LONDON, October 6, 2009 – In a world where consumers actually create the message and rapidly share their knowledge and opinions, finding out what is being said about a brand, why, and by whom, is a complex yet extremely useful pursuit. “These conversations, whether they come from a blog entry or from Twitter, have turned the marketing process on its head,” said Spencer Friend, Founder and CEO of newly launched social media agency Amplified State. “The power has shifted to the consumer, and we’re respecting and utilizing that reality to the betterment of a brand.”
Brand marketing teams, investor relations, advertising, digital, PR/marketing agencies and consultancies will find Amplified State a valuable resource. Likewise, company stakeholders – employees, customers, business partners, suppliers, and shareholders – can all benefit from the research done by the company.
Amplified State provides measurement, insight and analysis of sentiment expressed through social media outlets such as blogs, social networks, forums, review sites and anywhere else that experiences and opinions are shared. “We make sense of all these discussions and draw vital conclusions that will help maximise our clients’ objectives as well identify potential opportunities,” explained Friend. “We also make recommendations on how to encourage more positive discussion as well as how to harness the power of a customer base through online brand communities and by creating their own user forums.
"What’s more, we can monitor and analyze what is being said on any video media on the net. This is very powerful and allows us to offer to our clients a full service of sentiment in any rich media format."
Through its bespoke services, Amplified State can offer its clients anything they wish to know from brand sentiment to intelligent market research about emerging trends. “While some are focusing their attention on measuring the effectiveness of a marketing or advertising campaign, we’re interested in the big picture,” noted Amplified State’s Head of Business Development Michael Goldman. “How many people view a video or visit a website is only part of the information a brand needs – we cut through the clutter. The substance of the comments is what directly or indirectly influences public perception and ultimately affects consumerism and stock-buying activities. A brand image now belongs to anyone who influences that brand – 1000 people blogging has a bigger impact than a corporate messaging campaign, and we measure the brand image on all of these tiers.” As Goldman explained, “It doesn’t matter who the individual(s) or group(s) are that are conveying their opinion or influencing sentiment. One fund manager can influence the financial brand with one blog with a much bigger impact than 1,000 consumers,” he said, adding that “the buzz created can come from anyone, anywhere, at any given moment, is key.”
Amplified State takes a scientific approach to analysis. In development for nearly two years, the company’s proprietary and independent software extracts key data from the various online outlets, and, using a mix of algorithms and human interaction, appropriated a value to data and stores it in a database. This data is then interpreted and converted into a reporting structure for Amplified State’s analysts to work on.
Once the information has been analyzed, Amplified State helps brands encourage positive sentiment and apply the research to improve its customer service, marketing, market valuation and its product. “Unlike focus groups, we’re basing our evaluations on actual conversations,” Friend said. “We are offering clients a clean and direct line to their audience.”
Goldman added that Amplified State and its technologies were designed to accommodate the full spectrum of client needs. “Our clients may be interested in investment analysis, PR checks, and so on, knowing not only what consumers think but what employees, vendors and associates are expressing about the company,” he said. “As such, they are presented with sentiment and insight against their own unique requirements.”
Amplified State launches with four divisions:
Metric Research – providing extraction and collation of consumer generated media, followed by measurement, insight and analysis of that data. This division helps the client’s internal marketing and communications teams to formulate their own strategic response to the conclusions drawn by Amplified State.
Marketing Strategy & Planning – providing more in-depth strategic planning assistance. Based on the client’s marketing and brand objectives, this division focuses on tactical areas, which aim to increase the amount of positive sentiment being generated online by Social Media (SM) users.
Buzz Maker – reaching out and seeding information about a new product or service, this division applies Amplified State’s knowledge and data to the marketplace.
Online Brand Communities – client linked sites that actually invite users and influencers to be involved with improving a brand’s offering. Be it improved customer services or new products, its the equivalent of having your customer database in your office telling you what and how to improve the company. Totally controllable and real research.
The first agency of its kind to open in Europe, Amplified State is headquartered in London, with strategic relationships in Europe, the Mideast, Africa, and New York. Amplified State currently is seeking investment in the company to take the software and operations to the next level of growth.
Management Team
Spencer Friend, Founder and CEO (pictured, right): Founder of Joyrider, which produces high-end content for commercials, music videos and other branded media. Spencer studied Management Sciences at UMIST Manchester, a leading UK research university with a reputation as one of the best business management courses in Europe. He went on to work in Agency Planning and Buying before being headhunted. Moving into producing, Spencer has worked in design, live action, animation and VFX supervision for film and TV. Developing directors’ careers and 
producing high-end campaigns for Orange, Playstation, BMW, Tesco and BT Spencer has a proven track record as an entrepreneur.
Michael Goldman, Head of Business Development (pictured, left): A leading sales executive, consultant and thought leader in the finance, asset management and software, Michael started out at NASA Ames. He brings 12+ years of consulting and software experience specializing in building new initiatives within large corporations or emerging start-ups. His strong customer centric background was leveraged by transitioning to Project Management at
NASA, continuing into Product Management at ActivIdentity, Product Marketing at Mercury Interactive, Sales at several Silicon Valley start-ups and starting a sole-proprietorship called MZG Information Technology.
Oliver Coey, Chief Engineer: An experienced web developer and database designer, Oliver forged his skills designing and implementing CRM solutions for WorldPay and South African Airways. More recently he has enabled businesses to maximize their customer management systems by designing specialized bespoke data driven websites including building a bespoke code for CS systems for the UK government, which integrates postcode matching to caller addresses. For Online Inventories he designed a bespoke online booking system that cornered the market and led to massive growth and expansion for the business.
Michael Brewer, Senior Analyst/Strategist: Michael has a passion for discovering what drives success in business and marketing, then helping organisations use the resources to meet their full potential. Over many years as an analyst, adviser and strategist he has worked across sectors with clients including BT, Lloyds, Daimler Chrysler, Royal & Sun Alliance, Microsoft and Reed Elsevier. He has researched corporate and consumer markets to seek out customer insights which form the starting point for building new products and propositions, such as preparing the strategy for Egg to enter the investment markets in France and Germany, its first move overseas. Other achievements include research and strategy development for Daimler Chrysler retail, contributing also to its turnaround and growth.
For more information, contact:
spencer@amplifiedstate.com
michael@amplifiedstate.com
+44 (0)207 183 7984
