Companies that harness social media to collect customers’ feedback on products and services aren’t just ahead of the curve — they’re part of the “contribution revolution,” Pete Blackshaw, Nielsen Online Executive Vice President, argues in his latest Ad Age column.
Blackshaw cites a recent Harvard Business Review article by Scott Cook, founder-chairman of software developer Intuit, that credits customer participation with generating “tangible enterprise value.”
Intuit, Blackshaw notes, has created an innovative user-participation model that places “Live Community” user forums on every page of its TurboTax software.
Intuit has also put company resources …

Nina Stratt
There are two types of word-of-mouth occurring online: conversation resulting from natural interactions between consumers regarding a brand experience, and conversation resulting from a specific campaign or event that encourages it. WOMMA classifies these two types of conversations as Organic versus Amplified word-of-mouth.
As a long-term strategy for building brand buzz it is important to focus efforts on organic word-of-mouth. According to a Nielsen Online survey, the majority of consumers state that they post information online because they use the product and either like it or don’t. In general, organic …

As reported by Nielsen Online, YouTube delivered roughly 5.3 billion total video streams for the month of September, followed by Fox Interactive Media  with 242.4 million streams, and Yahoo! with 212.6 million.

Rank
(by total
video streams)
Brand
Total Streams
(000)
Unique Viewers
(000)

1
YouTube
5,352,898
81,865

2
Fox Interactive Media
242,428
19,250

3
Yahoo!
212,626
22,053

4
MSN/Windows Live
164,776
10,975

5
Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network
162,924
6,148

6
hulu
142,261
6,323

7
ESPN
127,794
8,433

8
CNN Digital Network
117,690
9,441

9
MTV Networks Music
97,199
4,757

10
Disney Online
87,116
9,145

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 2008)

Note: Includes progressive downloads and excludes video advertising.  September results have been updated since their original release, reflecting the removal of video advertising streams from September Yahoo! results.

View the press release.

Good news for Sen. John McCain’s campaign: cheap, but effective TV advertising options abound, according to a new report by Nielsen PreView.
Chief among these thrifty advertising alternatives – the auto-themed Speed Channel, which Republicans are 52% more likely to watch, compared with the average American.
In comparison, Republican voters are 48% more likely to watch FOX News and 33% more likely to watch Country Music Television. 
The takeaway: well-placed cable advertising can reach core Republican constituents at a more favorable CPM.

CBS’s “CSI” and “Survivor: Gabon” were the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Thursday, October 23, 2008.
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was sandwiched in between the two, in second place.
Game two of the MLB World Series, which aired on FOX, claimed fourth place, with almost 12.8 million viewers, on average.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
19,492,000

2
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
14,451,000

3
SURVIVOR: GABON
CBS
13,309,000

4
FOX WORLD SERIES GAME 2(S)-10/23/2008
FOX
12,777,000

5
ELEVENTH HOUR
CBS
11,849,000

6
E.R.
NBC
8,818,000

7
SNL:WKND UPDT 10/23(S)-10/23/2008
NBC
8,796,000

8
UGLY BETTY
ABC
8,704,000

9
OFFICE
NBC
7,976,000

10
LIFE ON MARS
ABC
7,861,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 23, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 15 million viewers, while FOX took second …

In the home stretch leading up to the presidential election, Sen. Barack Obama is easily out-advertising his presidential opponent, Sen. John McCain.
In seven key swing states — Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Obama placed 150% more ad units (53,049 v. 21,106) than McCain between October 6 and October 22, 2008.
Obama’s advertising has been most prolific in Florida, where he ran 15,887 ads between October 6 and October 22, 2008, outpacing McCain’s 4,662 ads by 240%.

According to data from Nielsen IAG, a Bluefly tie-in with Bravo’s “Project Runway” was the most recalled new “hybrid” ad during the four weeks between September 15 and October 12, 2008.
Hybrid Ads include customized ads, branded promos, vignettes, interstitials, and micro-series where sponsor messaging is combined with program or entertainment content.
Recall refers to the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, a hybrid ad’s sponsor.

Rank
Brand
Hybrid Ad Description (Seconds)
Associated Program
Recall Index

1
Bluefly
You can win $10,000 shopping spree on Bluefly.com; Who should not go to Fashion Week?; get a Bravo …

CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” were the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, October 22, 2008.
Game one of the MLB World Series, which aired on FOX, was sandwiched in between the two, in second place.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
15,012,000

2
FOX WORLD SERIES GAME 1(S)-10/22/2008
FOX
14,634,000

3
CSI: NY
CBS
14,390,000

4
FOX WORLD SERIES GM1-PRE(S)-10/22/2008
FOX
9,729,000

5
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
7,980,000

6
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,756,000

7
DEAL OR NO DEAL-WED
NBC
7,608,000

8
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,556,000

9
KNIGHT RIDER
NBC
7,226,000

10
DIRTY SEXY MONEY
ABC
5,745,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 22, 2008).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of almost 14 million viewers, while CBS took second place with almost 12.4 million average …

When it comes to PC game titles and DVD sales, football and wrestling titles outperform all other sports, according to recent data from Nielsen.
The Giants/Patriots match-up in “Super Bowl XLII” grabbed two spots in Nielsen’s ranking of the top 10 sports DVDs so far this year, while pro wrestling titles pinned down the rest of the list.
On the gaming side, the Madden franchise dominated the competition, with three titles in Nielsen’s top 10 ranking.
Top 10 Sports DVDs, Jan-Sept 2008

RANK
DVD TITLE

1
NFL SUPER BOWL XLII

2
ROCK-MOST ELECTRIFYING MAN IN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT

3
LIFE AND LEGACY OF STONE COLD STEVE …

Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
Many in the media were hoping for a Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers World Series match-up, but the fans in Tampa and Philadelphia certainly aren’t complaining. 
In Philadelphia, the fourth largest U.S. TV market, 35.7% of all local households tuned in for the first game of the Series Wednesday night.  Viewership in the city of brotherly love has grown steadily throughout the playoffs.
That upwardly mobile TV ratings trend was also evident in the Tampa Bay market, where local …