As the month of July comes to a close, here’s what been happening in the industry:
Integrated Online & Offline Word of Mouth Measurement to Emerge from Latest Merger
One of the most interesting mergers of the year probably went quietly under your radar screen, but it is well worth paying attention to: Engagement Labs, a social media analytics company that I’d never even heard of, has purchased the word of mouth measurement company Keller Fay Group.
I’ve written about my friend Brad Fay and his company numerous times. He is a founding member of the Conclave, and the co-author of one of my absolutely, must-read books for marketers: The Face-to-Face Book. Brad and his partner Ed Keller pioneered word of mouth research years ago, and I’ve relied on their expertise for years and recommended their TalkTrack research to countless clients.
What Engagement Labs strategy implies is that they will look to combine Keller Fay’s offline word of mouth research with their eValue scoring methodology (which measures a brand’s engagement level based on engagement, responsiveness, and reach to offer clients a true integration between online and offline engagement). Pretty exciting stuff.
CustomScoop Has Been Sold
As this time it’s unclear who they sold it too (any bets that its either Salience or Cision?), but Chip Griffin has already started a fabulous political update newsletter called Primary Digest.
They’re Putting The Standards to the Test
In Conclave-related news, the IPR has undertaken a research project that will test and validate the standards established by the Conclave in 2013. Specifically, they’ll be validating the standards around sentiment and engagement, using the process established by David Geddes, Julie O’Neil, and Marianne Eisenmann for traditional media in 2014. Read the paper here.
The media monitoring and measurement company, CyberAlert has stepped up to sponsor the project, offering highly trained and experienced coders (I’m a bit biased because I hired and trained them in a former life) to read and code the content using the standards outlined in the Conclave documents. They will be testing the standard coding methodology on a consumer company (Southwest Airlines), a government agency (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services), and a non-profit (Goodwill Industries). Look for preliminary results to emerge around the next Conclave meeting in October.
After Five Years, the Principles Are Getting an Update
In case you missed the news… The Barcelona Principles which helped kick start the movement towards measurement standards turned five last month. In honor of their fifth birthday the Institute for PR, PRSA, ICCO, the Global Alliance and AMEC – the founding coalition that wrote the Principles back in 2009, is regrouping and revisiting them to reflect new developments in both communications and technology that have emerged in the last five years. Read the press release here.
Once the working group completes its task (which we hope will be done in time for the Measurement Summit and Conclave meetings in October) look for a major new PR push around the Principles and the Standards.
Get ready…Measurement Month starts in just 33 days. Look for all kinds of measurement webinars, meetings, and conferences to happen in cities close to you. In fact, Katie Paine has already committed to reprising her webinar with Johnna Burke on the topic of standards. Stay tuned for more opportunities to discuss measurement with the Queen of Measurement!
