c:\documents and settings\davidh\my documents\project metal services v11 us

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Consulting and Analytic Services

Nick Rappolt

Project Metal

Tel: 0208.846.0777

The Triangle

Level 5

5-17 Hammersmith Grove

London W6 0LG

Project Metal Consulting and Analytic Services

Page 1

Project Metal’s Approach to Consulting and Analytics

The combination of the rapidly fragmenting media landscape and the increasing volume of user generated content has made it harder than ever for companies to manage their brand reputations online and to find and connect with potential customers. Chief Marketing Offices and Chief Communications Officers are asking the same questions they always have:

• Where is my brand being talked about online? • What is being said? • Is it positive or negative? • How much are people saying? • Who are the online influencers? • What is the impact of these conversations?

However, given the changing media landscape, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the answers. With the relentless pressure on marketing budgets and the shift from paid media to earned media, it is important to move beyond traditional metrics, and start measuring the business impact of conversations across all digital networks.


Page 2

Project Metal Consulting Digital Reputation Management & Market Engagement

Project Metal provides strategic advice to companies on how to manage their online reputations,

engage with audiences, monitor conversations, and creates a framework to measure impact against

business objectives. Management and engagement services are provided on an ongoing basis.

Project Metal’s methodology is anchored in an in-depth understanding of client’s business, as well

as data collation and analysis pertaining to relevant client markets, competitors, and influencers.

CASE STUDY: CONSULTING

Project Metal under took a digital consulting project for Amadeus in October 2009 to define its

digital strategy at a global level and analyze its online reputation. Project Metal used its analytics

capability to understand market trends, points of influence and to identify key conversational

trends that Amadeus can join to increase its presence in conversational media. Project Metal

consultants held interviews with key staff members, from sales all the way through to customer

service, to gain a comprehensive understanding of departmental views on social media. In

addition, Project Metal consultants conducted an audit of the company and all relevant competitor-

branded digital channels.


Page 3

Project Metal Analytics Services

The four core media analytics products and services that Project Metal has developed are:

• Digital Mindshare Mapping

• Influencer Index

• Conversation Mapping

• Impact Optimization

Project Metal’s Analytics Methodology Dynamic Conversation Analytics (DCA)

With the explosion of social media and mainstream media's transition to an online format, it is now

possible to apply the exact same measurement strategies to PR that have been effective for other

forms of online marketing for over a decade. By integrating web analytics, search analytics,

audience data with traditional online media content measurement, Project Metal has developed a

methodology (Dynamic Conversation Analytics - DCA) that can directly measure the financial value

of earned media campaigns in addition to measuring the impact on online reputations. Project Metal

believes that this data-driven approach will help brands optimize the way they connect with people

online.

Project Metal’s Methodology takes a holistic view of all earned digital media (published content and

user contributed content) and looks at the role of earned media across the entire marketing funnel

from awareness right through to a purchase.


Page 4

Digital Mindshare Mapping

Project Metal has developed a simple visual snapshot of a brand’s presence across all digital

networks. It measures its presence and favorability across Published media and plots that against its

presence and favorability in Contributed media.

Published media is defined as the content created and distributed to an audience by a publisher,

including everything from mainstream media to small blogs, and is characterized by the publisher’s

control of both the creation and distribution of content.

Contributed media is defined as the contributions of readers of published media who contribute

content. This contributed content might take the form of comments, forums and discussion board

conversations and other forms that enable user participation such as tweets.

The map enables a client to quickly compare how visible its brand is relative to its competitors

across published media and consumer generated media. While the volume of mentions in published

media contributes to brand’s market awareness, the volume of mentions in consumer-generated

media is direct reflection of the level of engagement with the brand. This in turn is an indication of

the level of preference that exists for the brand.


Page 5

Influencer Index

Project Metal has also developed a rigorous approach to creating an Influencer Index, which

enables a company to identify the key influencers for a brand on any given conversation topic.

Project Metal takes a holistic approach across all digital influencers looking simultaneously at both

influential publishers, whether they are bloggers or online media, as well as influential communities

and individuals in those communities. It creates an Influencer Index that ranks all digital influencers

taking into account seven different variables:

• Traffic

• Post Volumes

• Citations

• Comments

• Recommendations

• Web Analytics Data

• Search Analytics Data

CASE STUDY: INFLUENCER INDEX

Project Metal worked for a client that was trying to increase its share of the virtualization

conversation. By developing an Influencer Index, Project Metal was able to identify a ranking of

not just the most influential media outlets but to also identify a number of forums and individuals at

specific companies that were clearly significant influencers in the conversation. As a result of this,

the client could then refocus its communications efforts outside of its traditional media and blogger

channels.


Page 6

Conversation Mapping

In addition to measuring the volume and tone using Digital Mindshare Mapping, Project Metal has

also developed a Conversation Map, which defines the conversations that exist around any one

brand. These conversations can be broken down into Published Content and Contributed Content.

For example, a lot of the Published Content might focus on the financial performance of the

company but the Contributed Content might highlight customer service as the single biggest

conversation topic.

CASE STUDY: CONVERSATION MAPPING

Project Metal did some work for Sybase to not just identify key influencers in the Enterprise

Mobility market, but to understand the specific focus of the conversations. By developing a

Conversation Map, Project Metal was able to identify specific conversations that were associated

with different types of media. This makes it possible to develop a targeted content strategy to

increase its engagement with the different types of digital media outlets.


Page 7

Impact Optimization

Using a combination of media analytics, search analytics and web analytics, Project Metal is able to

measure how much traffic is generated to a brand’s website through any mention of the brand in

earned media. For any given campaign, Project Metal is able to identify the traffic generated by

activities across different types of earned media including, online media, blogs, YouTube videos,

and mentions in online communities, regardless of whether there is a link in the article or post

concerned.

As a result, it is possible to determine which types of stories, for example news stories or product

reviews, generate the most traffic or the most profitable traffic. Similarly, it can help a company

understand if an article in a lifestyle magazine or a specialist trade blog generates more relevant

traffic. By using Project Metal’s Integrated Data analytics capabilities, it is possible for companies to

compare the customer acquisition costs for an earned media campaign to the cost of a paid media

advertising campaign.

Earned Media Unique Visitors Conversion Rate

Estimated Cost

Per Acquisition

Mainstream/Online 230,334 8% $5.50

Blogs 78,219 15% $4.00

Forums/Message Boards 11,758 16% $1.50

Microblogs 1,898 3% $1.50

Video 1,765 4% $0.50

CASE STUDY: IMPACT OPTIMIZATION

We recently conducted an impact optimization project for a client in the financial services industry

that sells consumer-facing products on a branded website. In this study, we sought to uncover

what earned media drove traffic and sales and what type of written content produced the highest

conversion rates. To do this, we integrated web traffic referral data, demographic data, content

analysis data, and applied statistical modeling to determine what types of sites and posts was

most effective at driving visitors to the site and converting those visitors to sales. The key findings

revealed that over 17% of people who clicked through a link on one of the lifestyle sites ended up

converting into a sale. This was a significantly higher rate than for personal finance sites. With this

new information, the client effectively increased revenue by altering the mix of its earned media

outreach.


Page 8

Project Metal Biographies

Nick Rappolt

Nick Rappolt is head of Project Metal in EMEA and has worked in marketing communications for the

past twelve years. He has created communications campaigns for a mixture of blue chip companies

ranging from Toshiba, Avaya, Motorola and Nomura through to start up companies such as Playfish,

Facebook, The Cloud and the world’s leading technology VC company, Accel.

Nick began his career at the advertising agency TBWA Simons Palmer in 1998 before moving into

Public Relations in 1999 and joining Firefly, at that time the leading independent technology PR

company in the UK. At Firefly, Nick helped launch and create campaigns for some of the early dot

coms including Sportinglife and Totalbet. After leaving Firefly Nick jointly set up a strategic

communications agency, Credo Communications, which worked with clients ranging from Sage and

BBC Ventures through to Capita and again, Motorola. Prior to Project Metal, Nick was a director,

heading up accounts including AMD EMEA, creating digital strategies for clients such as Amadeus

and preparing the framework for Bite’s own global digital strategy.

David Hargreaves

David has over twenty years experience in the communications industry, consulting at the highest

level across numerous blue chip brands including AMD, BBC, Cisco, Facebook, HP, Sybase and

Sage. Having worked both extensively in London on EMEA campaigns and more recently in North

America, David has a truly international perspective when it comes to delivering digital consultancy

and campaigns. Prior to his role heading up Project Metal, David was head of Bite in NA and global

head of digital strategy. David joined Bite four years ago when Bite acquired Credo Communication

he founded with Nick Rappolt. David’s passion for digital runs deep, having set up a joint venture

between a PR Agency and Digital Agency over ten years ago which lead the way in developing

Online Press Centres. David graduated from Oxford University with an MA in Chemistry.

Nils Mork-Ulnes, VP of Research

Nils is responsible for the management of Context Analytics. In his role he provides consultancy to

clients, and directs and develops research methodologies across all of Context’s accounts. Nils has

more than fifteen years of experience managing research and consulting projects globally for clients

such as Cisco, AT&T, Sony, and Microsoft. Areas of research specialization include: brand and

corporate reputation management & measurement, social media marketing, and marketing

optimization analysis. Before joining Context, Nils was a director at Broadlane, a business process

outsourcing firm in the health care technology industry; a venture strategist at KS2, an early-stage

technology investment fund; and a research manager at SMG, a market research firm specializing in

the telecom and software industries.


Page 9

Seth Duncan, Senior Research Manager

Seth specializes in statistical modeling and return-on-investment analysis, working with a broad

group of Fortune 500 clients, ranging from consumer electronics companies to clients in financial

services and healthcare industries. Prior to joining Context Analytics, Seth worked as a Statistician

at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University of California at San Francisco,

conducting statistical analyses for Phase III clinical trials and acting as the lead statistician for

numerous clinical trials. Seth has also taught statistics and research methodology at San Francisco

State University. Seth received a B.A. in psychology from Reed College, an M.A. in psychological

research at San Francisco State University, and completed graduate level coursework in advanced

statistical analysis at Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Perrin Doniger, Research Manager

Perrin Doniger is a Research Managerwith Context Analytics, specializing in social media research.

She conducts ongoing online reputation studies for several Fortune 500 companies and has served

as a new media research consultant for clients in the consumer electronics, biotechnology,

semiconductor, and travel industries. Prior to joining Context Analytics in 2005, Perrin worked in the

film and television industry, including as a research assistant for Emmy Award-winning documentary

film director Ken Burns. She received a Bachelor’s degree with distinction in history from Yale

University.

Heather Edwards McRobbie, Research Manager

Heather primarily focuses on communications strategy for technology companies, and clients have

included a range of Fortune 500 clients in the telecom, Web security and hard- and software

industries. After receiving a B.S. in physics from the University of Washington, Heather worked in

plasma research laboratories before returning to school for an M.S. in public relations from the

Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Prior to joining Context, projects included

communications strategy and policy analysis for science education in central New York, and science

writing for various research facilities and university health programs.

Eric Persha, Senior Research Analyst

Eric specializes in Context Analytics’ primary research and traditional and global media

measurement. He was most recently based in Mumbai, India where he managed Context's APAC

operations. Eric's client responsibilities while at Context Analytics include providing strategic

communications insights and managing projects in the computing, consumer electronics and

financial services industries. Prior to Eric’s role at Context he conducted retail environment and

primary research in the automotive industry for DCI Marketing, helping automotive manufacturers

connect more effectively with consumers through point-of-purchase elements, showroom displays

and integrated marketing campaigns.


Page 10

Michelle Powell, Senior Research Analyst

Michelle is a Senior Research Analyst with Context Analytics and specializes in traditional and social

media research, as well as emerging consumer, and Macro trends. Prior to joining the Context team,

Michelle worked as a Brand Strategist for BBDO West in San Francisco. With her professional

background in advertising, she provides industry insight on the changing media landscape—

specifically around earned vs. paid media impressions and their relative consumer engagement.

Michelle received a Bachelor of Science from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo in

Social Sciences with an emphasis on Anthropology.

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