â–¶ Kids Love Apple, Oreos and YouTube: The Apple brand is ranked highest among Americans, ages 13-24, in its respective categories—computers, tablets and mobile phones—followed by Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and HTC, according to an October 2011 Harris Interactive study. And, while 8-to-24-year-olds have varied interests, certain comfort foods, like cookies and candy, are timeless. For example: Oreo Cookies and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate candy bars are each highest ranked in their respective categories, and sweet treat and cookie brands receive some of the highest equity scores among those surveyed. Other interesting findings include:
• In the food and beverage category, Cheerios is the highest-ranked cereal, Sprite is the highest-ranked drink, and Minute Maid is the highest-ranked fruit juice.
• In the media category, ABC is the highest-ranked network, Nickelodeon is the top kids programming brand and YouTube.com is the most popular social media site.
• Nintendo Wii sits atop the gaming category.
Source: Harris Interactive
â–¶ Blogs Before Buying: Blogs and official product information sources have a powerful impact on—and are preferred by—women when it comes to making buying decisions, according to a survey from BlogHer. The study finds that women car buyers are both more excited (74%) and more nervous (53%) about car buying than men (71% and 42% respectively).
Of this group, women who seek advice from blogs and social networks during the car-buying process demonstrate higher excitement levels—women who consult blogs about buying a new car are 13 percentage points more excited than women who do not, while women who consult social networks are up 12 percentage points.
The study also has some interesting findings that relate to women’s confidence and stress levels when considering buying a car:
• Confidence among women who use blogs for auto buying advice is 8 percentage points higher than women who do not, and 5 points higher among women use social networks.
• The stress levels of women who use blogs for auto buying advice is 4 points lower than the total sample. However, stress levels remain the same for women who use social networks.
• Blog readers are also less nervous at 2 points lower than the total sample, while social network users show a 4-point increase in nervousness—higher than the total sample.
Source: BlogHer
PR Myth of the Month: Great PR Programs Yield Quick Results
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In “Myth of the Month,” Mark Weiner (right), CEO of PRIME Research LLP, dispels some false assumptions about public relations.
Myth: Really great public relations programs produce instantaneous results.
Truth: The false assumption here is that “instantaneous equals great.” “Greatness” is a subjective measure defined solely by the person underwriting the program. Research conducted by PRIME on behalf of a well-known brand of snack foods indicates that PR derives one of its most powerful benefits from a very slow decay rate. “Decay rate” refers to the lifespan of the campaign after funding ends but during which it continues to demonstrate meaningful business effects.
In this case, “meaningful business effects” translated to “sales.” The brand discovered that PR continued to drive sales for up to six months following the end of a campaign while advertising lasted only two weeks. Price promotions yielded effects only until the discounts ended. On average, marketing mix models indicate that PR drives returns of about $8 on every dollar invested; ad campaigns yield only 20 cents on the dollar while price promotions actually lose 25 cents on the dollar.
So, what constitutes “great public relations?” For some companies, it’s participation. For others, it’s favorable media coverage. But most executives would agree that “profitability” is a worthy definition for greatness, and it applies equally across all business activities (not just PR).
Contact Mark Weiner at [email protected]