Former Roper ASW execs launch ‘WoM' research consultancy

Ed Keller and Brad Fay – two former high-ranking executives in US MR agency Roper ASW (now part of GfK NOP) – have teamed up to launch a new word-of-mouth marketing research consultancy.

Unveiled yesterday, The Keller Fay Group has already signed its first major client, media agency Starcom MediaVest.

Starcom has signed up to Keller Fay's new TalkTrack service, which conducts daily interviews with a representative sample of Americans aged 13-plus to track what consumers are saying about brands and product categories, both online and offline.

Chief executive Ed Keller said: “A key premise behind the Keller Fay Group is a belief that word-of-mouth research must now extend beyond what is being said on blogs and in chat rooms.”

According to Keller – co-author of the book, ‘The Influentials' – at least 80% of “word-of-mouth” takes place face-to-face, on the phone and via other forms of person-to-person communication.

Jim Kite, executive vice president of insight, research and accountability at MediaVest, said: "Word of mouth is the most important communication vehicle for so many brands, yet it is the one least understood, let alone measured, on a continuous basis.”

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