Crowdtap Partners with Joanna Seddon to Introduce New Brand Influence Metric

NEW YORK, Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowdtap and brand measurement expert Dr. Joanna Seddon, former CEO of Millward Brown's consulting practice, today published a report that identifies a new metric for measuring the impact of marketing programs. Traditional approaches have provided inexact measurements in the form of reach and impressions, and today, in addition to the traditional outlets of TV, radio, print and out-of-home, marketers now must manage digital, social media, word-of-mouth, mobile and many other channels on a daily basis. The Brand Influence metric enables marketers, for the first time, to understand the overall impact of their media purchases and the estimated impact before they spend.

The Brand Influence metric identifies the key factors that drive significant change to brand equity and return on investment (ROI) – the core measurements for any brand marketer.

Brand Influence not only factors in quantitative inputs of exposure and reach, but also the qualitative components of each marketing channel in driving actual marketing impact. These qualitative factors are:

• Intensity – how involved the audience is in the marketing message, and;
• Proximity – how close the source of the message is to the audience.

"The advent of social media has made audience engagement a popular metric. Engagement is critical, but engagements or impressions are not created equal. They vary widely in their impact on consumer behavior depending on their type and quality," said Joanna Seddon. "What's important is the ability to understand how each marketing activity influences the consumer's view of the brand. Brand Influence is the first metric that puts different marketing activities on an equal footing, creating a  common currency for measurement, which allows marketers to evaluate effectiveness across channels  and types of activity."

When integrated into marketing platforms, Brand Influence will allow marketers to monitor and evaluate results in real-time to determine how their marketing initiatives perform against estimated results. Brand Influence can be tracked across any marketing channel, and can be directly linked to changes in brand equity and intent to purchase, enabling marketers to link to ROI.

Key findings from the report include:

• Traditional media channels still provide value due to their overall reach, but most social channels deliver deeper consumer interactions, providing marketers with better ROI for key brand metrics.
• The top three marketing channels for media effectiveness are sampling, house parties, and online discussion with peers. Online banner ads, television ads, and magazine ads ranked least effective.
• Marketing channels that mix on- and off-line sharing, such as peer-to-peer sampling and sponsored house parties, deliver on average between three and four times more value than traditional channels.

"Marketing is at the very early stages of a complete overhaul in strategy and measurement," Brandon Evans said. "The days of 'spend first, evaluate later' are over. With a seemingly unending number of potential marketing tactics and channels at their disposal, it is crucial for marketers to understand which activities drive the most value for the brand. In order to be successful, brands must adopt a measurement methodology that allows them to factor not only the reach of their marketing activities, but also their expected impact, in real time."

The Brand Influence metric was unveiled in the research report released today that details a year long project in which Crowdtap and Seddon explored the power of any marketing action to impact consumers' advocacy of a brand and willingness to purchase the brand's products. Crowdtap will be the first marketing platform to integrate this metric into the platform providing marketers with real-time results on performance.

To access the full report, please visit: http://crowdtap.it/2011/08/brand_influence_metric/

About Crowdtap

Launched publicly in March 2011, Crowdtap is the VIP brand network.  Crowdtap allows marketers to easily collaborate and mobilize with their targeted brand crowd of insightful and influential consumers.  Crowdtap makes real-time research, collaboration and word of mouth marketing easy by enabling brands to easily launch actions to its member base of over 150,000 "crowdtappers" as well as easily integrate their own existing communities from facebook, twitter and CRM databases. Actions launched by brands on the Crowdtap network include polls, online panels, social sampling, sponsored house parties, online content sharing through social networks. For members, Crowdtap is a marketing-themed social game that lets them gain VIP status, access exclusive content and earn perks and rewards for collaborating with brands.

Members can sign up at crowdtap.com and marketers can learn more at crowdtap.it.

SOURCE Crowdtap