Nielsen, the parent of the Nielsen BuzzMetrics service, where I work, is set to launch a social network for entertainment enthusiasts — called Hey! Nielsen.
I’ve contributed to Hey! Nielsen strategy for the past couple months, and believe this initiative is significant. At BuzzMetrics, we’re very focused on passive, observational listening to public online commentary. Conversely, Hey! Nielsen is very focused on active listening, encouraging public interaction and participation with the company. My colleague Karen Watson, Nielsen SVP of communications and Hey! Nielsen’s lead, told MediaPost today:
We think the product is some measure of how fans are engaged with content and how they interact around content and also how influencers develop in a social networking setting…We hope people will come because they understand that we have clients who will be listening to them and want to listen to them. It really will be their Web site. It’s really about the users coming on and telling us what they think.
But beyond the inevitable fan communities and client insights that emerge, Hey! Nielsen also is a positive organizational change agent, encouraging innovation, experimentation and collaboration across Nielsen divisions. Karen told MediaPost:
The site also is the first new product created jointly by virtually every division of the Nielsen Co., including Nielsen Media Research, Nielsen Entertainment, ACNielsen, Nielsen’s business media, wireless and interactive units, and social media analytics firm Nielsen BuzzMetrics.
As CEO Dave Calhoun underscores in his public video on the Nielsen homepage:
Innovation, it’s a process…but it’s one that has to tap into absolutely every ounce of creativity that we have inside this company. There’s really nothing more important to us. It’s got to be open to every new idea.
Hey! Nielsen is a great example of this.
The social network is in beta and will launch to the public in late September. Be sure to sign up for an invitation!
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