terça-feira, janeiro 04, 2005: "Criticos Obstinados" de marcas potenciados pela Internet

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Now some public relations agencies and research companies are studying determined detractors, dividing them into different groups defined by motivation, monitoring their complaints and trying to help corporate clients decide how to react.

BuzzMetrics, a New York-based specialist in word-of-mouth marketing, has developed proprietary software to scoop up information on trendsetters and potential influencers as they travel the Internet, posting messages on bulletin board sites, updating personal Web pages and sharing information through e-mail mailing lists.

"For brand managers, the big challenge is to predict trouble on the horizon," said Jonathan Carson, head of BuzzMetrics. "When they see a detractor they have to figure out whether it's a single disgruntled customer or an actual smoldering crisis that could explode."

BuzzMetrics would not identify by name the 20 or so marketers it says have used, or are now using, its crisis management or prevention services, but Carson said the clients included several pharmaceutical companies. BuzzMetrics also looked into the threat posed to a French conglomerate when some supporters of the Iraq invasion were circulating a boycott list. It is now studying the way critics of Dan Rather gained traction so soon after his report questioning Bush's National Guard service.

The best-known corporate detractor this year was probably Morgan Spurlock, who tried to shred McDonald's image with his documentary "Super Size Me." But Web-savvy agitators have also used the Internet to great effect, with sites like www.ipodsdirtysecret.com, contending that the battery in Apple's iPod lasts only 18 months, cannot be replaced by the user and, at the time, cost $250 to have it replaced by Apple, www.ihatestarbucks.com, which is critical of Starbucks on a number of issues, and www.watchingmicrosoft.com, a compendium of news and Web links critical of Microsoft.
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American Marketing Association News

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