Stalking the trend barometer
Marketing 24seven is a blog portal run by the marketing research firm Concept Zürich. Its purpose is to provide real-time insights into consumers' everyday spending habits.
Marketing 24seven is a blog portal from marketing researcher Concept Zurich. The aim is to follow consumers' day-to-day consumption live. "The staff are unfriendly and demotivated. The food is simply bad," writes a certain CMH79 not in a restaurant guide, but on the blog portal 24seven. CMH79 is one of a total of 40 bloggers who report on their consumer lives there.
24seven is a project of the marketing researcher Concept Zurich. The company specializes in qualitative marketing research. Launched for customers at the beginning of June, the portal is something of a mini-blogosphere. Participants write in a closed environment about their feelings and actions in the world of consumption. They don't have to take anyone or anything into consideration, because the creators want to know as precisely as possible what makes consumers tick.
The authors are free in their choice of topics, and also in their tone. The spectrum of expression ranges from well-behaved and correct to cheeky and witty. Very few of them mince their words. Defects are exploited, illustrated and discussed down to the last detail. If the environment were freely accessible, the entries might have legal consequences. However, Concept Zurich does not want to impose any behavior on the participants. The writers should freely and unadulteratedly document the intricacies of their lives.
Insight into the world of thought
Alain Messerli is the project manager of 24seven. The political scientist intends to firmly establish blogs as a research tool. "We are dealing with a new consumer today," says Messerli. He is referring to the "performing consumer" who, contrary to the stereotypes and clichés defined in marketing research, acts irrationally, redefines brands and lives out his creativity on the web. According to Messerli, blogs should help to trace the new consumer behavior. This is because a blog can be used to analyze not only the content, but also the linking, the discourse among each other and the mutual evaluations.
Messerli emphasizes that his blog portal is by no means intended to be representative. Instead, 24seven should develop into a trend barometer for decision-makers. After all, bloggers are regarded as reliable trendsetters.
Authenticity is very important to Alain Messerli. He wants the goings-on on his platform to be honest and open. However, the number of participants who write off the cuff is decreasing. Since January, when 24seven was launched, only around 1700 entries have been written. That's an average of around 50 entries per person. Compared to the active blogosphere on the Internet, the community is rather reserved in its writing. The cultivated blog cosmos is also reserved when it comes to commenting. The diarists do not write for free. For their blog mandate, the participants receive 150 francs per month, more than the amateur journalists earn on the web. For Messerli, the incentive is not just a reward for writing. The amount is intended to set the community's thinking apparatus to full consumption.
While the blog entries of individual participants remain constant, others become lazy and say goodbye to the project. Roman Hanhart, who runs the Yoda blog privately and has a good reputation in the Swiss blog scene, is critical of the project. He himself has been involved since the beginning, but after 22 entries he says: "24seven is too fake, too silly and simply not lively enough for me, like the real scene." He feels forced into a mold by the founders of 24seven. Hanhart speaks blog text: "For people who like to report on their consumption preferences, who want to write something about every fart, it may be quite good. But the blog constraint is not for me."
The creators of the project have set themselves ambitious goals. They want to employ 120 bloggers. The young portal is currently being marketed. The environment is currently freely accessible to 350 registered customers. This is set to change soon. Messerli wants to offer exclusive blog studies. Observing 100 writers for two weeks will cost the equivalent of 60,000 francs.
Christian Lüscher
24seven is a project of the marketing researcher Concept Zurich. The company specializes in qualitative marketing research. Launched for customers at the beginning of June, the portal is something of a mini-blogosphere. Participants write in a closed environment about their feelings and actions in the world of consumption. They don't have to take anyone or anything into consideration, because the creators want to know as precisely as possible what makes consumers tick.
The authors are free in their choice of topics, and also in their tone. The spectrum of expression ranges from well-behaved and correct to cheeky and witty. Very few of them mince their words. Defects are exploited, illustrated and discussed down to the last detail. If the environment were freely accessible, the entries might have legal consequences. However, Concept Zurich does not want to impose any behavior on the participants. The writers should freely and unadulteratedly document the intricacies of their lives.
Insight into the world of thought
Alain Messerli is the project manager of 24seven. The political scientist intends to firmly establish blogs as a research tool. "We are dealing with a new consumer today," says Messerli. He is referring to the "performing consumer" who, contrary to the stereotypes and clichés defined in marketing research, acts irrationally, redefines brands and lives out his creativity on the web. According to Messerli, blogs should help to trace the new consumer behavior. This is because a blog can be used to analyze not only the content, but also the linking, the discourse among each other and the mutual evaluations.
Messerli emphasizes that his blog portal is by no means intended to be representative. Instead, 24seven should develop into a trend barometer for decision-makers. After all, bloggers are regarded as reliable trendsetters.
Authenticity is very important to Alain Messerli. He wants the goings-on on his platform to be honest and open. However, the number of participants who write off the cuff is decreasing. Since January, when 24seven was launched, only around 1700 entries have been written. That's an average of around 50 entries per person. Compared to the active blogosphere on the Internet, the community is rather reserved in its writing. The cultivated blog cosmos is also reserved when it comes to commenting. The diarists do not write for free. For their blog mandate, the participants receive 150 francs per month, more than the amateur journalists earn on the web. For Messerli, the incentive is not just a reward for writing. The amount is intended to set the community's thinking apparatus to full consumption.
While the blog entries of individual participants remain constant, others become lazy and say goodbye to the project. Roman Hanhart, who runs the Yoda blog privately and has a good reputation in the Swiss blog scene, is critical of the project. He himself has been involved since the beginning, but after 22 entries he says: "24seven is too fake, too silly and simply not lively enough for me, like the real scene." He feels forced into a mold by the founders of 24seven. Hanhart speaks blog text: "For people who like to report on their consumption preferences, who want to write something about every fart, it may be quite good. But the blog constraint is not for me."
The creators of the project have set themselves ambitious goals. They want to employ 120 bloggers. The young portal is currently being marketed. The environment is currently freely accessible to 350 registered customers. This is set to change soon. Messerli wants to offer exclusive blog studies. Observing 100 writers for two weeks will cost the equivalent of 60,000 francs.
Christian Lüscher
