egarded as a difficult-to-quantify phenomenon, word of mouth (WOM) advertising just acquired a new identity - that of a respectable and measurable advertising medium. The Keller Fay Group claims to have developed the first measuring tool for WOM campaigns, TalkTrack�.

TalkTrack routinely measures all marketing-relevant conversations (currently available only in the US), at a national level. Using the tool, clients can track WOM trends, evaluate their current campaigns and also identify segments and opportunities for engaging their consumers. The most interesting aspect of this tool is that it tracks the buzz in both traditional and new media of conversation such as chat and email. It measures a representative sample of Americans talking about particular brands on the following platforms - face to face, phone, personal emails, chat rooms and blogs. It even evaluates whether the feedback is positive and negative, and what this implies for the brand. ... more