Your help

2010-01-16T17:57:00.001-08:00

Please text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti!

New Pickens Plan TV ad

2010-01-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

Be sure to check out the latest ad from the Pickens Plan here: http://pickensplan.com/media/?bcpid=1640183817&bctid=61485469001

Targeting the Active and Attentive Public, instead of the Elites

2009-12-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

In the public affairs industry, it seems that many are focused on targeting their communications to the so-called “elites & influentials” in a given community. While these are valuable targets, NR sees a broader and more select audience as high value targets. We call this group the “active community”.

Why we Target the “Active Community”

In a world where consumers receive 3,000 commercial pitches a day, it has become commonly known that the most trusted source of information is one’s peers. So for any type of communications effort – including word-of-mouth marketing – it has become increasingly valuable to find those trusted voices we all have within our social circles. These peer-to-peer pitches are most successful when coming from one’s family and friends – up to 90% trust a friend of family member – more than any other marketing tactic. (Influentials, Roper ASW, 2003.) This had led to many advertising campaigns to target key individuals that carry a message along – whether you call them influentials, opinion leaders, elites, salesmen. However, what is often discounted, is the effect that group-think – particularly from their peers – often has on this influential class.

Picture a pyramid in which the capstone represents the "Elites" of social influence. This is the target for many campaigns. But it is the second tier, the “attentive public”, which is often ignored yet should be included in targeting paid media programs. Here‘s why:

Use Political Trends as Guide

Take recent political trends for example. While a few decades ago, voters made political decisions based on where they stood on various issues, which suggested which candidates to vote for, which became the party they identified with. Nowadays, people first identify with the party, which dictates the issues and politicians they support (Based on VNS data between 1988 and 2004.) This new tendency results from voters wanting to identify with a community. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. This is one reason we have seen ticket-splitting drop two-and-a-half-fold over the past two decades. We are now in the era of being led by the many, where groupthink decides and community IQ guides. This applies to all classes along the pyramid.

Word-of-Mouth is Now Going Upstream Too

While the influential class is often charged with information flow, opinions have trended as equally upstream recently with the proliferation of new avenues of communication. A recent Buzz Metrics study found in studying information flow from a recent political election that “No single, mono-directional path of influence is discernible.” (Buzz, Blogs and Beyond: The Internet and the National Discourse in the Fall of 2004, Cornfield, Carson, Kalis and Simon, 2005). It was learned that while elites and mainstream media had a strong effect on what public discussed, there was an almost equal correlation on buzz rising from the bottom of the triangle – through blogs, social media and talk radio.

How the Internet Changed Influencer Dynamics

The proliferation of blogs and social media has diluted the impact of the traditional opinion leader since commentary is now coming from so many sources. With the rapid growth of blogs, there is now a disproportionate amount of traffic towards news and political sites – one third of blog visitors visit current events or political blogs regularly (Hostway, Taylor Nelson Sofres, 2005). This has created thousands of new sources of information for the ‘long tail’ where opinion leaders may have once had sway.

Furthermore, people are no longer trusting only family and friends. In an online environment, relationships may be just passing conversation with complete strangers. It is because users are now able to communicate on the very topic they seek information.

Add in the mix the rapid rise of social media (in sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkenIn), and the control of public dialogue has turned into a virtual arm wrestle online, with the masses having equal say with elites and influentials.

There is no “Signal-Size-Fits-All” Approach to Finding Influentials

There is also a growing sentiment that there is no single group of influentials. It was once thought that there is an elite opinion class among us that helps fashion trends among politics and culture (The Influentials: One American in Ten Tells the Other Nine How to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy, Keller and Berry, 2002) And all we would have to do is find “mega-hubs (The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing, Rosen, 2002) or the most influential among us, feed them information and watch our communications campaign take off.

Now, it is believed that each new campaign, product or idea has its own set of influentials. Do we take advice on all topics from the same set of friends? No. We must rely on an entire network of individuals. And while various peers may have their own expertise or specialty, at the end of the day, everyone talks about products, ideas, culture and politics. And there are too many variables – the product, the market, the individuals involved – to maintain a consistent class of influentials. (Grapevine: The New Art of Word of Mouth Marketing, Baltar and Butman, 2005). This serves counter to any top-down approach intended at targeting influentails alone.

So, it is misleading for one to seek out the generic “influential” for marketing or public affairs purposes. The key is finding someone influential on the issue you are advocating. Car buffs aren’t always movie buffs and vice versa. In the world of data and targeting, the ability to distinguish between the two is the difference between flying blind or with eyes wide open.

Influentials Cannot Do It Alone

Malcolm Gladwell suggested that two other links that are vital to a successful chain of communications “going viral” – the maven and the connector. (The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can make a Big Difference, Gladwell, 2000). And while a common formula may work in different approaches, the same people will not play the same roles in each occurrence. Thus, for each episode, different ‘influentials’ may arise out of the larger, attentive public class. By reaching the larger audience, one ensures covering all.

Conclusion

While it is important to have a relationship with various types of influentials, two things are becoming more valuable in any communications. First is the capacity to dive deeper into a broader audience so that information that flows both up and down the chain carries your message. Second, the ability to target the right influential as opposed to taking a ‘cookie-cutter’ approach will prove a more efficient resource in any communications.

Chartjackers!

2009-11-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

Here’s a great story about how new new media can beat out traditional media. Four kids from the UK set out to collaborate with the YouTube online community to write, record, and produce a song who’s sales would go to support a British charity called “Children In Need”. They called themselves and their online community “The Chartjackers”…their goal? To bring their song to number 1 in the UK Charts with no money and no experience.

Defying traditional marketing, the Chartjackers embarked on a social media campaign and week by week their song would rise into the Top 40…beating out artists who routinely spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing and worldwide tours. It’s a particularly salient example of how social media can beat out traditional marketing and win the virtual arm wrestle.

Check them out on Youtube and Facebook!

Welcome

2009-11-24T06:11:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the official Network Relations Blog. We started this company almost three years ago, so its about time we started a blog. We will be posting on a range topics related to NR: energy & the environment, social media, marketing, public policy, communications and for me, anything related to New York Mets baseball. I hope you will enjoy.