TalkTrack WOM study to be launched in Britain

The firm’s TalkTrack programme was launched in the US in 2006 and analyses more than 350,000 brand conversations annually across all major consumer categories and in all channels, both online and offline.

Designed to closely monitor and measure the marketing-relevant attributes of actual consumer conversations, TalkTrack received the Advertising Research Foundation’s Grand Innovation Award in 2007.

The IPA said the announcement of the launch of Talk Track in Britain comes in response to the overwhelming enthusiasm regarding Keller Fay’s research efforts in the UK during the past year.  These include a nationwide word of mouth study that was jointly commissioned by Starcom Mediavest, ESPN and News International, as well as a word of mouth module in IPA’s 2010 Touchpoints3 survey, the result of a partnership between Keller Fay and IPA. 

“Word of mouth has emerged as a critical element in marketing strategy and has proven to play a strong role in determining brand success,” said Ed Keller, chief executive officer of the Keller Fay Group.  “Through TalkTrack Britain, marketers will now have ongoing access to a comprehensive snapshot of brand conversations across the UK.”

The TalkTrack pilot study conducted in May surveyed 2,578 respondents ages 13-69. Some of the findings of that study include:  the average British consumer discusses 70 brands per week, with 81pc of conversations occurring face-to-face; personal experience drives 83pc of brand-related talk, but media and marketing play a key role, generating 47pc of WOM; close to two-thirds of conversations are ‘mostly positive’, with more than one-third of WOM including an active recommendation to buy or try a brand/product.

“The unprecedented nature of the TalkTrack methodology enables us for the first time to evaluate brand conversations at various critical levels:  who is doing the talking, where the conversation takes place, what types of media help drive word of mouth and how conversations vary across different industries,” said Stewart Easterbrook, CEO of Starcom Mediavest Group UK

“The industry is searching for a more systemised and holistic approach to measurement of WOM,” said Lynne Robinson of IPA. “TalkTrack is ideally placed to fill this need for greater accountability, enabling word of mouth to grow as a medium in the future.”