*Only as Far as I Can Throw You: The ninth annual Edelman Trust Barometer, released last week, examines consumer trust in various areas of business. This year, the survey has
uncovered a widening gap between trust in business and trust in government; an increase in trust in media; and the rising importance of social media. With all the implications of
trust of PR execs' role in managing and maintaining reputations and brands, these findings are an important measure of the state of business today. Here are some key results:
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58% of U.S. respondents say they trust business to do what's right, compared with 39% for government.
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55% of 25-34-year-old respondents in the U.S. ranked Wikipedia second as a source of credible information.
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Business magazines, chosen by 57% of respondents, are globally the most trusted source of information on companies.
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Trust in CEOs is around 20% in the U.S., versus 43% for an average employee.
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85% of respondents will pass along positive information about a company or discuss negative experiences.
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Only 20% trust corporate or product advertising.
Source: 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer
*Online Video: A recent survey shows that Americans are frequenting video-sharing sites like YouTube at skyrocketing rates. To no one's surprise, young people, especially
males, are watching online video in droves, but the survey also shows that almost everyone is now getting in on the action:
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48% of Internet users have visited a video-sharing site such as YouTube, compared with 33% in December 2006.
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15% said they had used a video-sharing site "yesterday," compared with 8% last year.
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20% of men watch a video on a site like YouTube on a typical day, compared with 11% of women.
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14% of those 30-49 use a video-sharing site on a typical day, up from 7%.
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30% of those 50-64 have ever visited such a site, and 7% visit regularly.
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54% of all adults have high-speed connections at home.
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22% of Americans shoot their own videos, and 14% of them post some of that video online, up threefold since April 2006.
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project
*7 Tips for Buying Video: The landscape of digital video is evolving quickly, and the idea of monetizing it is still in its infancy. To help agencies cope with this dynamic
sector, Julie Ruvolo, who leads ad sales and strategy at Divx's Stage6, offers these tips for smart video buys:
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Agencies need education: Digital strategists and planners need to know the basics, whether they're taught by the in-house guru or a borrowed consultant. An overview
could take half a day, but will give you an advantage over most other agencies.
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Answering the phone is not enough: Ruvolo urges agencies not to wait for technology and innovation to come to them. Instead, be proactive, get out there and explore a
little.
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Know that you don't know everything: Even the best tech reporter might be unaware of dozens of new technologies sprouting up. The agency needn't catalog all of them, but
have enough of a framework to spot the relevant ones and organize them accordingly.
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Look beyond Nielsen and comScore: Many new sites and services are misrepresented in the traditional analytics services. Ruvolo recommends Alexa, Compete or Quantcast for a
quick evaluation of whether a site gets traffic.
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Less panel talk, more silo burning: Competing agencies within holding companies may be reticent to share information, but each agency working on its own spreadsheet of all
the video-sharing sites is incomplete.
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Put sales people to work: Savvy sales folks know the competitive landscape better than many digital planners. Take advantage of them by asking them to come in and give you
the lay of the land.
Source: iMediaConnection.com PRN