Over the Wire

Fleishman-Hillard/Harris Interactive: Digital Influence Index Event 2010

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Last week, Harris Interactive and global public relations firm, Fleishman-Hillard, teamed up to host the 2010 Digital Influence Index Event. The Digital Influence Index is in it's second year and aims to understand online consumption practices around the world. We at Harris were tickled to get to conduct the research and our own George Terhanian was invited to speak to the data as part of the event panel (far right).

More on the findings of this landmark study tomorrow - in the meantime, here is a recent Harris Poll based on data from the study.

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Data Snapshot

Harris Poll Happiness Index edged downward from 35% of Americans who said they were very happy in both 2008 and 2009 to 33% who say the same in 2010.

For full data and methodology, click here.

A Social Media Tsunami for Nonprofits

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Post by Justin Greeves, Senior Vice-President, Public Affairs and Policy Research

Those of us who are on Facebook and other social networking sites know that many of our friends have “friended” their favorite cause or non-profit and have asked us to be friends as well.  Many of us chalk this up to a fun activity that allows us to learn a bit more about our friends, their likes and dislikes, and to hear about interesting new causes.  However, some non-profits are taking great advantage of this growing population and are starting to count the money, the friends, and their growing online influence.  While still, other non-profits remain on the sidelines, unsure if this new reality will have any actual use or payoff. 

Our recent DonorPulse study reveals the growing power of social media for non-profits, advocacy organizations and others.  The numbers are staggering and show how many organizations are leveraging this new national pastime into real support toward their missions.  Our survey shows that just less than half (48%) of adult Americans engaged in philanthropy have done something passively to support a non-profit through social media.  This includes “friending”, encouraging others to act, showing support generally, and posting stories about their favored non-profits. This adds up to about 76 million Americans and that is quite a base of potential new donors, advocates, volunteers!

However, we all know that being a friend isn’t just about passive activity.  A small but growing proportion of active social networkers represent the leading edge and true power of this pastime.   The results from DonorPulse reveal that, of those who already use social networks as a way to keep up with their non-profit friends on social media, an amazing 85% have taken meaningful action as a result of what they have seen or read about those non-profits in social media.  This includes making a financial contribution, recommending to friends and family, volunteering, attending events and other such directly supportive  behaviors.  This leading edge group represents about 10 million adult Americans, many of whom are highly engaged in giving, networking, influencing, and recommending other things to their friends.

Social media outlets of all types represent a new bounty for non-profits and those that support them.  The costs for social media are incrementally lower than for other media forms and the returns appear tantalizing for those that have the right people inside the organization to properly leverage this growing media form.  One day soon, organizations that used to measure their influence in dollars spent may start telling us instead how many friends they have on Facebook.

For up-to-the-moment news about DonorPulse and other Harris surveys, follow Harris Interactive and the Harris Poll on Twitter.

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Watch for Harris on MSNBC!

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Harris was thrilled to welcome the producers and crew of MSNBC's Sunday morning program, Your Business, to our NYC office today. The show is producing a segment about how focus groups can be beneficial for small businesses and - lucky us! - Harris's expertise was chosen to be featured.

Here are a couple of pictures from the focus group we conducted for the segment; we had such a terrific time working with the MSNBC folks and can't wait to see how the segment turns out when it airs in about 6 weeks. Until then, these pictures should tide you over...

Camera crew setting up!

 
Harris' lovely focus group volunteers

Harris' resident focus group expert (and moderator for our session today!), Clay Dethloff

We can't wait for the segment to air--will post a video when it's live! 

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No Need to Fear Cloud Computing—You’re Probably Already Doing It

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Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Marketing Manager

I love when web technology creates new verbs - Googling, Friending, Tweeting - indicating these web activities are so enveloped in our daily lives that we have to come up with ways to verbalize our usage.

But how long will it take for cloud computing to get “verb-ed”? For it to become so commonly referenced that even my mom and her friends will talk about “clouding” something? Okay… so maybe cloud computing will get assigned a different verb (because “clouding” sounds totally lame), but you get my gist.

Let’s take a step back—if you are asking yourself, “What is cloud computing?,” you’re not alone. Simply put, cloud computing enables you to store your files on the web (documents, pictures, videos, music, etc.), as opposed to on your computer, making your files available anywhere with Internet access. In other words, you don’t have to lug your laptop or a flash drive around to access your stuff. An additional benefit is that groups can collaborate on these files at the same time.

According to today’s Harris Poll, the following percentages of online Americans said they would be interested in using cloud computing:

• Email: 47%
• Pictures: 42%
• Music: 38%
• Office documents: 34%
• Videos: 33%
• Financial services: 27%

What most probably don’t realize is that the majority of us likely cloud compute without even knowing it. If you've ever stored your photos in an online photo album, shared a calendar online, stored documents in your email inbox, or even emailed, in general... CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve technically cloud-computed.

As cloud computing services, such as Google Docs and Dropbox, become even more popular and the business side of cloud computing expands, it’s easy to see why people feel intimidated by yet another web service to learn. And understandably, concerns about security and privacy are paramount.

• 81% of online Americans are concerned about the security of cloud computing;
• 62% do not trust cloud computing with personal information;
• 58% do not think files stored online are safer than on a hard drive; and,
• 57% do not trust that their files are safe online.

And privacy is certainly a concern of many; at the end of March, Yale University made a decision to not have their email be web-based because of security concerns about having grades and dicipline being in the "cloud."

So, lots of security concerns, but many online Americans still see the benefit of cloud computing and say having access to their files wherever they are would make their life much easier (63%).

Are we willing to risk possible loss of privacy to have our files be accessible whenever we want? Which is more important to you?

*Image courtesy of http://atyourlibrary.com/cloud-computing.htm

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Loud Commercials: Attention Grabbing or Just Plain Annoying?

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Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Marketing Manager

Do you cover your ears when commercials blare on TV? Do you reach for your remote to turn down the commercials before they even start? Do you find yourself shrieking “TURN THAT DOWN!” during every commercial segment? (And is your shouting even louder than the commercial itself?) Well friends, you’re not crazy and you’re not alone.

Earlier this year, The Harris Poll partnered with AdweekMedia to find out:

1. If America thinks commercials are louder than the show; and,
2. If the loud commercials are bothersome.

And it’s no surprise that the answer is “yes” to both questions. However, the part that made me blink twice is the fact that such great numbers of Americans say it bothers them—93 percent! (If only we could get this kind of agreement on health care, right?)

Well, this annoyance certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed; back in December, the House of Representatives passed the Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation Act (the CALM Act, for short—cute, huh?) to make it so the volume in commercials cannot be any louder than the volume in the corresponding TV program. The legislation still has to pass through the Senate, but I know I already feel more CALM knowing something is being done.

So you might be asking yourself—WHO turns up the volume on these commercials? This clip is from CBS’s Early Show back in December—take a look and find out.

 

 

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Reputation Expert, Robert Fronk, Featured on Fox Business

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Corporate Reputation as Unique as a Person’s Reputation

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Post by Robert Fronk, Senior Vice President, Reputation Management

You would think that after 7 years of saying, “I continue to be amazed by how knowledgeable the American public is,” that I would stop being amazed by how knowledgeable the American public is. On Monday, we released the results of our 11th Annual Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient (RQ) study and some of the insights we have been able to glean are truly illuminating.

First off, the public is paying far more attention and is far more knowledgeable about what companies are doing in the areas of corporate behavior and are holding them accountable for their decisions and actions. So they can recall and speak intelligently about financial decisions that companies made 2 and 3 years ago and can either give them credit or penalize them for how these decisions relate to overall reputation.

Secondly, the debate of whether or not reputation matters is over. Reputation is directly linked to the business outcomes that companies want. While reputation perceptions can work in tandem with brand perceptions, they are often formed outside of the knowledge or association with a company’s brand.

So what can a company that wants to focus on positive reputation do? We first need to acknowledge that there is no single answer to this question. No secret sauce. No silver bullets. Corporate reputation is as unique as a person’s reputation.  You are evaluated based on your history, your associations, your behavior and many other things that are contextual about you. So are companies.

Because we’ve been doing this for 11 years, we can share the 4 things that companies with long term positive reputations have in common:

1. A tangible level of emotional appeal, built through some common set of shared values
2. A perceived sense of a clear vision and a culture of leadership accountability
3. A recognition that actions precede words
4. When it is time for words, a communication style that focuses on honesty, sincerity, and transparency – no matter the subject

So who fits this bill for you?

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