Eavesdropping on a conversation at a party about the content of the host’s vol-au-vents is far more likely to show you an accurate picture of how they are being received than if the host asks the question.  But before the web, eavesdropping on a global scale was simply not possible for brands.

Targeted research, designed to gauge a likely reaction to new developments, product enhancements or innovation remains vital to brand development.  But targeted research based on real knowledge of the underlying conversation is so much more effective.

In a world once dominated by the print media, companies used to look at their “coverage” and judge the mood of the influencers – then how that mood might be affecting the decisions of the consumers. But today, we can listen to consumers directly, as well as tracking the key influencers who may very well be consumers themselves.

A company that carries out its own conventional research – monitoring competitor activity and tracking its campaigns against those of the opposition – is doing a lot of the right things; but unless it is also listening, it is missing a fundamental part of the equation.

Targeted eavesdropping can be used to inform every aspect of the marketing cycle – from research to creation, from planning to execution, from pricing to promotion. It can also help identify the sites and the outlets that have the potential to become the most powerful advocates.

All of which means that Oscar Wilde also had a point when he said, “There’s only one thing that’s worse than being talked about and that’s not being talked about.”  But of course, that only applies if you are listening in the first place
This entry was first published in ReputationOnline.co.uk