Cain and Perry's Sentiment Plummets, Romney Remains Steady, Huntsman Emerges as Contender in Zeta Interactive's Latest GOP Candidate Digital Performance Report

NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Following last night's GOP debate in Rochester, MI, leading full-service, integrated digital marketing agency Zeta Interactive, has released the results from its most recent Zeta Interactive GOP Candidate Digital Performance Report.

The report, which is being updated each Monday leading up to the election, includes comprehensive reporting and real-time analysis tracking each candidate's performance across the online landscape. By combining its understanding of key online channels with a set of monitoring tools, Zeta Interactive is measuring the effectiveness of each candidate's efforts across email, search and social media.

Among the highlights from the most recent report:

• Cain's Volume Buzz Soars, Positive Tonal Buzz Ranking Drops: Amidst controversy, Herman Cain dominated the buzz over the past week. While his volume soared to 23% of the overall buzz share surrounding all GOP candidates (9% higher than that of Mitt Romney, whose volume buzz share dropped to 14%), Cain's positive tonal buzz dropped 5% within the past week from 74% to just 69% positive.
• Cain's Cluster Words Turn Negative: Compared to last week, when the most frequently cited words and phrases used in posts to describe Herman Cain online were "9-9-9", "Taxes", "Plan" and "Like", this week's cluster word analysis for Cain is dominated with words such as "Allegations", "Speculation" and "Must win debate".  Ron Paul is now associated with phrases including "old," "won't win," and "insignificant."
• Perry Losing Valuable Ground in Digital Race: Rick Perry's positive tonal ranking has dropped by 17% over the past month, going from the best-buzzed GOP candidate as of October 10th at 81% positive to the worst-buzzed GOP candidate as of today at 64% positive. It is most likely that his gaffe, in stumbling to identify the three federal agencies he would target if elected, may continue to affect his ratings.
• Huntsman Receives Buzz Boost from Debate: While online reaction to Cain and Perry continues to be negative, the buzz surrounding Jon Huntsman has improved dramatically. Hunstman's positive tonal buzz has improved by 11%, bringing him to 74% positive, better than all other GOP candidates as of today. Additionally, Huntsman's cluster words point to him being a serious threat to Romney, with "contender", "intelligent", "like", "underdog" and "surprise" being featured among the most frequently cited words and phrases used in social media posts online.
• Site Traffic Soars for Gingrich: Newt Gingrich has both the highest volume of weekly site traffic at 271,924 total visits this week, and the highest increase of weekly site traffic at +208.7%. However, Rick Santorum's traffic had the largest decline week over week, dropping by 57.6%, and receiving the lowest number of visits of all GOP candidates.

For all media inquiries and to access the full report, please contact [email protected]. For all non-media inquiries please contact [email protected].

About Zeta Interactive

Zeta Interactive is an integrated digital marketing agency offering a wide range of services -- from email and search marketing, to Web site development, creative services, social media marketing and mining, and more.  The agency is a Google AdWords qualified company, and has been named a leader in the email marketing sector by Forrester Research and among the best technology organizations in the world according to Tech Awards Circle.

A leading provider of integrated, interactive services, Zeta Interactive helps marketers realize the full potential of the Internet to build brands, increase sales, improve processes, and reduce costs.  The company's specialty is in crafting strategies and programs for marketers that help them acquire, retain, up-sell, cross-sell and win back their customers -- cost effectively and efficiently -- by leveraging customer data and insight from individual marketing initiatives to drive even more relevant and rewarding exchanges across all media and channels.  The company does so by providing superior proprietary technology and a marketing approach that is focused on accountability, measurability and ROI metrics.

Headquartered in New York City, Zeta Interactive has more than 300 employees worldwide located in California, Idaho, Nevada, New Jersey, and India. The company serves more than 200 clients currently, including such world-class companies as Century 21, HP and Sony.  For more information please visit: www.zetainteractive.com.  

*Data referencing Site Visits was sourced from Experian Hitwise, Inc and analyzed by Zeta Interactive.

*Data referencing social buzz is sourced from Zeta Buzz, which monitors the online media landscape. Using an algorithm, the team is able to measure the volume and tone of conversations across the social media landscape.

Media Contact:
Matt Rizzetta
North 6th Agency, Inc.
212-334-9753
[email protected]

SOURCE Zeta Interactive