La "product experience" riguarda sia la qualità del prodotto che del customer service, ha ricordato Pete Blackshaw, EVP di Nielsen Digital Strategic Services (DSS), il nuovo servizio, inaugurato con un seminario online su come usare i Consumer Generated Media per la brand advocacy.

Se il volume del word-of-mouth a proposito di un prodotto dipenderà dalla qualità del prodotto e del suo customer service, realizzare campagne virali con un prodotto cattivo o su caratteristiche deboli dell'azienda può essere un grosso rischio. Infatti gli user-generated-content (negativi) ottengono spesso un ottimo posizionamento sui motori di ricerca e quindi hanno sempre più il potere di incidere sulla profittabilità dell'utente e sul valore del brand e dell'azienda.

Secondo Blackshaw, quindi, bisogna presidiare l'advocacy del brand e qualunque componente dell'azienda deve essere coinvolto nell'ascoltare le conversazioni che si realizzano online, in modo da migliorare il customer service, fornire risposte veloci alle lamentele dei consumatori, identificare i loro bisogni e le nuove opportunità di prodotto. La Nielsen ha anche definito il  "Brand Advocacy Quotient" (BAQ), un indice ottenuto combinando i risultati ottenuti sia analizzando i CGM che i siti e i sondaggi, per determinare se e quanto i consumatori sostengono o denigrano un brand.

Per ottenere e mantenere una buona brand advocacy, le aziende dovranno essere oneste e trasparenti. Quelle che lo stanno già facendo hanno già ottenuti buoni risultati, anche dal punto di vista del ritorno economico, come dimostrato da una ricerca realizzata dall'Aberdeen Group e presentata da Jeff Zabin. Secondo questa ricerca, infatti, l'84% delle aziende che monitorano I social media e li integrano del processo di decision-making hanno visto migliorare anno per anno la customer retention, aumentando il ROI degli investimenti sui media e la capacità di predire il comportamento dei consumatori.

We've said it many times: Businesses would be better off not spending a dime on marketing for year and re-investing all these funds in their product/service/brand experience. And a new study by Nielsen CGM/Homescan Buzzfacts makes exactly that point:

"Advertising and promotions, whether in traditional media or online, play only relatively small roles in driving consumers to post content about products and services.

This is the somewhat humbling reality, according to survey data from Nielsen CGM/Homescan Buzzfacts. Asked what motivates them to post such content on a Web site, blog or message board, just 18% cited seeing a promotion for the product, 12% cited seeing an ad on TV or in print, and 7% cited seeing an ad or video clip on the Internet.

So what is driving product/service consumer-generated media/CGM? In two words, "product experience."

Over half (55%) of consumers said they posted because they had used and liked a product; 28% because they'd used a product and didn't like it, or wanted a refund; and 27% said they'd read a comment about a product on a site, blog or message board and responded to it."

Pete Blackshaw, EVP of Nielsen Online's Digital Strategic Services (DSS) group continues:

"It's vital that agencies and marketers understand that when you put all the data in a blender, the root causes behind why consumers talk are product quality and process issues," Blackshaw said in an interview with Marketing Daily. "Advertising and marketing generate a certain amount of word of mouth, but by and large, brand reputation rises and falls based on the quality of the product and the service wrapped around it."

Marketers, he says, tend to "over-romanticize" the power of tactics like "sensational viral campaigns."

At heart, marketing is about delivering values. Now, everybody defines values differently. It could be money, time, the little things in life, a racing heart - whatever you define as value is valuable to you. Marketing's job is to deliver what's missing in the value chain and fill that gap.

If your product is mediocre, has design flaws, offers people not a lot of value and doesn't fill an immediate need - do you think a mass marketing campaign will convince people to buy it? You have so many gaps to fill, your marketing dollar is better spend exploring the real needs of people, how they define value, redesigning your product/service and offering something that kills the competition. Or starts a new market.

If your product is amazing, offers flawless design, has immediate value and fills a desperate need in people's lives - Go ahead and mass market your product. The only gap to fill is to make the world aware of your awesome product. That's the point where marketing/advertising delivers value. Because people will appreciate to find out about your product.

Marketing/Advertising is a gap filler. Just like R&D, Product Planning, etc. Use it wisely. Or, rather save your money.