â–¶ Cohesive Communities: A new study of 241 online communities from 78 major corporations found that 33% of the brands are using a cohesive approach to social engagement, compared to just 20% in 2009. The ComBlu research also shows much tighter integration between a brand’s sponsored community site and its other social assets such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Additional findings include:
• The top 10 performing brands are American Express (48 points), EA (47), Discovery Channel (45), Hewlett-Packard (45), Sears (44), Verizon (44), Activision (44), Kimberly-Clark (44), AT&T (44) and Sony (43).
• Only 20% of the communities have an advocate or experts group, which represents the “voice of the customer,” contributes content and helps recruitment; nearly half of the communities do not have an active community manager who makes interaction more personal.
• Fewer than 40% of the communities have any rewards or recognition programs, which are key drivers for sustaining participation.
• Brands are doing a better job delivering diverse engagement experiences; 76% use strategically aligned engagement tools, compared to 28% in 2009.
Source: ComBlu
â–¶ Swag cost effective: Advertising specialties, or swag, beat out prime-time TV, radio and print advertising as the most cost-effective advertising medium available, according to the 2010 Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study. Swag is less expensive per impression than most other media and is affordable and effective when compared to other forms of media, the study says. The findings include:
• In the U.S., the cost per impression of a promotional product stayed virtually the same from 2008 to 2010, at.005 cents, compared with.018 for prime-time TV,.029 for newspapers and.058 for radio spots.
• Males are more likely than females to own shirts and caps, while females are more likely to have bags, writing instruments, calendars and health and safety products.
• 75% of independent voters prefer consumer-branded products; nearly 1.5 times more than Democrats or Republicans.
Source: Advertising Specialty Institute
