FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
CONTACT:
Jonah Ansell
(312) 596-6282
jansell@zocalogroup.com

ZÓCALO GROUP UNVEILS DIGITAL FOOTPRINT INDEX TO HELP BRANDS BETTER UNDERSTAND, MEASURE AND ACCELERATE EARNED SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT  

CHICAGO, July 30, 2009 ― As marketers search for ways to evaluate the effectiveness and value of social media in their marketing programs, Zócalo Group, a division of Ketchum and Omnicom Group today unveiled its Digital Footprint Index (DFI), a new social media diagnostic tool developed to improve a marketer's ability to understand, measure and accelerate where and how brands are discussed and recommended across all social media channels. The benefit of the DFI to marketers is that it helps recalibrate social media marketing programs midstream to more effectively and efficiently drive word of mouth and recommendation where consumers are active and engaged online. 

Unlike other social media measurement tools that focus only on quantity and sentiment, the DFI, developed in conjunction with the Department of Marketing at DePaul University's  Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, is a multi-dimensional measurement methodology that makes it easy for marketers to:

• Pinpoint where and how consumers engage and interact with the brand;
• Identify the social media channels consumers use to interact with the brand;
• Determine how well consumers understand and share the brand's message;
• Gauge the impact social media marketing efforts have on the growth of earned conversation;
• Understand how a brand compares to key competitors using social media; and,
• Track progress over time. 

"Social media is a highly effective avenue to reach, engage and influence consumers to drive word of mouth and ultimately recommendation," said Patrick Rooney, partner at Zócalo Group. "As marketers search for ways to evaluate the effectiveness and value of earned social media, the DFI helps them make better decisions by providing a full understanding of the interaction and impact of their social media efforts." 

A brand's DFI is a single benchmark score that is tracked over time to measure the effectiveness of a brand's social media efforts, as well as its success relative to competitors. The Index measures three dimensions of a brand's earned online presence: 

• Height: the quantity of conversation and content about a brand across all social media channels, including blogs, forums, social networks, microblogs, picture sharing sites, video sharing sites, document sharing sites and bookmarking sites
• Width: the level of consumer engagement, interaction and sharing across all channels
• Depth: the level of message saturation and sentiment/tone

"Marketers want to understand how and where they are being discussed online, especially in relation to paid digital efforts," said Paul M. Rand, president and CEO of Zócalo Group. "Unfortunately, there is no industry standard for measurement, and while quantity and sentiment are important metrics, the real story is in how consumers interact with the brand in different channels, and which of those is most effective in driving word of mouth and recommendation."  

Using proven, leading-edge analysis tools, the DFI reflects the success of a brand's presence in social media relative to key competitors, and provides a benchmark to track progress over time. A white paper discussing the DFI can be downloaded from the Zócalo Group Web site (Measuring Digital Word of Mouth).  

"Marketers now have a robust tool to track how earned consumer conversation leads to brand preference and ultimately sales," said Suzanne Fogel, chair of the Department of Marketing at DePaul University.  "DFI provides the detail needed to understand the dynamics of online consumer conversation from multiple dimensions, and enables analysis that spans from a macro-level down to specific conversations in individual channels."  

The Digital Footprint Index is part of Zócalo Group's comprehensive online and offline social media Measurement Suite to evaluate, measure and track the effectiveness, impact and value of a brand's earned conversation across social media channels.   

"Zócalo Group continues to lead the industry in innovation and best practices, pushing the boundaries of how word of mouth and social media can help companies engage consumers," said Ray Kotcher, CEO of Ketchum. "We're thrilled to bring this best-in-class approach to all of our clients."  

About Zócalo Group

Zócalo Group is a full-service Word of Mouth Marketing agency, seamlessly integrating proven and leading edge disciplines, building programs in Word of Mouth, Social Media, Public Relations, Experiential Marketing, Social Media Optimization and Influencer Marketing. Based in Chicago, Zócalo Group was named the Holmes Report's 2009 "New Media Agency of the Year" for its work in social media, and was also honored for the 2009 Best Social Media Program by the Business Marketing Association.  Zócalo Group is a unit of Omnicom Group, Inc. (NYSE: OMC) and Ketchum Public Relations. For more information, please visit www.zocalogroup.com. 

About DePaul University

DePaul University is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private, non-profit university in the Midwest. The university offers highly respected, flexible, practical programs of study on two Chicago and four suburban campuses.  DePaul encompasses nine colleges and schools, including the College of Commerce/Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, which has earned a No. 2 ranking for its undergraduate entrepreneurship program from Entrepreneur magazine; a No. 9 ranking for its part-time MBA program from U.S.News & World Report and a No. 11 ranking for its marketing program from BusinessWeek. More information can be found at www.depaul.edu. 
 

###