Buzz Channel Blog

Interesting study recently published by IBM - the result of face to face interviews with over 1,500 CEOs.

Three things that stand out (and no doubt more as I get through the 76 pages):

1. That, due to the increasing complexity of our operating environment, creativity is now rated as the #1 leadership competency, ahead of management discipline, rigour, or operational acumen.

2. That customers have an increasingly close role in actually creating the services and products that will be delivered to them, so customer intimacy is a number one priority…

3. That growth and company success is going to come increasingly from products and services not yet available - so dexterous new product development, in close consultation with customers, is the way of the future.

Lots of implications for what research will need to contribute...

Read more on the IBM site and we look forward to some opinions..

Quite a few of our clients are grappling with how their organisations should engage with the public through social networking.

Most of us agree that there are no experts (yet) (and just when you think you are figuring it out, things change) and whenever one bravely decides to read up about it, the amount of information is simply overwelming.

So, for you guys, here's a very short, simple first step....

Terms Explained

Start Now, Do your ROI Later

An Overview of Social Networking Sites

We'll be really interested in feedback on how to make these papers better so give us your comments.

On the sidelines of whether to adapt some of our technology into the ipad space it's worthwhile having a quick look at the handbags at dawn showdown between Apple and Adobe - the creators of Flash.   Apparently they were once lovers who used to nestle into the pillow and discuss each others bits and pieces.  These days, however, a tryst is apparent with Steve's six steps towards a duel....

1. Steve used to like his friend, but is now saddened by a perceived lack of standards. (It is inferred that Adobe think the same thing.  Clearly the guidance cousellor has a bit of work to do here....)
2. Adobe thinks steve is not open anymore and has stopped communicating.
3. Steve thinks Adobe is unreliable and insecure.
4. What's worse is that he believe that Adobe wastes his energy.
5. Steve wants to touch everything and Adobe is just not prepared for that level of tactility.
6. And finally and most imporatantly, Adobe has been cross dressing and doesn't know who it is anymore.

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

I guess he's got a point.  Doesn't make it any easier for our decision though!

Due to popular demand...

For those of our clients who have lots of questions to ask, but understand the importance of keeping surveys within the respondents' concentration span, you'll be pleased to hear about our "Random Question Blocks". This allows you to groups set of questions together and randomly send respondents to different question groups.

For example, just say you have 6 different promotional concepts to test but you can't show all of them to each respondent. You could now take all the respondents through the starting questions, and then randomly assign them to 3 concepts each. So, if you have 500 respondents, you'd have 250 responding to each concept.

In case anyone is interested in reading the Government Q&As  on removing some areas of the Conservation Estate from Section 4 of the Crown Minerals Act, here they are....

Also, if you have time to give us your views, here's a very short survey.

We'll publish the results on Buzz.thePeople soon.

Many of us are grappling with the social media phenomenon and dare I say, it's even harder for those of us over 40 who grew up outside rather than in front of a computer screen...

So, as a simple starting point for those who are beginning the journey, here is a simple one pager about the major sites, with a one brief assessment of each site based on four measures:
- Customer Communication
- Brand Exposure
- Traffic to your site
- SEO

The paper is online at CMO.com (an Omniture website, owned by Adobe).

If you come across any great resources (for senior managers with a strategic, rather than day-to-day interest in social media) tell us about them.

I've waited with great interest for the second AUT study on New Zealand Internet use. Usage is changing so fast its frustrating to wait 2 years for each study but at last its here.

The study involved a telephone sample of 1,250 New Zealanders structured to reflect the NZ 2006 census results. We still have people suggesting the Internet isn't representative, so these sorts of studies are important to highlight who isn't using it, as much as who is...

Read more here, but in summary:

• 83% of us use it, and of the 17% who don't, one third (5.6%) used to use it and have stopped, and 11.2% of New Zealanders have never used it.
• Only 6% of users access it on their mobiles at the moment (watch this grow).
• 48% of users are members of social networking sites, and of those 75% use Facebook and 18% Bebo (In the 12 -19 year old age group 43% use Facebook and 53% use Bebo)
• Importantly, only 2% of households with income over $100,000 don't use the Internet, compared to 35% of those households earning less than $40,000.
• About 95% of Pakeha and Asian use the Internet at home, compared to around 80% of Maori and Pasifika
• Among those using social networking sites overwelming majorities of Pakeha and Asians (neraly 90%) use Facebook, while Maori (48%) and Pasifika (68%) report using Bebo. (Buzz Comment - I'm sure this reflects an age skew of Maori and Pasifika users).

For an overall summary of usage by demographic, click here (this is in the report, but may as well go straight to the most interesting bits).

Great stuff AUT - thanks.

Over the course of Buzz Channel's development we've had the pleasure of working with some of the better minds in the New Zealand mindscape.  From finance, through technology and into design. Many of these people have helped shape our business and elevate our credence in the marketplace.  In the early days they also seemingly came along for a ride without any desire for recompense - bar a few beers here, a book or buzz bar there.  Meagre offerings when you think of some of wonderful measures produced.

I started thinking about this in more detail recently as i found an old laminated design of the Buzz Channel system - mark 1 - and recoiled in horror at the realisation that i was masquerading as a designer, without really having a pair of designer trousers, or indeed, a matching set of personality spectacles.  All in all, in the interests of aesthetic harmony, i should never have been left in any dark room with a copy of photoshop.

Then something happened...one of these wonderful chaps came along - an old mate - and he gave me the following video with a look and feel that was justifiably acceptable to the general public, moreover, it made us presentable, something my mother has been haranguing me about for years....

Thanks Chris.

Great to see the traditional research companies coming out in such melodic voice around the topic of online panels and their increasing movement into the social space.  We here at Buzz spent so many years preaching the legitimacy of the online approach, it's nice to finally have some backup!

Watch Jonathan Dodd in this interview on TV3 business program.

Click here to watch the interview

We've been talking online panels with our clients for many years and have some great programs out there that are yeilding excellent results.

It was with some pleasure that we read this article in the NZ herald a day or two back.  Seems the time has come when the online panel is entering the public consciousness as a great way to conduct research and, at the same time, provide a medium to communicate with your customers.

Here's a link to the Herald article

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The article gives an update on how the social media approach for many US and UK companies includes building their own online panel of their consumers (called advisory panels, custom panels, or proprietary panels), and mentions that "in 2008 Gartner Research stated that by 2010 more than 60% of Fortune 1000 companies would have some form of online community that could be used in marketing".

Buzz Channel has been building, hosting, and managing proprietary panels in New Zealand for the past four years. This is an area of great interest to us, and we are involved from providing the technology, as well as managing the day to day panel member enquiries, rewards management etc.

If you are keen to understand how you can bring customer databases alive with your own online platform, don't hesitate to give us a call.  If you'd like to read more about our PanelView service you can do so by clicking here.