nutritional Labeling and Education Act was passed, 65 percent of consumers completely or mostly agreed with the statement. That percentage decreased to 60 percent in 1994 shortly before the Nutrition Facts labels began appearing on food packaging and rose to 64 percent in 1995 after the labels were on food packaging. Since 1995, the percentages of consumers in agreement have ranged from a high of 61 percent to a low of 48 percent in 2013.
“The most likely reason for this decline is that the effort succeeded in educating Americans about what’s in their food,” says Harry Balzer, NPD chief industry analyst. “After all, how many times do you need to look at the Nutrition Facts label on your favorite cereal or your favorite juice and any other food you routinely consume?”
NPD also tracks what consumers usually look for when they do read the Nutrition Facts label. According to NPD’s Dieting Monitor, the top five items consumers who read the label look for are calories, sugar, sodium, fat and carbohydrates.
“It’s a safe bet that Americans now want more information but be careful, there are always new issues that come up every few years,” says Balzer. “If the Nutrition Facts label is to continue to educate, it should allow for changes more often than once every 20 years. For example, gluten, probiotics and omega-3 were not on the radar screen 20 years ago.”
www.npd.com