BAQ: the new Brand Measurement

The shift towards utilisation of online social media options and user generated content (UGC) for online marketing campaigns is no secret. Most major brands interacting with their consumers have realised that the best way to promote their product is to let the public do it for them. Sure, it would once have been considered crazy to hand over your brand reputation to the public but the potential pitfalls have been realised to be very low, compared to the possible advantages.

It remains true that lifetime value of the customer, and return on investment remain the bottom line metrics for overall online marketing success, but there is no doubt that social media elements of an integrated campaign not only provide a unique contribution but require a unique set of metrics to analyse them.

Nielsen Online just-launched the Digital Strategic Services (DSS) group to monitor social media online. The new division will focus on managing a brands online reputation through a structured and strategic plan. The key focus of these plans will be monitoring the "Brand Advocacy Quotient," or BAQ score. The BAQ score will rely both the quality of the product and the quality of customer service as a function of product experience.

As blogging, social networks, user forums and other forms of UGC have become more prevalent and mainstream, it has become extremely important for brands to consider the ‘reviews’ which users are leaving in the vastness of cyberspace. The multitude of different locations the modern net user has to express their opinion is almost limitless, and if one doesn’t exist that they are happy with, the average user should have no difficulty creating a new space.

According to Nielsen, “UGC is now vitally important to improving customer service, enabling quick response (including alteration of products) to customer feedback/complaints, identifying needs that present new-product opportunities, gathering competitive intelligence, and making C-level decisions on investments and even core business objectives.”

“84% of companies that are best in class at these capabilities and integrating them into decision-making and operations reported year-over-year improvement in customer retention rates”, according to Marketing Vox.

Perhaps the best desk ever?

I StumbledUpon this great office desk from Tom Spina and the geek in me had to share it with you.

Not to be missed

I spotted on ticketmaster that the Nextmen are playing in The Button Factory in two weeks, Friday 23rd May. This is a Not To Be Missed gig. Mostly unknown to the Irish music scene, the Nextmen are similar to Zero7, DJ Format, Ugly Duckling or Roots Manuva.

I love the low-fi digital representations in this video.....

Microsoft goes after Facebook

The Wall Street Journal yesterday published an article fueling the rumour that Microsoft are interested in pushing there 1.6% share of Facebook all the way. In an attempt to step up to the online plate in the wake of Yahoo declining the proposed purchase deal, Microsoft are said to have informally approached Facebook to gauge its interest in selling itself to Microsoft, according to a 'reliable' source.

The article states that "Microsoft's investment bankers recently contacted Facebook as it looked likely the Redmond, Wash., software company might back away from buying Yahoo". It followed by clarifying that there are no formal talks between the two companies, currently.

Facebook and Microsoft have declined to comment on any aspect of the story.

Grand Theft Auto 4 sells more than $320 million

Rockstar have done it agian (if there was any doubt?). One week in and $320 million sold. Having played it I'm not surprised - the game is a huge sprawling world of crime and destruction. Impressive doesn't do it justice. It's actually more like a Second Life style online environment where you can do pretty much whatever you like.


“Retailers say roughly four out of every 10 Xbox 360 consoles sold also included the sale of a copy of ‘Grand Theft Auto IV,’” said Aaron Greenberg, director of product management at Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.

Forget your standard stick...

I saw this and couldn't help but post it! I'm a gadget man at heart - PSP, iPod, Psion (back in the day), the first StarTac... I've had them all. So when something funky comes along some small part of me gets the shivers of excitement.

I posted below about the cut wire USB flash drive but if you want something less industrial and manly how about a nice slice of cake!
These freshly baked 2.0 flash drives come in Black Forrest, Strawberry Torte, Fruit Plate and French Mille-Feuille flavours, with capacities up to 4GB.

Video Game Only Search Engine

Game Skoot is a new search engine, entirely for games.

I play a lot of PSP, Xbox360, PS3 and Wii, so every now again I search for a review or game guide, so I was extremely happy to see this.


The stand out features however are the Hot Stuff, news and cheats. The Hot Stuff tab is a collection of stories from the top games sites on the web in various categories. As you can imagine the news and cheats areas are just what they should be – all the latest reviews and news about just released games, up coming games and those that are turning into old favourites. And the cheats tab? Well as good as you may be, sometimes it’s just more fun running around Liberty City with a full arsenal and a pimped out ride!