Perception Analyzer Dial.Log

My favorite London Underground stop

Dial Testing President Obama's Healthcare Speech to Congress

Democracy Corps has a summary and video overlay of the dial testing conducted for President Obama's healthcare speech to congress on September 9. The Perception Analyzer was used for the dial test, which included closed-ended categorical and attitudinal questions as well as continuous, moment-to-moment feedback from 50 independent and weak partisan voters in Denver, Colorado. Read the overview and watch the video and learn more about moment-to-moment dial testing and political research utilizing the Perception Analyzer.

Dial Testing President Obama's Healthcare Speech to Congress

Democracy Corps has a summary and video overlay of the dial testing conducted for President Obama's healthcare speech to congress on September 9. The Perception Analyzer was used for the dial test, which included closed-ended categorical and attitudinal questions as well as continuous, moment-to-moment feedback from 50 independent and weak partisan voters in Denver, Colorado. Read the overview and watch the video and learn more about moment-to-moment dial testing and political research utilizing the Perception Analyzer.

The Power of the Herd (aka Groupthink)

Research Magazine has posted an interesting article on the truthfulness of respondents. One of the concepts in the article is called "the power of the herd" where respondents knowingly or unwittingly make decisions based on influence from others in the group or in order to better fit in. This concept is also knows as "groupthink," which is how we position it here at MSInteractive.

The Perception Analyzer offers many benefits in qualitative research settings and greatly reducing groupthink (or the power of the herd) is one of the most significant. Rather than asking questions and only having respondents give feedback aloud (thus immediately influencing each other), the Perception Analyzer allows each respondent to respond individually and privately before engaging in group discussion. These private responses, collected by the Perception Analyzer and made instantly available for real-time review, allows the moderator to know what each respondent really thinks before engaging the group in discussion. If the discussion doesn't map to the private responses, the moderator then has the opportunity to dig deeper and try to understand why. The reasons why someone might give one response privately and another publicly is as important (if not more so) than even their truthful response alone.

ISX in Action on MTV

We are very excited that our partner, Rob Dyrdek, made ISX - Instant Scoring eXperience the focal point of the season finale of his MTV show, Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory. Watch the episode online and see how great ISX's first street skating competition turned out and learn more at www.ISXscoring.com.

Musings on Advertising

Jim over at Manage This posted an interesting riff yesterday on ads that take a risk and make you think. It seems he's a sucker for the cerebral and asked for other ads or slogans that make you think.

Well, I've got one that I believe takes a risk, but doesn't make you think AT ALL and I love it anyway. It's the Hillshire Farms GO MEAT! ads, and specifically Bang Bang Choo Choo Train.

People who know me know I am somewhat obsessed with this commercial and recommend I seek professional help. But I think it's just perfect. The environment (a private jet) for people to be discussing, let alone singing about, lunch meat is absurd and quickly catches your attention. The colors are vibrant and the pace is fast. And here's where I lose a lot of people - the song is catchy and really quite funny. I mean, "They roast the turkey with the honey, then slice it up - it's money!" How perfect is that?!? Not to mention, "Bang bang choo choo train, eat lunch meat on the aeroplane." That's gold, Jerry. Gold!

GO MEAT!

Commercials May Make Television More Enjoyable

A new study, as reported by The New York Times, shows that watching television programming with commercials make the shows seem more enjoyable to the viewers than watching straight through without commercials.

It's interesting research and I understand the whole delayed gratification angle, but from my own experience it is such a pleasure to buzz through commercials that I get more frustrated than ever when I have to watch something in real time and sit through the ads. While me sitting in my overstuffed leather chair drinking a beer and continuing to marvel at the awesomeness that is TiVo is far from scientific, I sure can't imagine more enjoyment derived from bringing television commercials back into my life.

You?

I Shall Pass Throught This World But Once...

In a tribute to Jerry Lewis during the Academy Awards television broadcast, Mr. Lewis recited the following quote in a voice over:

"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again."

This is a fairly famous quote and likely familiar to many of you, but this was the first time I'd heard it. While there are a number of variations with a word changed here and there, this version seems to be most commonly accepted and it is credited to a French Quaker missionary from the 1800's named Stephan Grellet.

Those words have really stuck with me since I first heard them and today, in honor of Seth Godin's 3000th blog post (in which he asked that fellow bloggers post something really interesting today), I thought I'd share them with you.

This also happens to be the day when my company is donating a significant amount of equipment and services to a benefit for the Portland Schools Foundation to help raise much needed money for the Portland school system.

We have always done some pro bono work each year and this year it feels even more important. From a business and marketing perspective, it's a great way to get our name out there, especially when traditional marketing budgets are being tightened. But equally important (and perhaps more so) is that there are so many great organizations out there desperately in need of raising money, and trying to do so during the worst financial environment of our time. So as a company that has the means to be of assistance, this feels like one of the most important times to heed the words of Monsieur Grellet.

And while I have a long way to go to match Mr. Godin's 3000 posts, I'd like to thank him for the inspiration to do good in business and in life.

ISX - Instant Scoring eXperience

MSInteractive is pleased to announce the release of
ISX - Instant Scoring eXperience^TM an exciting new judging and scoring solution for televised sporting, entertainment and reality programming
built upon MSInteractive's
Perception Analyzer dial technology.

ISX is a partnership between MSInteractive, skate icon and MTV television star, Rob Dyrdek, and action sports television and event producer, Paul Taublieb, of Media-X International, Inc, and will make its worldwide debut on Rob's upcoming MTV show, Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory.

For more information on how the solution works, what applications it's designed for and how to integrate it into your upcoming event, please visit the ISX website at www.ISXscoring.com.

Deliberations

Deliberations is a blog written by Anne Reed, who sits on the American Society of Trial Consultants (ASTC) communications committee with me.  It was also honored by the ABA in the ABA Journal Blawg 100 and is quite well read in the legal community.  Anne covers the latest jury and litigation research as well as a broad range of other topics.  Her current lead story covers the most recent edition of “The Jury Expert” which if the official journal of the ASTC.

If You're Going To Do Something, Do It First Class

by Eric Alzuhn

In a post earlier this week, Matt Blumberg, CEO of Return Path, hit the nail on the head when he wrote, "if you’re going to do something, do it first class." It was clearly evident, as I worked with Matt and his team on the IN Conference for email reputation, that his staff embraced this philosophy at every turn. They understood the difference between hosting an event and creating an experience – a critical element in marketing your company and your event and having them stand out from the all the competition.

Through the years, I’ve worked with many companies to make their events First Class. It’s not all about big shrimp and big name entertainment, it’s the total experience you create for your attendees from the time they receive the "save-the-date" email until they board their flight to return home. It may require a shift in thinking and execution because getting your executive team on board isn’t always easy – after all, doing it the same way you did it last year (and the year before that) is much easier then thinking outside the box and taking a risk. But you don’t have flip your entire event program on its head to make measurable progress - start slowly if you have to and your audience will thank you.

Here are a few things I've learned over the years and try to share with our clients:

• Know your audience and what they expect to get out of attending your event. If you don’t know, ask them. 

• Have a plan with carefully thought-out goals and objectives that can be tracked and measured. 

• Support your plan with attention-getting messaging and presentations.

• Develop visual aids with PowerPoint (or Keynote) for supporting talking points and key ideas, but be careful to not create an event that’s "Death by Slideshow." You know what I’m talking about - we’ve all been to one!

• ENGAGE and INTERACT with your audience making them part of the presentations. Ask them if what’s being discussed is relevant to them, ensure that the information presented is being retained and have some fun! Don’t simply talk at your audience and lost their attention to PDAs and the free Wi-Fi. The Perception Analyzer is a great tool to help accomplish this.

• Tell stories (either personal or business related) that support your topics and/or helps the audience to understand new and complex ideas. Show passion about the topics you’re presenting and don’t read directly from your slides or a prepared script. You’ll build credibility and connect with your audience.

• Measure your results - this often begins with online registration, and may not be complete until your attendees have the opportunity to implement what they learned. Using the Perception Analyzer as a paperless survey tool delivers instant results and helps the environment. And don’t tell yourself, "Now I have 11 months before I have to start thinking about next year’s event." Plan early because there is much to do in order to make your event great.

Congratulations Return Path on a well executed event. You’ve raised the bar!

Election Night - Somewhere Over the Atlantic

MSInteractive's Marquis McNeil spent election night on a transatlantic flight to Europe to conduct research later that week. He learned of the outcome of the election en route and received quite a welcome at his destination. Here is how he described the experience:

"It was with mixed emotions that I boarded my flight on November 4, from JFK to Rome, en route to Malta, as I knew the results of the election would be determined while I was 40,000 feet in the air.   Once on board I asked the flight attendant to wake me up if she found out who won. Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean I was gently awakened and told, 'All results are not in, but there is 99.5% certainty that Barack Obama will be the next president.' Twenty minutes later the pilot made the following announcement, 'To all the U.S. citizens on the flight, you have a new president.' (Long pause) 'His name is Barack Obama.'  The people on the plane erupted!  There was applause for almost a minute accompanied by hooting and hollering.  It was during my connection in Rome where I read the headline for myself:  (Headline translation: 'And the world changed')

(Source: Newseum.com)

The most amazing and memorable part of the news of our next president was how I was greeted and treated in Malta.  While personally I was touched deeply by this historical event, the Maltese were also quite taken by it. For my entire stay in Malta, each time I opened my mouth and people realized I was an American their normal, friendly demeanor skyrocketed.  At one point close to 20 people hovered around me saying 'Barack Obama!' while giving me the thumbs up and patting me on the shoulder.  I felt that at any minute they were going to pick me up, put me on their shoulders, and parade me around!  This response to my nationality was a recurring reaction from all I met.  I felt like I was Barack’s personal emissary, there to accept congratulations on his behalf, or that I was the person who ran the race and just won.   It was an intense experience not only as an American, but as one of the few Black Americans in that city.  This was reinforced by one gentleman approaching me with not only the standard 'Barack Obama!,' but also quoted, 'I have a dream.' 

Hand in hand with the felicitations I received was the concern expressed about our participation in Iraq, followed by the question regarding when we would be pulling our troops out.  I told them I would have to get back to them on that one.

The Hilton, where I stayed, was fantastic and sent me the local newspaper announcing the election results with a note that read, 'Congratulations to your president.'  They also told me that the night of the election they left the bar and lounge open until the results were in, which was around 5:00 am their time. When the results were announced the atmosphere resembled midnight on New Year’s Eve. Everyone was jumping up and down and kissing each other.  Also, the night before I checked out, I let the concierge know I would be leaving in the morning.  He thanked me for staying and in very broken English, expressed his hope that I enjoyed my stay, wished me good luck, and good luck to my president.  He then shook my hand, offered the now familiar thumbs up, and the last words out of his mouth were 'Barack Obama.'

While I would have loved to experience this historic event in my own country, the Maltese provided me with a unique, memorable opportunity to feel like 'President McNeil' for a few days and like I was the most important Black American in Malta.

By the way, Malta is truly a lovely country."

 

Election Night - New York

MSInteractive's Eric Alzuhn was in New York City on election night 2008.  While working from his Times Square-area hotel room, he decided to venture out and experience that historic night in one of the world's great cities. He said the mass of humanity and excitement in the air was as you'd imagine and he provided me with the following commentary and photo essay:

"Some say business travel isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, but my travels to New York City on November 4, made for a truly unforgettable experience – watching the election results stream in on the jumbo screens in Times Square and Rockefeller Center (or on this night known as Election Plaza).

Thousands of people packed the streets and the area surrounding the ice rink awaiting the declaration of the new president. All eyes were focused on the broadcasts of NBC and MSNBC and as you'd exptect, the pageantry surrounding the event was in true New York style – awesome!

Everywhere you looked, something was happening – veteran news anchor Tom Brokaw delivered the play-by-play, political pundits added their color commentary,  crowds cheered, loved ones embraced and children on their fathers' shoulders watched the events unfold first-hand. 

Each time the network awarded a state to a candidate, eyes went from the jumbo screens to ice rink to the GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza ('30 Rock').

The side of the GE Building reproduced the race to 270 electoral votes with red and blue 'window washing' carts and banners – creating a thermometer effect. The carts climbed up the building releasing a tail of fabric while their operators manually flipped score cards in conjunction with NBC’s predictions.

The ice rink – closed for skating – had a large map outlining the United States applied on it.  When an individual state was awarded to either Obama or McCain, a crew caring a red or blue graphic cutout of the state shuffled across the ice to fill in the map and watered over it to freeze it to the ice.

 

 

Then, at precisely 11:00pm ET, with the close of the west coast polls, Barack Obama was announced our 44th president.  The crowd erupted in cheers that reverberated off the sides of the buildings.  Dancing and celebrating  continued the streets until well past 2:00am. It was truly an unforgettable evening!"

Election Night - Grant Park

Election Night 2008 found MSInteractive's Bruce Beal, a Chicago resident, right in the middle of all the action at Grant Park. I asked Bruce to share what the experience was like and this is what he said:

"You may have heard that we Chicagoans refer to our city’s Grant Park as 'the city’s front  yard.'  Usually we say this because that’s where the formal gardens, big foundation, and museums are located.  It's where many of our public festivals are held, including our famous Chicago Jazz Festival and The Taste of Chicago.  The phrase took on new meaning for us last week though, as Grant Park played host the a massive graduation ceremony of sorts, as Illinois' junior U.S. Senator made his acceptance speech in front of a crowd of 250,000+ very proud 'neighbors.'  I was there, with my wife and several friends, soaking up that unique moment in history.

Also, you may or may not know that Chicago is nicknamed 'The Windy City' because of the way we like to brag on our city.  Well, that night in Grant Park, I have near seen my city any more proud or any more grand.  It was our usual diverse Chicago crowd, young and old, rich and poor, the well-known and unknown, all huddling together to hear one of our own make the biggest speech of his life.  There were people using walkers and wheelchairs and babes riding on their parents’ shoulders.  There were the native-born and Chicagoans whose lives literally began all over the world, in places as distant as Russia, China, Pakistan, or South America.  Just for a moment that evening, all of the struggles to get 'here,' and all of the strains and friction of our great city, faded away under the joy of one of our city’s finest being elevated in an election to the nation’s highest office.  Regardless of one's political affiliation, president-elect Obama represents a lot of things to a lot of people – but to the Chicagoans gathered that night in Grant Park, it was more celebrating how a family from the old neighborhood had worked hard and made good.  That’s why I tell people it felt like I was at a picnic – with 250,000 of my closest friends."

Perception Analyzer Around the World: KEEVOON, Israel

KEEVOON Research, Strategy & Communications is a survey research and strategic communications consultancy based in Jerusalem, Israel. Founded by Mitchell Barak, KEEVOON specializes in consumer research and political consulting throughout Europe and the Middle East. MSInteractive is fortunate to have KEEVOON as one of its clients and below Mitchell tells us a bit about his business, the current political climate in Israel, their viewes of U.S. politics, and how he uses the Perception Analyzer in his business.

DP: Hello, Mitchell. What is your background and how did you get into political research? 

MB: Hi, David. I studied Political Science at George Washington University before moving to Israel in 1991.  Since arriving here I have worked in various Government offices serving 3 Prime Ministers; Yitzhak Shamir, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon.  I was always involved in speech writing, developing messages, and writing talking points for media interviews and appearances.  About 5 years ago I left Government service and moved into the private sector utilizing my experience in messaging and combining it with survey research.  I conducted surveys and focus groups with both Arthur Finkelstein and Frank Luntz.

DP: What is the current political climate in your region of the world? How has it changed in the last five years and how do you see it changing in the next five years? 

MB: The political climate in Israel is always changing.  Governments here lack stability and are not broad based enough to stay in power.  Governing becomes secondary to keeping the coalition alive.  As far as the region, Israel is a democracy in a sea of dictatorships, monarchies, and entities headed by terrorist organizations.

DP: What do people in your region make of the U.S. political system since 2000 and what is the impression of our current election cycle? 

MB: Everyone in Israel is very interested in the elections in the US.  For some reason Israel is a campaign stop during all election campaigns by all major candidates for national office.

DP: How did you become familiar with the Perception Analyzer and how is it being received in Israel and other regions in which your work? 

MB: I was first introduced to the Perception Analyzer by Frank Luntz who used in the 1988 election campaign here.  Since then I have seen how it has developed and improved.  Israelis are excited about the Perception Analyzer and in a short time I have done sessions for Channel 10 News on one of the political parties and for one of the largest Israeli consumer product companies. While it's in Hebrew, here is a news story about recent work I did utilizing the Perception Analyzer for the Kadima Party Primaries for Channel 10 news.

Before and After

I always find it fascinating to see the before and after of a company's website and logo redesign. So for those who are interested, I thought I'd share what we recently did at MSInteractive.

First the logos...

For the MSInteractive logo we just wanted a refresh. The general look and feel were good, but the font and color palette needed some work. Orange and blue didn't really communicate what we're all about, so we decided on a strong, progressive red with true black. This color palette, along with shades of gray, will now carry over into all MSInteractive and Perception Analyzer brand assets.

BEFORE

 

 

AFTER

The Perception Analyzer logo was in need of a full makeover and has definitely come a long way. We needed something that complimented the MSInteractive logo, while still giving the Perception Analyzer its own clean and modern identity.

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 

 

And finally, the website. This is, by far, the most drastic change we made. The old website was no only dated and overly simplistic, but it never really gave the visitor a way to fully understand what the Perception Analyzer is all about, how it can be used, what true benefits it offers and how MSInteractive may be of service to them. It also looked like poo (technical term for websites of lackluster appearance).

BEFORE

AFTER

 

So that's it in a nutshell. Months of work and thousands of dollars boiled down to one blog post, but we feel the end result much better represents our company and our offerings to clients and partners around the world. Hope you like it.

All new Perception Analyzer website

As I mentioned previously, MSInteractive and the Perception Analyzer have been undergoing a brand and website makeover and I am happy to say the website and new brand identity have been launched.

The MSInteractive website homepage now features a Flash demonstration where visitors may interact with a Perception Analyzer dial. The website is also divided into the four main areas in which the Perception Analyzer is most commonly used: Market, Media & Public Opinion Research; Litigation & Trial Consulting; Events & Meetings; Education & Academic Research. There is also extensive information on the system software, hardware, applications and uses, history of the methodology, and ways to work with us.

Our goal was to effectively and efficiently explain what the Perception Analyzer is all about and how clients may work with it (and with us). As with anything like this, it's been a long road, but we're certainly pleased with the end result and hope it serves our clients and partners well.

Perception Analyzer featured on Good Morning America

Good Morning America did a feature on Frank Luntz's use of the Perception Analyzer throughout the election cycle. Specifically highlighted was how moment-to-moment feedback from speeches and debates can be used to find key messaging and talking points that either resonate with voters or turn them off.

As much as I greatly appreciate the exposure, I find I'm turning into Mr. Whipple from those Charmin commercials whan I constantly day, "Please don't call them squiggles."

Perception Analyzer Around the World: Posicione Market Research, Brazil

Something people are often surprised to learn is that the Perception Analyzer is used for market research in more than 30 countries around the world. To shine a spotlight on regions of the world where the system is used and some of the more interesting applications, I’ll be posting a series of interviews with international clients of MSInteractive.

 

For this first installment I interviewed Eugenio Giglio, founder of the political research firm, Posicione Market Research in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Below Eugenio talks about the political climate in Brazil, how they perceive the U.S. political system how his firm uses the Perception Analyzer in its research.

DP: Hello, Eugenio. Please describe your firm and the work you are doing in Brazil as well as your background and how you got into political research.

EG: Hello, David. My research firm, called Posicione Market Research, was launched last year and belongs to a Elipse Communication group that was founded 11 years ago. Our company was created and is run by two associated professors of ESPM, the most widely known Marketing School in Brazil. Personally I have conducted market research for over a decade.  Posicione conducts several kinds of research using the available methodologies: quantitative and qualitative as well. Our clients are basically private organizations.  We decided to get into political research in 2007 after observing the great opportunities in this field. Brazil has more than 5,500 cities across 27 states and as you know, the electoral process demands a lot of research effort.

 

DP: How did you become familiar with the Perception Analyzer and how is it being received in Brazil?

 

EG: I discovered the Perception Analyzer while working with Frank Luntz, who uses the system. Here in Brazil we have used it in four campaigns and been victorious in three of them. It helps us a lot in refining TV and radio spots as well as live speeches.

DP: What is the current political climate in Brazil? How has it changed in the last five years and how do you see it changing in the next five years?

EG: We are now the in electoral process of choosing the mayors of all 5,564 Brazilian cities. Things are running at a calm pace considering all the changes this process represents. In two years we will be electing the next president, after two terms of Mr Lula da Silva. It’s also expected to be a calm process, different that we are experiencing in the other countries of South America.

DP: What do people in Brazil think of the U.S. political system since 2000, and what is the impression of our current election cycle?

EG: Brazilians are following the American process with special interest. Maybe because Barack Obama seems very sympathetic and represents a big change in the presidential field. This is how the people in Brazil are interpreting his performance. Your process sounds strange to us and is very different from here. In the first election of George W. Bush the process was very complicated and unclear to us, but seems more clear now.  Some candidates here have copied Obama’s slogan for change. It is ridiculous in some cases as they clearly represented no change at all.

Perception Analyzer used in Senatorial debate

Louisiana State University professor of mass communication and political science, Kirby Goidel, used the Perception Analyzer during the October 12, debate between Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican challenger John Kennedy. 2theadvocate has a brief story about how it was used and what they learned.

The Return of the War Room

TV Barn has a clip from the Sundance Channel's documentary,       The Return of the War Room where Frank Luntz discusses his use of the Perception Analyzer and what it allows him to learn that he would not otherwise be able to uncover.

Hello and welcome

We have many new visitors to this blog as a result of the Perception Analyzer's use on television during this debate season and the various media and blog mentions, links, articles, posts and commentaries that have followed. To those who are visiting for the first time, and those who have been reading for years, thanks for coming and I hope you find something useful and interesting.

If you have questions or would like to discuss anything, please drop me a line.

I should also mention that we will be launching an all new MSInteractive / Perception Analyzer website along with a new online, interactive demo in about a week. I'll post here when it's live.

CNN continues Perception Analyzer dial group for final debate

As was done for the first three debates, CNN continued its live, on-air broadcast of real-time moment-to-moment feedback from undecided voters via a Perception Analyzer dial group. As with the other debates, these groups were facilitated by Professors Rita Kirk and Dan Schill from the Division of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs at Southern Methodist University.

A replay of the debate, along with a full transcript and the moment-to-moment results, can be watched online at CNN.com.

Undecided women in Ohio dial in

A Perception Analyzer dial group with 50 undecided women was conducted in Columbus, Ohio, during the third and final presidential debate. The group was conducted by Lake Research Partners with support from MSInteractive and the findings from the group have been summarized in The Columbus Dispatch.

Perception Analyzer dial groups in battleground states

Democracy Corps, a project by James Carville and Stan Greenberg, conducted Perception Analyzer dial groups with 50 undecided voters during all three presidential debates in the key battleground states of Missouri, Nevada and Colorado. Their findings from those groups, plus additional commentary, can be found at www.democracycorps.com.

The Wall Street Journal weighs in

Today's edition of The Wall Street Journal has an article that weighs in on CNN's on-air display of Perception Analyzer moment-to-moment results during the presidential debates. I was interviewed for the piece and provided a lot of background information (though neither I nor the Perception Analyzer were credited by name) and feel it's an interesting look at what viewers are seeing during this political season. Many thanks for San Schechner for an interesting and balanced piece.

Squiggles

Moment-to-moment overlay. That's what we call the real-time line graph generated from Perception Analyzer results as seen on-air during the presidential debates on CNN and other networks. "Moment-to-moment" because the dials used by focus group respondents are polled once per second and "overlay" because the results are often superimposed over the source material.

Until the other night, the most entertaining name I'd heard given to the line graph was "the worm." According to our clients down under, that's what it's called in Australia. Then on October 7, during the CNN focus group discussion following the second presidential debate, Soledad O'Brien referred to it as "squiggles at the bottom of the screen." Alrighty then.

Then a comment was made in a very interesting and thoughtful post on Daily Kos - "...if one can really call squiggly lines created by a PA dial data..." I'll reply to that by pointing out that with dials being polled every second during a 90 minute debate, and with 30 focus group respondents turning dials, 162,000 data points were collected and shown to viewers.  And that's just for the benefit of creating an interesting viewing experience on television. In research projects around the world that have been conducted with the Perception Analyzer for nearly 25 years, it is most often considerably more respondents delivering a significantly greater number of data points that are helping organizations of all kinds make critical decisions.

So yes, whether you call it the worm, squiggles or a moment-to-moment overlay, the results are data, and pretty useful data at that.

BTW, I want to thank Daily Kos for the thoughtful post, the link, and the proper use of our product name and trademark. You'd be surprised how rare that is and it's much appreciated. And while I'm at it, I'd also like to thank CNN and MSNBC for trying something new and creating what many feel is a very interesting experience (both during the debate and in post-debate discussion and analysis). Of course, opinions vary (and some even change their mind...oy, again with the squiggles...), but that's what makes it all the more fun and interesting.

Perception Analyzer is a funny name

In addition to whether or not people like seeing real-time dial results on-air during the presidential debates (as seen on CNN) or during post-debate discussion (as seen on MSNBC and FOX News), much has also been made about the name "Perception Analyzer." So I'll just admit it...Perception Analyzer isn't the world's greatest name.  It's just one of those names that says what the product does. Much like the Bedazzler bedazzles and the In Sink Erator erates (yes, I know it's not a word) anything (well, almost anything) in your sink, the Perception Analyzer helps analyze perceptions.

The Perception Analyzer^® (yes, MSInteractive has a registered trademark on the name) was named in 1984 and clearly didn't undergo the rigor of naming research that we advocate for our clients today. While that was long before my involvement, I assume the process consisted of the inventor saying to himself, "Hmm, wonder what to call this analyzer of perceptions?" Enough said...

So yes, it's a bit of a funny name, but I bet Steve Jobs got some looks in the early days over Apple and the Google guys certainly had some splainin' to do and look how well those turned out.

So judge the tool not by what it's called, but rather by how bedazzlingly well it has helped organizations conduct research, collect feedback and make critical decisions for nearly 25 years.

Perception Analyzer used by MSNBC for presidential debate analysis

In addition to CNN's continued use of real-time, on-air Perception Analyzer results during last night's presidential debate, MSNBC made its first use of dial testing this season for post-debate discussion and analysis.

A group of undecided voters were assembled in King of Prussia, PA, and Nora O'Donnell moderated a discussion with them and showed the moment-to-moment dial group feedback over key clips from the debate.

Perception Analyzer in Lawyers USA

It's not all CNN and presidential debates for us these days. Highlighting one of our other core areas of business, The Perception Analyzer's use in litigation and trial consulting has been featured in the online and upcoming print additions of Lawyers USA.

It's actually MSInteractive's Perception Analyzer

As happens every four years, the presidential election, and specifically the debates, have brought the Perception Analyzer to the forefront of media attention. While it is used every day around the world for focus groups, advertising and television program testing, mock juries, and meetings, it is also heavily used during major election cycles to test issues, positions, ads, and debate performance.

In all four nationally televised debates this season, the Perception Analyzer will be used (as it always has been) to evaluate opinions of registered Democrats, Republicans and Independents as they watch and form opinions from the debates. The Perception Analyzer's use has been popularized in the media by Dr. Frank Luntz and is also featured on news networks such as CNN, FOX News and MSNBC. And as the previous post highlights, even Comedy Central has had some fun with it.

The main confusion I want to clear up is, the Perception Analyzer was invented by, and is developed, marketed and supported by, MSInteractive.  Anyone who is interested may work with MSInteractive on a for-hire basis to integrate the Perception Analyzer into their research sessions or even purchase a system for themselves.

For 25 years the Perception Analyzer has played a role in opinion polling during every election cycle, both domestically and in many countries around the world, and MSInteractive is proud to continue that strong tradition in 2008 and beyond.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart shows the Perception Analyzer some love (sort of)

Kind of like earning your stripes when SNL does a sketch about you, MSInteractive and the Perception Analyzer were the recipients of some good-natured ribbing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

While dial groups utilizing our "patronizing piece of made up technology" have been serving clients and political campaigns around the world for 25 years, and are regularly featured on nearly every major news network, we certainly appreciate the good humor and face time on national television. Thanks, Jon!

AARP uses the Perception Analyzer to better understand "How She Will Decide"

As part of its 50^th anniversary celebration, AARP teamed up with iVillage to create the dynamically interactive town forum – “How She Will Decide” – on February 1, 2008, at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale, California. To learn about how important topics will shape the way women will vote in the upcoming presidential election, hundreds of women from all walks of life were invited to express their opinions and be engaged by forum moderator Val Zavala and panelists Ron Brownstein, political director for Atlantic Media Company; Frank Luntz, political consultant and author of Words that Work; Nancy LeaMond, AARP Group Executive Officer and Director of the Divided We Fail initiative; Donna Addkison, political consultant and pollster; and Paula Madison, Executive Vice President of Diversity, NBC Universal.

Each of the 400 women were given a Perception Analyzer dial as they arrived and used it to give feedback and register their opinions in real-time during the event.  Such involvement became the focal point of the event as audience opinions were instantly generated and displayed on large projection screens.

“The goal of our event was to engage the audience and involve them in a two-way conversation to discuss the issues,” said AARP Research Director, Jeffrey Love. “Using the Perception Analyzer did just that.”

The event may be watched in its entirety at iVillage.com.

Perception Analyzer used during Democratic presidential debate in Philadelphia

Most debate watchers have seen those opinion line graphs that get plotted during televised debates. Those graphs are created by our Perception Analyzer system during dial groups.

For the April 16, debate in Philadelphia the Perception Analyzer was used to get real-time feedback from a group of undecided voters. An overview of how the technology was used maybe watched here and the news story about the research during the debate may be watched here.

Can't Quite Place That Voice?

My wife and I like to play name-that-voice with the more and more celebs we hear doing voiceovers for TV commercials.  If you've been stumped lately, maybe this will help you settle an argument or two.

I caught Kiefer Sutherland's voice for Apple right away and thought it was the perfect blend of recognizable and captivating.  Is it worth seven figures?  Who knows.

Hey Kids, Here Comes the Pitch (VII)

As a parent of a 3 year-old, I can certainly relate to this interaction between BloggingBaby's Sarah Gilbert and her son.  Seems the little guy is far more interested in the bag of brand name Cheetos than the already open bag of store brand Cheeto-like snack thingies.  Well, the bag of Cheetos has a cartoon cheetah on it which her son calls "the Cheeto guy," so yeah, they got him.

More Space

I want to share with you an interesting project by fellow blogger, Todd Sattersten, called More Space.  It's a book that came together by Todd offering nine business bloggers more space in which to write.  He wanted to see what they would come up with when they had more than a short blog post to work with.

Well, the outcome is quite good.  What I like most about the book is that he's given these bloggers more space, but not too much.  So many business books are 10% good stuff and 90% crap, repetition and repackaged ideas just to fill a book.  This book is just the 10%.  It has many good ideas and is written in a fresh tone that makes for a very good read.

If you enjoy good business books, want to try something different and want to support a very creative effort, I suggest you pick up a copy (or a few and spread them around).

Learn more and buy the book here.

Cult of IKEA

Here is an interesting article on the worldwide sensation that is IKEA.  There are some great lessons to be learned.

Hey Kids, Here Comes the Pitch (VI)

The British Heart Association has launched the Food4Thought campaign designed to give kids the real (and sometime scary) scoop on what they're eating and how to make better food choices.  They aim to shock with images of raw, unprocessed ingredients in such fast foods as hot dogs, chicken nuggets and burgers.  But more importantly, they offer food facts (for the good and the bad), a glossary of food label items, recipes and more.  This is a great effort!

Previous relevant posts:
Hey Kids, Here Comes the Pitch
Hey Kids, Here Comes the Pitch (II)
Hey Kids, Here Comes the Pitch (III)
Hey Kids, Here Comes the Pitch (IV)
Hey Kids, Here Comes the Pitch (V)

via [Slashfood]

TV: Online and On Demand

I just watched the first NBC Nightly News Netcast.  It's an online replay of the NBC Nightly News available after 10:00pm each night.  The netcast opens with an ad or two, launches into the program and breaks twice more for a couple of ads each time.  One interesting ad model I observed was when an video ad for Listerine played in the left pane and a still ad for Listerine was served-up in the right pane.  If interested, you can click the right pane to go to the Listerine website.  That model could certainly be effective if the two ads worked synergistically to use the video ad to drive viewers to click for more information or to continue with an interactive experience.

Between this netcast, NBC and CBS selling reruns for $0.99 and ABC making content available through iTunes, television and its ad models are certainly changing.

Environmentally Unfriendly Marketing

My associate, Wes Breazeale, took issue with a FedEx direct mail piece he (and apparently many others) received today.  Here's his rant:

I work in sales, so naturally I have nothing against aggressive marketing.  We need it to get the job done and I appreciate a well done piece as much as the next guy.  But there are certain points where other factors seem to be more pressing than the marketing aspect and a recent mailing I received from Federal Express is a sample of marketing done poorly, at least in my opinion.

Announcing FedEx's new ground shipping options, the piece encourages people to "share the great news" that you can now use drop boxes to drop off your packages.  I'm not sure I'm ready to call all my friends or buy the next round in honor of this exciting news, but I will tell them (and you) about why the piece really makes me angry.

The piece was akin to the omnipresent AOL cd's sent out by the millions in that my main issue is what it is made of.  Measuring 10" x 6", it's really no bigger than a large postcard, but it is made out of rather thick plastic or vinyl.  For something they must know is going to be tossed in the trash by a large number of recipients, this is a rather serious example of a corporation being completely and utterly socially unconscious.  This thing cannot be recycled, even by the most die hard recycler.  Thousands (if not millions) of these cards will fester in our dumps for centuries.  But fortunately, when future archaeologists finally unearth them, they will be able to share the news that there is a quick and easy way to ship their discoveries back to the office.

It's frustrating that every time we take one step forward, something like this pops up that takes us one step back.

Experiential Divine (II)

Tom Peters had an excellent customer service experience at The Four Seasons.  He and his wife were traveling and dinner plans conflicted with a TV show they wanted to catch.  They asked the Concierge if the show could be recorded and the requested with granted.  In addition to returning from dinner to find a VCR with the recorded show and a nice note in their room, they were also left a plate of treats.  Recording the show was nice enough.  Having it ready to watch in the room that same evening was above and beyond.  Leaving a plate of treats is what makes The Four Seasons remarkable.

Another great example of this is last week an associate of mine, with a brutal cold, was traveling all week and staying at his usual Hilton hotels. One evening he felt so bad he phoned the Concierge and asked for a thermometer to check his fever. They brought one to him right away and then proceeded to send up some soup and checked-in with him periodically to see how he was feeling and if there was anything he needed. 

How many people will they both tell about their great and unexpected experiences?  How may people reading this blog and Tom's will spread the word.   What are you doing to surprise your customers and garner this kind of word of mouth?

Experiential Divine

Some great stuff on customer experience today...

First, Daddy Types tells us that The Cheesecake Factory brings kids a snack plate while their family is waiting to order and get their food.  Sounds like you don't have to ask for it, they just know that's the time when kids get the most impatient and start causing a ruckus (let's be honest).  This simple thing keeps the kids happy which in turn keeps the parents and other diners happy who then reward The Cheesecake Factory with repeat business.  It's the circle of life (or Hakuna Matata - a reference those with kids will certainly get).

Next, Decker Marketing shares a great list of 10 ways to create and manage experience: [via EX Group]

1. Experiences don't just happen; they need to be planned.
2. Think about the customer experience first—and then about the functional features and benefits of your brand.
3. Be obsessive about the details of the experience.
4. Create a small touch that sums up and stylizes your experience. (The Conrad Hotel in Hong Kong places yellow rubber ducks in its bathrooms—a quirky, memorable touch.)
5. Think situation, not product: "Grooming in the bathroom," instead of "razor"; "casual meal" instead of "hot dog"; "travel" instead of "transportation."
6. Strive for holistic experiences—experiences that are sensory, emotional, thought-provoking and relevant.
7. Track experiences across media: logos, ads, packaging, advertising and websites.
8. Use multiple metrics—from quantitative to verbal to visual. Be explorative and creative and worry about reliability, validity and methodological sophistication later.
9. Consider how the experience changes as the brand expands onto the Web or across international borders.
10. Add dynamism and "Dionysianism" to your company and brand. Most brands are too timid and too bureaucratic. Be ecstatic, passionate and creative.

Brand Building

Here is an interesting article from Brand Channel about the challenges and potential benefits of launching a new brand into a particularly saturated market.

via [AdJab]

Deception Marketing (II)

There's guerrilla marketing, buzz marketing and word-of-mouth marketing, then there's just plain deception marketing.  My coworker, Wes, tipped me to this little diddy about suspicious sudden interest in Halloween masks of the Burger King mascot.

Not that the character isn't creepy enough to make a good halloween mask, mind you.  But is deception the most effective way they could think of to build buzz?

Deception Marketing

What are the six products singled out by by The Center for Science in the Public Interest for having misleading food labels?

• Gerber Graduates for Toddlers Fruit Juice Snacks
• Betty Crocker Super Moist Carrot Cake Mix
• Smucker's Simply 100% Fruit Spread
• Kellogg's Eggo Nutri-Grain Pancakes
• General Mills' Yoplait Light Fat Free Yogurt
• Quaker Oats Pasta Roni

Here is the rationale for each one.

Are these the only ones?  Of course not.  Are they even the most egregious offenders?  Who knows.  But, they are big companies with tremendous influence on what people eat.  If your carrot cake is made with carrot power and not carrot pieces, don't show carrot pieces on the box.  It's pretty simple really.  If you can't make a product that people will want if they knew the truth about it, then maybe you shouldn't be making that product at all, eh?

More on my own frustrating food label experience here.

[via Slashfood and ABC News]

McSubway

This is an interesting study - customers of McDonald's and Subway were interviewed on their way out of the respective restaurants and asked how many calories they thought they had consumed.  Those data were then compared with how many they actually consumed.

The results of the Cornell University and University of Illinois study as published in USA Today are:

• Customers at McDonald's consumed about 710 calories and estimated that they had eaten about 670 calories each.
• Those at Subway each ate about 560 calories but estimated only 335.

"The customers at McDonald's ate a lot of calories and knew they'd eaten a lot," says Wansink, director of Cornell's Food and Brand Lab. "But those at Subway experienced the 'halo effect,' which allowed them to think they were eating better than they were."

These Views Do Not Necessarily Reflect...

According to this article in USA Today, Starbucks is planning to run a religious quote on its cups in 2006 as part of a campaign designed "to carry on the coffeehouse tradition of conversation and debate."  What I was prepared to write about is how absurd it seemed to me that on the cups is the disclaimer that the opinions "do not necessarily reflect the views of Starbucks."  I thought, how can a company serve-up a message on its product, then claim the views do not necessarily reflect those of the company.  If that's the case, don't print the message.

Then I thought about where else I've seen a similar disclaimer.  Television networks, magazines and newspapers routinely make such disclaimers regarding content and I have no problem with that.  If NBC broadcasts a news story about someone who advocates racist behavior, I don't then believe those at NBC are racist.  So why does the Starbucks thing strike me so differently?  And it's not that I necessarily object (or don't object) to the particular message.  It's the notion that a message that may not reflect the opinions of the company is being used at all.  Is content on a Starbucks cup any different than content on a TV network or in the pages of a magazine or newspaper?

Hey Kids, Here Comes the Pitch (V)

Freakonomics blog points to a press release by the American Beverage Association outlining its new recommendations for cutting back on sodas in school vending machines.  While the idea is great, substituting soda for high-sugar (and thus high-calorie) fruit juice isn't necessarily helpful as calories are calories.  They also list things that they believe to be okay like sports drinks and low-calorie soft drinks.  But sports drinks are generally sweetened with the same high-fructose corn syrup as sodas and even low-calorie soft drinks have artificial sweeteners and caffeine that kids don't need.  Maybe the problem is having vending machines in schools in the first place?

Online Stats

CNN.com has an interesting special report called Online Evolution. Particularly interesting is a summary of online data collected from various sources.  I can't link directly to it, but you can see it by clicking the "Tracking life online" link in the "How Has The Internet Changed?" section.  And, in case you were wondering, "Britney Spears" was the top Google search term of 2004 followed by "Paris Hilton," "Christina Aguilera," "Pamela Anderson" and "chat."  At least we have our priorities straight.