*Everything Goes With Green: A company's green efforts are more credible when endorsed by third-party environmental groups whose efforts have an impact on their local
community, according to a survey by Peppercom and Media-Screen LLC. However, while this news is widely accepted by executives, the results suggest that most companies interested
in going green don't know which environmental groups to partner with, or how to work with them on policy development and communication.
More than 100 communications executives and 300-plus consumers were surveyed for the study "Influence of Environmental Groups on Consumer Decisions and 'Green' Corporate
Communications Programs." Among the consumer-based findings:
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75% of the consumer respondents indicated that efforts seem more credible when endorsed by environmental groups that have programs designed to have a direct impact on
local communities;
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The same percentage says their purchasing and investment decisions are influenced by NGOs;
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78% turn to online sources to get information about environmental issues;
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Among the environmental groups consumers are familiar with, 73% are NGOs; and,
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72% of consumers give companies the benefit of the doubt, saying that corporate efforts to help the environment are believable.
As for the business side:
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82% of companies interviewed have created formal green communication programs, mostly in the last six to 12 months;
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71% turn to environmental groups and other organizations to help guide their programs, while 53% look to PR/marketing firms with "green" expertise; and,
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Among the companies that do not work with environmental groups, 55% say the reason is that these groups can be "distrustful of corporate motives," while 41% believe the
goals of environmental groups are not typically aligned with their own and 27% don't see a need/reason to work with environmental groups.
Source: Peppercom and MediaScreen LLC
*Get Engaged: PeopleMetrics' 2008 "Most Engaged Customers" study solicited feedback from more than 10,000 customers throughout the U.S. to judge customer engagement across four
service sectors (hotel, retail, banking and casual dining), and to look at the links between customer engagement and financial performance. The top performers in the apparel
sector are J. Crew, Nine West, Ann Taylor, Aeropostale, Chico's, Guess and American Eagle Outfitters.
Additionally, the study found that engaged customers:
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Promote the company or brand;
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Intend to return in the future;
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Go out of their way to do business with the company; and,
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Feel passion--even love--for the brand and experience.
Source: PeopleMetrics
*A Video Affair: More than 154 million Americans will watch online videos this year. According to eMarketer, that's a 12.1% increase from last year. But are these online video
ads really engaging consumers?
According to a study by Burst Media of more than 2,600 online users in December 2007, most advertisers are still in the experimental phase when it comes to video advertising.
The findings reveal that 51% of respondents stop watching an online video once they encounter an in-stream advertisement, suggesting that the benefits for watching online video
advertising need to be greater in order to engage viewers.
Source: eMarketer & Burst Media
*Monetizing Word of Mouth: A new study from customer loyalty solutions provider Satmetrix Systems examines the financial impact of positive and negative customer WOM.
The study illustrates this impact by enabling companies to categorize customers into "promoters" (those who are highly likely to recommend a company and/or its
products/services) and "detractors" (those who are unlikely to recommend the company).
Satmetrix's Net Promoter WOM Economic Framework then determines total customer value based on buyer and referral economics.
Applying this framework to the computer hardware industry, the study revealed that each "promoter" was worth about $2,600, and that promoters account for roughly one-half of a
new customer acquired through positive WOM.
Source: Satmetrix Systems