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Listening is the New Killer Marketing App: New Communispace Research Shows Private Online Communities Boost Customer Engagement and Increase Trust, Word-of-Mouth, Purchase Intent

Posted on: Monday, 8 May 2006, 12:03 CDT

WATERTOWN, Mass., May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Companies searching for the holy grail of customer engagement -- the emotional bonding, trust and word-of-mouth that result in genuine loyalty (as opposed to "satisfaction") and that drive sales growth -- will find new answers in a research study of 20 different private, online customer communities conducted by market leader Communispace. Study highlights were released today, and include findings that 82 percent of community members said they were more likely to recommend the client company's products since joining its community; 76 percent felt more positively about the company; and 52 percent reported that they were more inclined to purchase products from the sponsoring company.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060118/NEW020LOGO )

In the study, titled "What Companies Gain from Listening: The Effect of Community Membership on Members' Attitudes and Behavior in Relation to the Sponsoring Company," researchers analyzed surveys among 2196 members of 20 online communities built and facilitated by Communispace for a wide range of brand-name companies: 13 business-to-consumer (B2C) communities in the consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical, photography products and services, hospitality, home appliance, financial services, fast food, and Internet service provider industries; and seven business-to-business (B2B) communities in the technology, insurance, health care, publishing, and financial services industries.

"Our clients have always gained enormous insights, product and service ideas, and marketing and positioning feedback from customers in their online communities. Now we're demonstrating how engaging customers in these communities builds deep relationships, fosters loyalty and enhances word of mouth," explained Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. "This research shows that when companies really listen to customers and make it easy for them to have a say, customers become incredibly connected with the sponsoring company; they trust the company more, provide more thoughtful and detailed feedback, and recommend the company's products to more people. Communities are becoming the core of successful customer engagement."

Unlike public communities such as MySpace or blogs, private customer communities are password-protected sites where up to 400 invited customers and/or prospects spend an average of 30 minutes a week over a period of months brainstorming ideas, offering advice to one another and to the sponsoring company, sharing experiences, commenting on market trends and helping the company figure out business issues. Communities are emerging as a 24/7 strategic marketing asset that ensures that customers are at the center of marketing and communications planning, innovation and research.

Other highlights of the research study: [Note to editors: see accompanying graphics: http://www.communispace.com/documents/Communispace_Gains_from_Listening.pdf]

* 76 percent of community members surveyed indicated they felt generally more positively about the company since joining the community; * As specific drivers of overall positive feelings, 75 percent of the community members surveyed said that they felt more respect for the company sponsoring the community; 63 percent said that membership had increased their trust of the company; * 91 percent felt that their community enabled them to give candid feedback and suggestions to the company; 89 percent said they felt the company is truly concerned with what its customers have to say; * Based on the research of loyalty guru, Fred Reichheld ("The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth," 2006), Communispace has begun routinely asking the "ultimate question" -- how likely customers are to recommend a company -- of prospective members before they join communities, and then asking it again after they've been in the community for at least three months. Initial analyses indicated that 82 percent of members asked said they were more likely to recommend the company's product than before joining the community; * While word of mouth marketing was not a primary objective of most communities at the time of the survey, 59 percent of members reported talking positively with friends and family about their community experience and the sponsoring company.

More details on the study in a forthcoming white paper will be available by contacting Communispace at http://www.communispace.com/perspectives.htm .

About Communispace

Communispace Corporation, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is a leading marketing technology and services firm that specializes in creating online communities used by major corporations to build long-term relationships with their customers. A pioneer in the exploding field of customer engagement (e.g., blogs, word-of-mouth, communities, consumer-generated media), Communispace builds and runs private, branded customer communities that generate high-ROI insights, innovation and customer loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 200 customer communities for global corporations including: Kraft, American Express, Avon, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, Reebok, General Motors, State Farm, Starwood Hotels, General Mills, The Chicago Tribune, PepsiCo, and many more. Recently, Communispace has won a number of awards including the Stevie Award for Best Woman-Owned Company of the Year and the CRM WizKid Award for innovation by Beagle Research (2006). Gartner named Communispace a "Cool Vendor" in a March 2006 report spotlighting companies with innovative approaches for understanding and deepening relationships with customers. http://www.communispace.com/

For more information: Janet Swaysland, jswaysland@foghound.com, 617-549-9366 Lois Kelly, lkelly@foghound.com, 401-333-5464

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Diane Hessan http://profnet.prnewswire.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=10021607

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060118/NEW020LOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Communispace Corporation

CONTACT: Janet Swaysland, +1-617-549-9366, jswaysland@foghound.com, orLois Kelly, +1-401-333-5464, lkelly@foghound.com both for CommunispaceCorporation

Web site: http://www.communispace.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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