So will there be any fallout?
Media Logic’s Z&C Poll, first posted on the 15th, shows there might not be much. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) said any controversy would soon be forgotten. And curiously, nearly as many people who said the story wouldn’t be forgotten thought it was as likely to help the brand as hurt it.

The breakdown by sex is somewhat more interesting.

Way fewer women than men thought the whole thing would blow over. 67% versus 79%. Yet within those groups, as many of the remaining voters thought the story would help the brand as hurt it.

What’s the bottom line? A week and a day or two in, #pepsifail is still popping up once every hour or so on Twitter. By comparison, #balloonboy is popping up once every second. Pepsi apologized but did not pull its app. Perhaps brands, aware of the cynicism and short attention spans of the online audience, are learning not to panic when faced with bad PR. Perhaps Pepsi escaped only because our attention was diverted.

• The total number of unique visitors has increased 38% in the last quarter. Most of these are first-time visitors, an indication that our efforts are continuing to drive interest and response.
• Prior to the campaign, there was almost no traffic from organic search, now it represents a significant source of traffic. We’ve also recommended to the client to make small tweaks to the copy or the features on the home page of the site. This would indicate to search engines that there is “fresh content” and would raise its presence in organic search.
• We were able to track visitors by geography and make recommendations for future geo-targeted advertising.
• The overall conversion rate on the site is nearly 7% as compared to 2-3% industry averages for sites of similar size, so we are clearly giving prospects what they are looking for.

With this type of information, Media Logic and the client will now be able to make strategic marketing decisions grounded in data.

Regrettably, these feelings don’t last forever because focus groups really only represent a moment in time. Sooner rather than later, we start to wonder if the audience still feels the same way.

Enter social media, which is a game changer on many levels. Now we’re able to continually listen to what our clients’ customers and prospects are saying about the things that matter to them. This often includes thoughts about our clients, their products, their services, their competitors, etc. Whether it be through a Zeitgeist & Coffee Landscape Survey or a comprehensive Mine & Dine report, we’re able to tap into a data goldmine that gives us that “focus group feeling” not just for a few days or weeks – but on an ongoing basis.

Little time to share info with other students. Little time to socialize with professors. Little time to build connections.

It should come as no surprise then that EMBA students rely heavily on technology to mediate their social interactions.

Media Logic recently completed a Mine & Dine study on behalf of The Johnson School at Cornell University. The study focused on how top business schools are currently deploying social media to assist in their EMBA recruitment, student experience and alumni development efforts.

The results were interesting. Every top business school is doing something. Several are using social media well in general. Few have figured out how to effectively integrate or focus their efforts around a core product like the EMBA.

But this space is evolving fast.

While some have taken some initial steps, many are looking for ways to make sense of the social media landscape and to use it to extend their brand, promote programs and stay connected to prospects and alumni. In fact, we recently offered a “social media audit” to our higher education clients – a customized assessment of their current social media strategy, those of their competitors and some initial recommendations on next steps. Many were surprised to learn that their competitors were actively using social media to, for example, create communities of accepted students, thereby impacting yield. Others learned that, in the graduate recruitment environment, social media offers a chance to establish thought leadership on topics that will attract not only prospective students but alumni and corporate partners.