Stimulated by the rise of social media, 'conversational marketing' techniques have gained tremendous importance - a paradigm shift in the way we think about marketing and marketing communications. The empowered consumer now has the power to market a product or brand partly. Smart companies listen to what people say and take action. Those fans will spread the word about a brand or product with enthusiasm and passion. Unilever, as a FMCG company, has undertaken several initiatives to integrate the concepts of word-of-mouth and word-of-mouse into marketing strategies.
Research panels are under pressure: response rates are in decline. By using methods like 'social media netnography' researchers can dig into an online source of textual and visual information to answer research questions, and get answers for unasked questions. Unfortunately, not all questions can be answered by observing online conversations. An authentic, interactive and engaging way to connect with contemporary consumers are 'research communities' participants brought together on an asynchronous discussion platform around a research topic of the group's common interest. The fusion between listening into conversations on natural communities and asking questions on research communities will be illustrated by a study conducted with DANONE (Nutricia) Global R&D.