Company: Microsoft
Agency: Waggener Edstrom
Timeframe: 2006
For any brand, the impact of its messaging on consumers in the retail marketplace is of critical importance, particularly when a new product is being launched. When Microsoft
sealed a co-marketing pact with Best Buy for its announcement of the availability of its security software suite, Windows LiveOneCare, the messaging was a top priority.
Windows Live OneCare, which launched to consumers on May 31, 2006, is a comprehensive software package that includes antivirus, antispam and antispyware features. Coinciding
with the launch were opportunities for Microsoft to test and gauge the impact of two key messages centered on the software's core features: "OneCare is the all-in-one PC Care
service" and "OneCare is like a 'pit crew' for the PC." The results of this testing would be used to evaluate and shape messaging in ways that would directly influence the
product's target audience.
Ladies And Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
The "OneCare is like a 'pit crew' for the PC" message was created to evoke resonance of a NASCAR pit crew. This was designed to appeal to the campaign's target audience:
married men with children, age 25-plus, who the team identified as "NASCAR dads" and who are most often in charge of making security decisions in households.
Teaming up with Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, Microsoft's communications team worked to measure the effectiveness of these messages in terms of volume and tone. The collaboration
developed as a result of the longstanding client/agency relationship Microsoft has held with Waggener Edstrom.
"We do Microsoft's security work," explains Daniel Gallagher, SVP of Waggener Edstrom and head of the firm's research and discovery group. "[Microsoft's] OneCare announcement
was the launch for that particular product, especially from a retail perspective. I was primarily involved from a research and measurement perspective to see if the announcement
was effective; to see if it met its communications goals in terms of generating a certain amount of coverage; and to measure how the two key messages were [resonating with the
media]."
Ramping Up Messaging
Microsoft wanted to determine which of the two brand image messages gained the strongest foothold in the media, as well as what brand associations it could incorporate into
future messaging. The results would play a role in shaping future public relations strategies for the software titan.
Backed by a research and measurement budget of approximately $15,000. the program quickly got under way. Waggener Edstrom deployed its research and measurement methodologies
within the WExView Global Account Management portal of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, which includes WExView Measurement and the Narrative Network.
The WExView Measurement is designed to gauge results and provide information pertinent to PR strategies, while the Narrative Network (NN) is text mining and brand mapping
software that measures storylines in the media.
The data provided by these software programs was then analyzed by Waggener Edstrom's Influential Monitoring & Measurement Group. This analysis was critical to informing the
client about what matters, why it matters and how to move forward.
To measure Windows LiveOneCare media brand awareness and image, analysts measured the volume, tone and messaging impact over a three-month period--two months prior to the
announcement of the retail availability of the software package and one month following the launch. According to Gallagher, Narrative Network was employed to develop a benchmark
survey of media before the retail announcement.
"That's the key challenge for any kind of pre-post measurement analysis," he says. "You have to go out there and measure perceptions before the announcement just to see where
you are, and then after the announcement [you have to] gather all the relevant coverage."
WExView metrics measured the volume, tone, depth and key message pick-up prior to the announcement; the Narrative Network mined the OneCare brand associations both before and
after the OneCare retail launch. Also measured were the responses of mainstream media content and influential bloggers. The breadth of the campaign's media targets was significant
in capturing both online and offline perception of OneCare, especially considering the disproportionately large number of online influencers for companies and products in the tech
space.
Word Games Are The Pits
The ROI was very telling based on the data and analyses. WExView and the Narrative Network metrics indicated that the Windows Live OneCare messaging had little momentum prior
to the announcement of the retail launch. The volume of coverage in the pre-launch phase from March 1 to May 30, 2006, was 29 stories with a neutral tone of 3.03 on a scale of one
to five.
However, that all changed following the Microsoft/Best Buy announcement. With that, the volume rose to 117 stories during the first week of June 2006. As for the impact and
quality of its messaging, the "all-in-one" message proved to be far more successful than the "pit crew" one--a surprise given the psychographic profile of the target audience--
with the former being picked up 77 times in media mentions and the latter only garnering a mere 24 mentions.
Research also revealed patterns in the word associations that popped up in media coverage vis a vis the Windows Live OneCare brand. Data showed media gravitating toward words
like "service," "care" and "help." Based on this research, analysts recommended that close associations with "live," "service," "protection" and "backup" be expanded upon while
more association with the concept of "maintenance" be developed.
The success of the "all-in-one" message as opposed to the "pit crew" one was surprising to Gallagher and his team.
"We all thought that the NASCAR pit crew message would resonate more [with the media]," he admits. "We thought it was a far more creative message than the 'all-in-one' shopping
for security. We thought that the 'pit crew' concept would resonate with the target audience, but the media didn't pick up. It went with a more simple and easier-to-remember
message of one-stop shopping."
What this experience showed Gallagher was that just because something might work well in the abstract form doesn't mean it will translate in the concrete execution.
"You think you're being creative, but what actually happens in the marketplace is sometimes a different thing," he says.
Consequently, it was determined that the "all-in-one" messaging would be continued in favor of the "pit crew." That messaging also paved the way for more associations with key
strategic words, such as "protect," "package," "backup" and "solution."
Data further supported analyst recommendations, demonstrating that the media does in fact gravitate to words like "service," "care" and "help."
Furthermore, additional data indicated that in the months following the announcement, the Windows LiveOneCare brand image and impact was not self-perpetuating and would ebb in
between media campaigns.
All of this accumulated information proved to be the driving force behind a messaging strategy that ultimately resulted in a robust marketing campaign and, in turn, enhanced
the brand around the product launch--proof that, at least when communications is concerned, sometimes numbers really do speak louder than words. PRN
CONTACTS:
Daniel Gallagher, [email protected]; ?Katie Paine, [email protected]
Measuring Storytelling
For Daniel Gallagher, SVP of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, implementing a program that measures the effectiveness of one media message versus another has its own special nuances,
from which other companies interested in employing similar programs can draw important lessons:
"The big difference [with Microsoft's campaign] was that we didn't do a traditional measure of volume in terms of the number of articles and where they were placed or picked
up. What we did here was an analysis of key messaging; that brought us to another level of PR measurement where it's not just about volume and tone. It's about what did we say and
what was successful in terms of our key messages. What the Narrative Network allows us to do is to provide a quantitative foundation for our storytelling. Storytelling is
obviously what we do, we're in the business of words. Determining which words resonate the most with our audiences is really critical to our storytelling. This was an entirely new
level of measurement for our clients. We're moving more toward measuring storytelling rather than measuring just volume and tone."
Message Measurement Quick Hits
For other companies that wish to implement a program similar to the Microsoft Live OneCare retail launch, where media messages were being tested and analyzed to see which would
resonate better, Katie Paine, founder and CEO of KDPaine & Partners, has these best practices to share:
"There are two ways to do it--and we recommend both. One, you go back six months before the retail launch and start tracking: Did your messages appear in the media and which
media? Two, you take that data and the in-store data, and you [combine them]. Do a regression analysis to determine if and when the messages were coming out to the media, and
determine if that was when people were buying the product."
"If possible, do a pre-post survey to see if the audience actually heard the messages," she continues. According to Paine, the questions in the survey should ask consumers
about the likelihood that they will purchase a product upon hearing the predetermined messages.
Once the launch is over, all that's left to measure is sales. But it's important to note that, before you go into the launch, you make sure the message is getting out there
because "that's going to drive consideration of the product," notes Paine.
It's also important to take into consideration whether the product you're launching is a consumer good as opposed to a business product. With a B2B product, "you're really
measuring consideration," Paine says, whereas with a consumer packaged good, "it's a fast decision."