The idea is simple: powering traditional qualitative and quantitative research with real-time data.

When we were invited to speak at Warc’s Datacentric Conference, we thought it would be interesting to discuss one of the latest research pilots we have been running in the area of augmented research.

The objective of the O2 Brand Graph pilot was to mine social media data in a way that would allow us to connect it to audience studies.

What follows is an initial exploration of how we can you use social media to augment a segmentation model with real-time data.

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Many companies are learning to listen to conversations related to their brands and competitors.

However, there’s more to social media intelligence than tracking conversations by keywords.

Current social media research focuses on opinion mining and declares itself unable to map audiences. But I think we are giving up too soon.

This inability appears to be born from an assumption in the research industry that you can’t use social media to map audiences because you don’t have access to demographics.

Far from being reality, this assumption is mostly due to three reasons:

1. The architects of social media mining platforms are often not led by a research agenda, but by a tech agenda – this leads to a tendency to productise and mass sell platforms, which can run in counterpoint to an openness to experimentation;
2. Researchers are often not makers or technologists – therefore, they are often lazily happy with what they are given in terms of tools;
3. Researchers do not always know what can be done with existing social media data streams, such as basic machine learning to figure out gender and age groups.

However, mapping audiences through social media IS possible. It’s just not in the way we used to research audiences before.

It’s all in the way you screen your audience and sample it, and in social media sampling via demographics doesn’t work. But there are many other ways of defining and screening an audience. In this study we explored one way.

Instead of tracking contents by keywords (“horizontal” tracking – any content mentioning specific keywords and keyphrases), we looked into mining social media contents and behaviours by audiences (“vertical” tracking – any content generated from a set of sources, regardless of the features of the content).

Whilst tracking social media by keywords allows us to get an understanding of how a specific topic is discussed online, tracking social media by users allows us to build a map of an audience, its hubs, its behaviours and its interests.

We called it the Brand Graph: the conjunction of the Social Graph (defined here as the network of people who are within 2 degrees of separation from the brand through social media channels) and the Interest Graph (the network of interests, topics, activities and behaviours associated with the nodes of the social graph).

***

What can you do with it?

• Dynamically understand who your audience is and how is it changing, in real-time;
• Dynamically understand what your audience is about, what makes an interesting topic and how broader cultural conversations affect it;
• Segment your audience in clusters based on topics of interest, passions, life stages, professions, online behaviours etc.;
• Plan and fine tune the content of your social media strategy;
• Engage with your audience in the right way (channels, mechanics, times of the day, tone of voice etc.);
• Assess the impact of your strategies in real-time.

Going forward, we see the brand graph becoming one of the key tools to build a seamless connection between your brand and its audience, networking it with its passions and synching it with its behaviours to maximize relevance and impact.

***

So, how did we go about building the O2 Brand Graph?

First of all we had to identify a specific pool of social media users and then analyse their public activity.

For the purpose of this pilot we limited the online audience to one channel – Twitter. We focussed on Twitter because of the granularity of the data publicly available around contents and behaviours.

Sample: We defined our sample as the entire audience of O2 on Twitter, i.e. 58.339+ Twitter users who were following @O2 (as of November 2011).

Methodologies: Statistical analysis, Semantic analysis, Network analysis, Netnography and Content analysis.

By looking at the profiles and the activity of this audience we were able to map the O2 Brand Graph on Twitter.

***

We grouped the findings in three areas:

Mapping the Social Graph

We wanted to identify sub-communities within the O2 audience on Twitter.

Because Twitter is an interest graph, we assumed that following someone implied sharing the interest of the followed user.

Therefore, a subcommunity would be identified by a high concentration of horizontal connections within the graph.

To get this information we had to map:

1. 58,339 users following @O2;
2. Who was following each of the 58.339 users;
3. Who else in the graph any of the users was following other than O2 or the primary O2 follower.

For the sake of this exercise we looked at a sample of 1000 users. We then selected the top users with less than 2000 followers. We then mapped their connection to O2. And finally mapped who was following them.

Finally we mapped how the primary and secondary followers were connected to each other user in the graph.

We ended up plotting a graph of 1 million nodes, 1 million primary connections and 574,278 horizontal connections within the graph.

The blue links represent how primary and secondary followers are connected to each other within the graph.

By looking at the density of the connections we could identify hubs within the audience and points of high concentration of similar interests.

Once we knew where the hubs were we than isolated then and looked into the clusters.

We spotted 10 clusters and profiled them, identifying sub communities around topics such as fashion, music, rugby, technology and marketing.

Mining the interest graph / profiles and behaviours

We then analysed the static data of 58,339 profiles on Twitter gathering insights around 10 key dimensions:

-       Who are they (life stage, profession, passions that define them etc.)?

-       When did they join Twitter?

-       Where are they based?

-       Where do they tweet from?

-       How often do they Tweet?

-       When do they Tweet during the day?

-       How many people are following them?

-       How many people are they following?

-       How often are they engaging in conversation with fellow users?

-       How influential are they?

Mining the interest graph / interests and passions.

Finally, we analysed 3,120,371 public tweets, 122,220 tweets/day (avg), generated by the @O2 followers over one month (November 2011).

Based on this corpus we were able to gather real-time insights around a series of questions such as:

-       What does the audience talk about?

-       How and why do the topics change over time?

-       Which contents are the most engaging (i.e. generate the highest number of reactions)?

-       Which contents get shared the most?

-       Which social media channels are the most popular amongst the audience?

-       Which news sites are referred to more often?

-       Which brands and products do they talk about?

-       Which adverts do they mention?

-       What movies are they into?

-       Where does the brand fit in this landscape?

-       How do they talk about the brand’s main competitors?

All this information is constantly updated to the second and can be sliced according to any timeframe, audience segment, audience location and basically any dimension of the audience profile or of the audience social graph.

***

The deck above outlines some of the initial data gathered and the insights uncovered. But as you can imagine this is only a glimpse of what we could learn with this kind of study. An example? Slice the topics of conversation of your audience by time of the day and you will know who would you be talking to and what you should be talking about at what time of the day.

As the last image in the deck – “The Measurers” – alludes to, with social media data we are at the very beginning of a new era of audience understanding powered by a new science of measurement.

Pilots like the Brand Graph are initial attempts at defining the boundaries of what can be measured, what could and SHOULD be measured and what we can learn from it to do a better job.

Feedback and questions welcome, belligerent challenges even more so.

Over the past five years there has been a great deal of Social Media experimentation going on in big companies – usually within the marketing team and generally at quite a junior level with the help of advertising, digital, PR agencies and self proclaimed gurus. It has been a period of trial and error and not a lot of strategy!

According to a recent survey of blue-chip companies*, a legacy of this experimentation is that the average company now has 178 official social media accounts! With very little co-ordination or consistency between different regions, product lines or business units there is huge potential for confusion for the customer.

In fact, the result in the growth of social media and experimentation is the sheer amount of data it has produced and the white noise it creates. In a nutshell, companies have been struggling to determine what social interactions are useful and profitable because there is so much data.

Hal Varian, Google’s Chief Economist
“We used to be data poor, now the problem is data obesity, between the dawn of civilisation and 2003, we only created five exabytes of data now we’re creating that amount every two days”

Companies are drowning in a sea of consumer status updates, videos and blogs that has left many brand owners feeling cast adrift from the certainties of the broadcast age. Essentially, many companies fear that they have lost control of communication with consumers.

But this is changing in 2011…it is clear the BIG companies have understood that social media is too important to be left to the marketing department. Over the past 12 months they have been busy creating lots of new senior social media roles** with cross functional roles and significant new budgets.

Jeremiah Owyang defines these new roles as the rise of the Social Corporate Strategist:

“The business decision maker for social media programs – who provides leadership, roadmap definition, and governance; and directly influences the spending on technology vendors and service agencies, While this position doesn’t exist officially by title in every corporation today, this role will become pervasive in the coming years!”

So why is this important for the research industry?

When you look at the priorities of the new Corporate Social Strategist it becomes clear that there is a large role for Research Companies to play as objective and strategic partners.

Altimeter asked 140 corporate social strategists to give their top 3 social strategy objectives

*

The 3 areas where we can add value as research companies is clear:

1. Start to create robust ROI models for their social activities
2. Gain insight from social media to help develop better products and communications
3. Launching ongoing listening and social media research programmes to stay close to consumers needs

Of course experimentation will continue but we are entering a new era where decisions will be made within the framework of an overarching Social Media Strategy and will be driven by the analysis of data and not just on gut instinct. This provides Research companies who understand social media data with a clear opportunity to become strategic partners and help shape how companies can become more adaptive to consumers real-time needs.

* Altimeter Report: 2011 Internal Goals In Corporate Social Strategy

** @marshallk/social-strategists.

Face research director Francesco D’Orazio worked with Ben & Jerry’s Europe brand director Jochanan Senf on a co-creative approach to planning. This case study looks at the challenges and key opportunities of using a co-creative approach and explores the idea of creating planning playgrounds.

For more information on our methods, check out our Processes section or get in touch.

In an urban environment, our perceptions of how to manage our time are changing. Days and nights blur into one another, and many feel the need to fill any ‘in transit’ moments with activity. As our desire to remain ‘switched on’ intensifies, our brains and fingers remain ever active and this accelerates our life’s speed. This perpetuates our need to rely on services, apps and products to help us cope with the stresses and strains of time poverty and demanding lifestyles. The ‘space’ around convenience is more critical than ever but the delivery of convenience is changing with the onset of innovation and seamless platforms of technology. This blog looks at smart technology and services that are emerging as important life props for the hyper active.

Maximising Time

Talking to a fellow Facer this week, I recommended she get an au pair. “It makes life so much easier” I said. The only thing is she doesn’t have kids. Time wastage solutions is an emerging sector set to grow this year. For the time poor, waiting in for a delivery, or holding on for an hour to a Customer Service line for an hour is not only frustrating but often impossible. The little chores that are a nuisance for one person are being swapped with others who have more time on their hands.

An increasingly popular US website offers a unique service to busy urban executives and has been gathering momentum since it was launched in 2008. Users post their tasks on the Taskrabbit website, along with what they’re willing to pay, and a ‘runner’ picks it up and does it for them. The tasks range from snow clearing (currently very popular) through to waiting in for home deliveries. According to Gawker last week, Google employees are now being offered free credits on Taskrabbit to take away the strain of ‘the little stuff’ so they can concentrate on being really clever. Runners tend to be Stay at home parents, students and retirees.

On a similar theme, various home services have also been spotted in the US (Du Monde and A Step Above) and UK (wewaitforyou), where reliable house sitters are on hand to help tradesman and take deliveries during work hours. More luxury services provide temporary relief to the stressed out with a portfolio of staff to cater for every need: chefs, butlers, personal assistants and even in home spa therapists.

For those looking forward to the home comforts upon their arrival, A Step Above will light the fire, put away the shopping or run you a piping hot bath for when you get back home.

Robotic vacuum cleaners have been around for a while, but boffins at Dundee University have taken the idea of convenience one step further by patenting a process using nanotechnology, for self cleaning carpets. Put the kettle on, and kick back, as one chore can be crossed off the list.

Immediate Solutions

For Gen i, life is about information, interactions and immediacy. This has implications for any company, in terms of ensuring Customer service delivers against users’ increasing demands as well as a rethink for brands’ distribution channels.

If you live in the States, then Uber cabs is a neat concept. 1. Download an app to your smart phone. 2. Next time you need a cab within in 5 minutes, send a text with your pick up address. 3. No need to pay – the fee is automatically deducted from your credit card. PayPal have linked up with various technology platforms to enable wireless, automated transactions for everyday purchases. The idea of mobile phones becoming a kind of “digital wallet”, used for payments and identity purposes, has been around for a while but will benefit Londoners later this year when an Oyster card app on smartphones will enable users to pay and use their phone for carefree access across London’s transport system.

Expect to see V-Commerce rise in 2011. Vending machines have always focused on convenience but normally at a compromise. As technology has improved, and stock is more in tune with trends, we have spotted some brilliant examples of well placed machines offering high quality, well needed products. From freshly baked canned bread and umbrellas in Tokyo, Diaper Bag Basics in Buffalo, US to healthy, nutritious meals in the Netherlands and Spain.

Image via www.toxel.com

Life Made Simple

Just Cook It! meal ranges have proved popular across Europe for the last few years but in Oz, a franchise retail concept has popped up in key cities, offering fresh, quality and easy to prepare meals sold in well located outlets.

2010 saw more retailers offer the click and collect service, where shoppers bought online and pick-uped in store. Collaborations and partnerships will mean that this year, you will be able to buy from John Lewis but pick up in Waitrose, or purchase a surfboard online and pick it up when visiting Devon.

This weekend, supermarket giant Tesco announced the opening of the UK’s first drive-thru store in Baldock, Hertfordshire, as a pilot. The service is aimed at customers who do not want to carry out their weekly shop themselves, but who also do not have time to wait at home for an internet delivery. For a flat fee of £2, they will be able to drive to a dedicated area in a Tesco store at a set time and pick up their shopping without having to leave their car. Laura Wade-Gery, chief executive of Tesco dotcom and Tesco Direct, said:

‘This will be especially popular with busy mums who have the school run and children’s activities to manage. It also offers a solution to parents who want to avoid the challenge of shopping in a busy store with children in tow but can’t afford the time to stay in for the shop to arrive to their door. We also expect it to help young professionals.”

More than one million UK households regularly order goods from Tesco’s website.

Tesco invested heavily in dotcom technology last year and Jan 6th saw the first ever TV ad where the retail giant plugged their smartphone grocery apps. Launched last October the barcode scanner allows customers to add out-of-stock and other items to their online shopping basket by scanning the barcodes of their empty items at home.

Laura Wade-Gery, CEO of Tesco.com, explained the new feature: “We’re always looking for ways to make life easier for customers and for busy mums in particular. The barcode scanner will make online ordering much quicker for those that have an iPhone. This is the perfect solution for iPhone lovers that are always forgetting to add items to their shopping list or haven’t the time to even write one!”

The app is free to download from the App Store, and requires a Tesco online shopping account.

Implications for Brands:

• Be ever accessible and available both virtually and in real time
• View time as currency – how can you extend the amount of ‘free’ time dedicated to pleasure and entertainment?
• Look at apps and other technology platforms to deliver Convenience based upon immediacy, interactions and simplicity

Over the last couple of weeks Francesco has been touring Europe presenting ‘Designing Relevance: How 
Open 
and 
Agile
 research
 methodologies 
can
 help
 complex
 organisations 
stay 
relevant’ at Esomar’s Online Research conferences. The presentation focuses on the open innovation process we used to complete a recent project with Nokia.

Fran was joined on stage by Tom Crawford from Nokia for the Esomar Online Research 2010 conference in Berlin before making his way down to Milan for the Esomar On-Line Reseach Event: L’Evoluzione Continua (The Evolution Continues). Check out the presentation below!

Getting Under the Skin of Men.

Taking place on the 9th November the event will consist of four short presentations from industry experts and Hub members. This will include research findings from our new co-creation community for men – Betterama.

We have been working closely, both on and offline, with men to understand how they view the communication aimed at them, especially around the Christmas period, and what they think can be done to make it more appealing. Speakers include:

• Andrew Marrs, Head of Audience Insight @ IPC Media
• Craig Harries, Planner @ Farm Communications
• Paul Cox, Managing Director @ Opticomm Media

The Event will taking place:

Tuesday 9th of November @The RSA, 8 John Adam Street, London, WCN2 6EZ

If you would like to join the discussion please RSVP to info@co-creationhub.com

Spaces are limited so please get in touch ASAP. For more information please click here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Last week Riki, Francesco and Andrew headed up to Edinburgh to present at the Cello Financial Seminar – Money Talks. The evening covered current consumer attitudes toward banks and wider financial brands, enticing a lot of debate and discussion in process.

Our presentation focussed on how people talk about money in social media:

• Money is one of those ‘objects’ so pervasively embedded in our everyday experience that it disappears from our perception as an autonomous entity.
• Only when something happens we focus on its meaning and realize once again that it goes way beyond being just a measuring unit.
• Money is a physical thing and a cultural construct. It represents at the same time wealth and human needs. Money is a ‘social representation’, like myths, religions and any other system of collective signs.
• This makes social media the richest insights field ever and an unprecedented opportunity for the financial industry.

View more presentations from Face.

Changing Consumer Landscape

This is to be expected as the consumer landscape is changing fast. It is common knowledge that the advent of Web 2.0 has given consumers the confidence and the ability to take more control of the relationship they have with brands. It has given rise to the term “empowered consumers”, a new breed of customer who have a strong belief not just in their own voice but also in their own creativity, ideas and self-expression. It is no longer about what your brand does to the consumer but what consumers are doing to and with your brand.

Impact on Financial Services Industry

This trend manifests itself in the Financial Services Sector in a number of ways. The first is that the empowered consumer of today sees openness as key to building trust and accountability with the brands they engage with. This is critical for banking brands where events from the last two years have seen trust and fairness eroded. This has been picked up by the FSA’s ‘fairness’ objectives where banks are now being tasked to provide fair products and deal with customers in a fair way. Secondly there is a drive to streamline consumer interactions and make customers lives easier by combining products. The social web will have a big impact on financial services marketing, sales and business communication processes with demand from consumers for new service designs and interfaces. This will enable consumers to draw upon a wider base of advice from places such as twitter, opinion aggregators and financial forums and will lead to real time customer service becoming a top differentiator. And finally customers are moving away from conventional advice channels (IFAs, banks) and moving more towards peer advice because social media has made this possible in ways that were not there before.

New Rules of Consumer Engagement

All of this calls for a new set of rules for consumer engagement and requires the industry to look outside its own category to the world of FMCG and Technology to find better ways of involving consumers in the research and innovation process. And they won’t have to look too far or too hard as the idea of co-creation – doing things with people not at people – has been embraced by big companies for a while. Co-creation takes consumer involvement to another level by bringing brands and consumers together on the same level and involves consumers at the beginning of the process rather than at midway or at the end. This can take place in on-line communities or offline in workshops or both. It is through our co-creation communities for young people namely Headbox and for women aged 25-50, namely Mindbubble, that we have been using to co-create a range of new products. The most exciting example has been our co-creation of Axe/Lynx’s 2010 variant in terms of both the product and also the fragrance – something that has never been done before – which was launched globally earlier this year.

Some important guiding principles

As with all new approaches though there are some significant lessons that we have learned along the way. The first is that when you are bringing leading edge consumers together with brands it is vital to have a coherent and well structured process that gets the best out of your combined creativity so that it delivers better outputs. The second is that within this structure it is important to have a mix of online and offline methodologies because they produce more ideas of better quality and are able to involve consumers more quickly in what you do. It is why we have inverted the traditional research approach, starting the process by gathering quality insight from thousands of consumers rather than just a few. Our proprietary tool Pulsar has allowed us to listen and to observe to what consumers are saying in real time on the web as well as measure the influence these conversations are having. Being able to combine qualitative and quantitative research in this way means we are able to help brands respond much more quickly to the speed, volume and quality of consumer interactions that are taking place with their brand, product or service.  And finally the role of the consumer is critical; treating them as active participants in this process and giving them as much responsibility with direct involvement throughout the entire process. If the Finance Industry wants to stay ahead of their consumers and the fast changing landscape they occupy then they would be wise to adopt the principles and philosophy of co-creation.