The Gratitude Effect

Since I live in Austin, TX I closely follow the technology scene and what successful companies are talking about on the ground.

Powered is a company on the move and it provides online consumer education.  While reviewing their website I found this nugget of marketing information.  Please check out Powered and especially read this part of their website:

"As consumers' media consumption habits evolve -- and their aversion to traditional marketing techniques (like the 30 second spot) skyrocket -- many industry experts predict the future will produce a new "Golden Age" for education-based marketing, sponsorship, product placement, long-form content, and branded entertainment. And it's ironic that many of these "new marketing" tactics are currently being touted when they were the original form of advertising on radio and television.

The re-emergence of these strategies speaks to marketers' desire to find permission-based ways to connect with time-constrained, ad-weary consumers, and create marketing that consumers will seek out and find valuable. As these strategies increasingly become adopted, marketers will need to measure the impact on their ROI.

Enter "The Gratitude Effect"

The Gratitude Effect is a term coined by research firm Next Century Media (NCM) <http://www.nextcenturymedia.com/> in 1999 and developed based on a number of studies about the persuasive power of brands' sponsorships of desirable content, particularly as delivered through the Internet. These sponsorships offer exclusivity (meaning no other brand is presented) and an emotive connection to the content (meaning the free content is related to the brand's products). NCM has found that a no strings attached "gift" of content produces powerful outcomes for brands around:

• Inclusion in consumers' consideration set
• Increases in purchase intent
• Improved consumer opinion of the brand and attributes of a product

To learn more about the Gratitude Effect, download the NCM study Measuring Sponsorship Effectiveness.

With the help of NCM, Powered has found a strong Gratitude Effect at the heart of the ROI in our online consumer education programs. Increasingly, our clients are finding our programs to be a cost-effective and efficacious way to connect with the consumers they need to reach "