The 2008 Olympics have already been marked by both shattered records and controversy, making it the perfect event to cover in Social Media. CI tracked eight selected Beijing Olympic sponsors— Visa, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Lenovo, UPS, General Electric, Kodak and Panasonic— over a selected time period of 8/2 to 8/13. We compared each sponsor’s Olympic-focused conversation from the six days prior to the Olympics (8/2 to 8/7) to the first six days of the Olympics (8/8 to 8/13).

Three sponsors in particular stand out as having achieved a significant Social Media lift: Coke, McDonald’s and Visa. Coke, when referenced near the Olympics, experienced a 17% lift from the first time period to the second. A great deal of conversation surrounded their Bluetooth campaign, which is the first instance of Bluetooth marketing in Olympic history.

Activity around McDonald’s and the Olympics increased 51%. People posted most often about their TV commercials and their large, temporary store on the Olympic Green.

Visa’s Olympic-focused activity increased by an outstanding 141%, showing the huge success of their campaign. Their role as the sole payment method of the Olympics, as well as their mid-Olympics release of the special-edition Michael Phelps commercial contributed to this drastic increase in Visa’s buzz.

Tonality was overall positive for all selected sponsors, although UPS/Olympic conversation accumulated a bit more negative sentiment when pro-Tibet protestors stormed a French UPS store on 8/6.

Although negative sentiment for the sponsors continues around human rights issues, the majority of these posts do not single out specific sponsors. Individually, these eight sponsors have been generally well-received by the overall public, and many have shown an increase in Social Media activity as the Olympics continue.

CI will continue to track the Olympics through the completion of the games and follow up with our new findings.

– Jackie Wood

Tags: Brand Management, Mass Media/Culture, Social Media Insights, Social Media Monitoring // 1 Comment »

Collective Intellect’s President Tim Lefkowicz kicked off the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics by appearing on the Fox Business Network (FBN) Money for Breakfast Show anchored by Alexis Glick which follows pre-market business headlines. FBN sought Collective Intellect’s opinion on the results of the pre-Olympic Sentiment around the major brands that are advertising at the Olympics, and we are expecting to return later in August with more interesting insights.

Referring to CI’s latest report, Glick, asked about how the traditional Big 3 of VISA , Coca-Cola and McDonald’s were doing heading into the Beijing games. Joining Lefkowicz and Glick was Mark Sunshine from First Capital to discuss these three big sponsors from the financial market perspective. Sentiment calculations list positive sentiment for VISA, Coca-Cola, and McDonalds. The other brands mentioned as part of this pool are GE, Kodak and Panasonic.

Lefkowicz predicted that “VISA was the Brand to beat running up to the opening ceremonies” based upon CI’s reporting.

A few highlights from the conversation are summarized below:

Visa had a positive sentiment of 67%, the largest share out of the Big 3, which can be contributed to VISAs campaign with the “Come Together” Olympics narrated by Morgan Freeman as well as another AD which features US Olympic team swimmer and gold medal contender Michael Phelps.

McDonald’s themes are much focused media campaigns on Olympic China advertising like “I love it when China wins.” Mr. Sunshine mentioned that McDonalds is actually down playing their Olympic involvement in the U.K. to avoid possible boycotts over alleged human rights violations by China.

Coca-Cola’s “Bird’s Nest” campaign does well with their theme of cooperation, and their embracement of social media and the younger demographics. Coca-Cola is a mainstay of the Olympics.

For the complete version of FBN’s “Gold Medal Marketing Show”, watch the following clip: http://snurl.com/3cw7y

Tags: Blog Analysis, Brand Management, Mass Media/Culture, Social Media Monitoring // Add Comment »

With only four contestants left on American Idol, the voting really gets interesting, and becoming part of the “bottom three” is almost unavoidable. Again, Syesha Mercado leads the way as the blogosphere’s most likely to be voted off. The blogosphere claims Jason Castro as the least likely to be voted off. See ya! Castro

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There appears to be more uncertainty than usual in the mainstream media regarding the Pennsylvania pre-primary polling. Pundits are pointing to the ambiguity that comes with the 300,000 newly registered voters. The old “cell phone” argument is making a comeback, too.

So a lot of doubt is being cast on the poll numbers, specifically that Clinton will be able to maintain her significant lead. Our survey of the political blogosphere will only serve to cast further doubt on traditional polling methods. Real Clear Politics, which averages all the traditional polls, is giving Clinton a 6 point lead.

Our data shows that it will be much closer: Clinton 51%, Obama 49%. So close in fact, that I wouldn’t be surprised that when the results come in, those numbers could be flipped. Using our traditional methodology, Obama is ahead in the Pennsylvania-based blogs, but the national average allows Clinton to pull slightly ahead.

Many within her own party are calling for Ms Clinton to step down if her margin of victory is close, so a 2% win would be a pyrrhic victory at best. This should become very interesting indeed.

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The blogosphere’s take on American Idol was much more accurate this week. Kelly Lee Cook, whom was voted off of the show, was the blogosphere’s second lowest ranked contestant. Syesha Mercado was in both the actual bottom three and the blogosphere’s bottom three. Brooke White rounded out the actual bottom three and was fourth worst among the blogosphere’s bottom three. All in all, the blogosphere’s ranking was fairly reflective of the actual outcome of this week’s American Idol.

Tags: Analyzing Consumer Generated Media, Mass Media/Culture // 1 Comment »

Techcrunch posted a blog about us.

“The service is most useful for marketers who need to understand how well their brands are being received by the media and general public. It tracks discussions about particular topics being posted on news sites, blogs, and message boards. For instance, MTV could decide to check out what people think about “The Hills”. Collective Intellect will use graphs and lists of discussion items to show how sentiment has changed over time, and where the bulk of discussions come from. The analytics can be refined by choosing narrower topics, such as actress Audrina Patridge, to see what people are saying about her in particular.”

• TechCrunch blogged us. Sweet, except for that UI piece. http://tinyurl.com/6b284y

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Micahel Johns’ departure from American Idol last week threw just about everyone for a loop. This week the blogosphere stands in about the same place as it did last week with Syesha Mercado and Kristy Lee Cook at the bottom of the pack. However this time, Syesha is given the least support from the blogsphere as its lowest ranked contestant.

Surprisingly, David Cook makes the blogosphere’s bottom three this week. Perhaps another shocker is in the mix.

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The data was there to support what was thought to be a done deal to send Kelly Lee Cook or Syesha Mercado packing, but a shocking twist of fate voted Michael Johns off of American Idol last night. Whether the “vote for the worst” is continuing this year or an attempt to keep the most beautiful people on the show is happening, clearly the contestants surrounded by the most negativity and lack of talent were not holed into the “bottom three.” Carly Smithson’s inclusion in the group also brings great suspicion and unpredictability to the show’s voting. Of our predicted bottom three, only Syesha was actually stuck in the worst of the best. Much of the blogosphere is just as shocked as we were when the facts didn’t add up:

“…it was so unfair. Sure, his ‘Dream On’ the other night wasn’t fantastic, but, please–Kristy Lee Cook is still there. Syesha Mercado is still there. And my Michael is gone. You tell me: is this a ‘throw him to the wolves’ performance? It’s really not! Even Paula was shocked.” -Hollywood Offender

“By now you have probably all heard that our boy, Michael Johns, was eliminated. If you hadn’t, well yes, he was sent home BEFORE Kristy Lee Cook, Syesha Mercado, and Jason Castro…While we knew with Michael, as we did with Chris [Daughtry], that they probably would not make it to the finale, we thought for sure that talent would prevail and they would make it to the top four. But no, Michael would succumb to the same fate that Chris did. Obviously, the people that are voting aren’t voting for the total package.” - Tube Talk

Tags: Analyzing Consumer Generated Media, Mass Media/Culture // 1 Comment »

With Collective Intellect’s technology, we have taken a leap into one of the first scientific, non-poll American Idol predicitions. By evaluating the activity level and positive/negative sentiment of posts on each contestant, we are able to quantify the likelihood of each contestant to be among the “bottom three” and ultimately predict which contestant will be voted off of the show from week to week.

As expected, Kristy Lee Cook leads the pack as the most likely to be voted off according to our data, but Syesha Mercado is within a margin of error and just as likely to be voted off.

On Kristy Lee Cook:

“And if another great singer goes home while she stays, it’s a complete crime. She can top herself every week, and still she won’t be good enough… and it’s soooo far past time to send the girl home. For the love of all that’s holy and just and right and good… Send Horsegirl HOME!“ -claena1

“My point is, Cook will definitely get voted off in the next couple weeks, so why would anyone who isn’t a direct relative watch the show with any kind of eager anticipation until that happens? It’d be like taking ‘The Apprentice’ seriously before all the minority candidates are voted off. Or taking ‘The Apprentice’ seriously ever, in retrospect.“ -Best Week Ever

Brooke White is predicted to join Kristy Lee Cook in returning to the bottom three, but will likely be saved from being sent home as the third lowest ranked contestant this week by Collective Intellect’s data. So it doesn’t look good for the women. On the otherhand, Michael Johns and Jason Castro have the softest spots, as the least likely to be voted off of the show this week.

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Robin did an interview with the Wallstreet Journal regarding coca-cola and superbowl advertising. You can check it out here, and I’ve included a short excerpt below.

Questions for Hal Curtis
And Pio Schunker
By SUZANNE VRANICA
March 11, 2008 3:36 p.m.
Super Bowl Sunday may have been five weeks ago, but marketers are still trying to evaluate just how well their commercials preformed during the game.

A new study released this week shows Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl ad staring Charlie Brown was the most talked about ad online two weeks after the gridiron matchup, according to Collective Intellect, a company that analyzes blogs to see what people are posting online about products and brands.

The Coke spot, set at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, features Stewie and Underdog balloons fighting over a huge Coke balloon. The two characters bounce around the New York skyline bumping up against office and apartment buildings. The twist: the two are outdone by Charlie Brown, who swoops in and grabs the beverage. The spot cost about $2.3million to create, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Robin Seidner, the director of marketing for Collective Intellect, says Coke’s ad had 350 blog post the day after the game, while Pepsi’s ads had 250 posts. Some ad executives believe the spot has a good shot of winning an award at the Cannes Lions festival, which is the most prestigious honor in the industry. It’s something new for the Atlanta beverage giant, which has been hampered by a lack of sizzle when it comes to its advertising in the past few years. Coke has struggled to create ads that please the younger set and at the same time don’t turn off older consumers.

Tags: Analyzing Consumer Generated Media, Brand Management, Mass Media/Culture, Social Media Metrics // Add Comment »