Ogilvy announces new social media model

With two-thirds of the world's internet population now visiting a social network or blogging site, engagement through social media has become an important component of the marketing strategy for marketers. This has led Ogilvy PR's global social media marketing group, 360° Digital Influence, to announce a new business objective-driven model that provides a measurement framework for social media effectiveness – Conversation Impact.

This unique tool is designed to help marketers evaluate the impact of social media with comparability across different types of advertising and communications. The model was introduced to the measurement community at The Advertising Foundation's "Audience Measurement 4.0 Symposium" in June 2009 in New York.

"Word of mouth (WOM) has been generally recognised as one of the most effective drivers for purchase and opinion," said John Bell, global managing director of Ogilvy PR's 360° Digital Influence.

"With online word of mouth growing so rapidly through social media it has become critical for marketers and communicators to have a solid measurement model to guide them strategically. This type of simple, cross-channel comparative framework is critical to answering media allocation questions, communication choices, and knowing which social media efforts are really having an impact."

Created by Ogilvy PR's 360° Digital Influence Group, Conversation Impact measures the impact of WOM on influencers and consumers that drive brand positioning and preference in social based on traditional attitudinal marketing objectives – Awareness, Preference and Action. This comprehensive model simplifies and standardises measurement in a way that is readily recognisable to marketers, while accommodating new data and measure of word of mouth marketing.

Ogilvy PR has already begun implementing its new measurement model on the expanding cadre of 360° Digital Influence clients within the global network.