In this week’s MediaPost column, I summarized exciting work by my Nielsen Company colleagues at BuzzMetrics, BASES and AC Nielsen. (The full study is available here, and an archive of today’s Webcast will be posted by Monday.) Through a CPG brand and market-mix modeling study, they found that high blog interest, or buzz, around new product launches is tightly linked to paid media spending. I wrote about it earlier this week, but added some analysis in my column:
While this work prompted more questions than answers, it confirms the inextricable link between traditional marketing strategies and word-of-mouth, or buzz. Let’s be honest: while traditional marketing and media models have been slowly eroding and mutating, there’s been a lot of hype around standalone “alternative†strategies attempting massive viral dispersion and reach, often positioned as a valid replacement for traditional media. But the fact is that traditional media strategies are not dead, and buzz tactics can’t necessarily live on their own in a vacuum. Neither is right or wrong, but they are both part of a complex communications and customer landscape. The exposed linkages in this work underscore the critical need for smart, holistic communications planning, coupled with seamless, integrated execution and comprehensive effectiveness measures.
If you still wish to read the entire column, you can find it here.