Porter Novelli Launches TrendingTarget

NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Many companies and brands today monitor conversations in social media to hear what is being said about them.  But until now, it has been difficult to listen to and analyze what else their target may be talking about.  These opinions, trends and ideas may not relate specifically to a brand or product, but knowing what else is important to a target audience can help engage and influence them more effectively.

Enter TrendingTarget, launched today by global communications leader Porter Novelli. TrendingTarget is the first social media analytics tool to reveal the full breadth of topics that a target audience is discussing online in real time.  The tool delivers a visual representation of all of the conversations taking place across a specific audience.  Rather than filtering for keywords as conventional tools do, TrendingTarget employs a dynamic technology to listen and report on any and all topics that the audience is talking about.  The resulting data can be used for strategic decision making, communications planning, community management and content development efforts.

"Porter Novelli is creating tools that get to the heart of what clients need today – immediate and actionable information," said Gary Stockman, CEO, Porter Novelli. "With TrendingTarget we can quickly analyze the wide range of interests of an audience and learn what's meaningful to them right now, so we can create programs that will influence them to take action on behalf of a brand or organization. Rapid response - from data analysis to insight to action – is what clients need in a world where news, trends and crises travel faster than ever before."

TrendingTarget currently uses Twitter as the basis for conversation analysis.  (Other inputs are being added.)  The service works by gathering all Tweets from an audience that has been defined by publicly available social identities and other interest-based markers, and using text mining tools to uncover velocity and acceleration patterns in their public conversations – such as discussion of common interests, competitive brands or newly popular hash tags – to surface actionable trends.

TrendingTarget is launching with a free demonstration at Momtrending.com, which uses the TrendingTarget technology to track and understand conversations among one of the most sought after online audiences – moms on Twitter. By offering a window into their conversations, TrendingTarget enables brands and organizations to appeal to social-savvy moms with content based on what is relevant to them right now.

According to Israel Mirsky, executive vice president, emerging media and technology, "TrendingTarget answers a fundamental question on the minds of marketers - 'What does my most engaged audience care about right now?' – and enables us to create strategies and programming that we already know will appeal to them. We created TrendingTarget because no available tool could help us meaningfully answer that question, and also as a direct result of our belief that analytics must now inform and improve every stage of a program, from conception through execution." 

In August, the agency launched Porter Novelli Radar, which provides clients with round-the-clock monitoring of the issues most important to them. A made-for-speed hub, Porter Novelli Radar tracks broadcast coverage and social and online conversations – as they happen – facilitating issues tracking, strategic counsel and reputation management in real time.  

TrendingTarget was developed with Tracx, a leading social media analytics platform, and leverages its strong data aggregation and audience segmentation capabilities. While the platform is focused on Twitter, it will be expanding to include other social channels later this year.

About tracx

The tracx Social Media Management System (SMMS) is a modular and scalable platform designed to provide more than 150 brands and agencies such as Microsoft, Denon, Attention USA, eToro and Coca Cola, all the tools necessary to build, manage and monetize their social media presence. 

tracx refines masses of raw data across all social media channels, blogs, forums, news and retail sites, turning the posts and interactions into full conversations with intelligence around the participants. The platform provides deep insights into customer and competitor behaviors within a defined vertical, highlighting marketing intelligence and business opportunities. http://tra.cx

About Porter Novelli

A global public relations leader, Porter Novelli was founded in 1972 and is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC). In 90 offices in nearly 60 countries, Porter Novelli combines the power of immersion with the rigor of research to create deep human insights that enable the agency to transform the opinions, beliefs and behaviors of those who matter most to its clients. For additional information, please visit www.porternovelli.com.

Contact:
Catherine Sullivan
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SOURCE Porter Novelli