Research from the European Interactive Advertising Association suggest that the power of the web to lure consumers into trying new brands is greater even than we thought. 49% of UK consumers admitted to switching brands after online research. 76% were driven by search, 72% by personal recommendation.

We published this press release today:

AVIS UK WINS INNOVATION AWARD FOR SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT

Avis UK has won the SOCAP award for innovation in Customer Service at the National Customer Service awards dinner held in London on 18th September 2007.

Avis UK’s work involved monitoring and benchmarking consumer generated content and making changes to its product and customer service practices in response, culminating in launching the We Try Harder blog. These changes have resulted in big increases in the approval rating for Avis (the Avis Net Approval Index has increased over 200% and remains well ahead of the competition) and key product innovations.

Market Sentinel provides the technology for CGC research and guidance on blog editorial.

Market Sentinel CEO Mark Rogers said yesterday: “The phenomenal growth of social media over the last few years has left many companies scratching their heads. Many congratulations are due to Eibhlin Payne and Xavier Vallée of Avis UK for demonstrating to others how to use statistical methods to understand social media and develop insights enabling them to forge real links with customers. We are very proud to have contributed to Avis UK’s success in creating a genuine partnership between marketing and customer service. Many thanks are due to Sheila Sang and Caroline Harris who worked so hard in helping Avis launch the We Try Harder blog, to Mathew Vattolil whose analysis drove decision-making and to our partners at Web Liquid, Matt Cronin and David Shiell who had the vision to bring the project to life, to Xavier Vallée and Eibhlin Payne themselves for commissioning the work and to Rob White for his tireless efforts in bringing it to reality”.

In Tuesday’s FT Chet Henderson of Unilever Insight (the multinational’s research arm) discussed with Carlos Grande why the company had taken the decision to move 80% of its market research to the web. “Internet response are more honest than those gained by traditional methods,” Henderson observed. The article points out that the market researchers hope to save 10% to 20% of the cost of traditional methods. Grande estimates Unilever’s annual market research budget at €400m (£272m) which represents a big endorsement for the credibility of web-based research methods. The article appears to be talking only about focus-group work. There is a lot to be said for such methods, and companies like Baldo Faieta’s Synthetron have some interesting solutions for establishing focus groups online.

Unilever could also consider making use of the data that consumers volunteer themselves online in blog, messageboards and review sites. The advantage of using consumer-generated content to generate insights as to consumer tastes is that it really does give you an honest view of how the consumer feels - as the opinion has not been elicited by a leading question from a market researcher. The companies who use our reporting are somewhat shocked by how rude consumers are online, but once they have recovered from their immediate defensive recoil, they find the honesty of great value - and of course the same consumers are just as rude about the competition! [hat tip to Flemming for spotting this!]