Ogilvy teams up with Technorati to tap into blogs

Blog-tracking firm Technorati is partnering with Ogilvy to help the marketing services agency monitor online word-of-mouth.

Ogilvy North America will be using the new Conversational Management System to track the millions of blogs and user-generated sites indexed by Technorati, and identify the sites and networks that are most influential for brands.

Ogilvy's creative directors will work with the agency's clients to integrate these word-of-mouth channels into their advertising and marketing strategies.

Carla Hendra, co-CEO of Ogilvy North America, said: “The voice of the customer is a vital and growing part of the marketing mix. By partnering with Technorati, we can offer our clients an innovative engagement point with the live web. Key to this is defining measurable ways to integrate blogs and other citizen media on behalf of brands.”

The rise of blogs and user-generated websites such as MySpace and YouTube has made the consumer's online voice impossible to ignore, and marketers are increasingly on the look out for ways to turn this elusive “buzz” to their advantage. Initiatives aiming to track and measure online word-of-mouth include Nielsen's BuzzMetrics and Satmetrix's Net Promoter.

Technorati chairman and CEO Peter Hirshberg said: “The benefit of social media is that it allows brands to build a more authentic, participatory relationship with its audience than was possible in the mass media era.”

Author: Robert Bain