“Which is the “best” social media analytics company?”

• What kind of business you have (i.e. agency side or client side/ small-medium-large)
• What your goals are (i.e. monitoring in real time or performin  historical searches, identifying the momentum or using the searches to identify trends)
• Most importantly, your budget

I recently read about the “Hello Kitty” endeavor of EVA Air, a Taiwan-based airline, and I should admit that I love the idea! I then showed it to my daughters which was a big mistake … every ten minutes they kept coming to me asking: 

“When can we fly with the “Hello Kitty” airline?”

“Where does it fly to?”

“Can it be a long flight?”

“Is it only for girls?”

“Are daddies and boys allowed there?”

In order to provide meaningful and accurate answers to the questions above, I had to do some further digging about “Hello Kitty” airlines … and here is what I found (Sources 1, 2, 3):

• The name of the airline is not Hello Kitty but instead officially Eva Air
• The aircraft are the result of collaboration between the airline and Sanrio, the Japanese company responsible for the brand.
• Hello Kitty planes are not new: Eva Air has had Hello Kitty-themed jets since 2005, but they debuted new Airbus aircrafts in 2011 and 2012 in celebration of the airline's 20th anniversary
• The themed planes fly between a multitude of destinations, including Taipei, Fukuoka, Narita, Sapporo, Incheon, Hong Kong and Guam

Foreign investment in the BRIC markets may have been tempered somewhat by the economic climate, but based on research requests from its clients, Kairos Consumers sees that these markets continue to interest a diverse range of companies. In July 2012, the Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) released a report entitled Business Perspectives on Emerging Markets 2012-2017. The report forecasts that Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) will retain their leading positions as the worlds’ top emerging markets for 2012-2017. The IMF projects growth rates of 3.7% for Brazil and 3.9% for Russia. In contrast, forecasts are 8.5% for China and 7.4% for India. Arguably, domestic consumption and resources in the latter two markets still makes investment attractive, even though growth rates overall are lower. It does not end with the BRICs. Trend spotters and economists alike are quick to shout of the CAPPT, CIVETS or MIST…or simply expound upon the warrants of individual markets themselves. Let’s get a barometer in terms of where investment might go next, based on market performance, forecasts and general buzz.

Summer 2012 Olympic buzz is well under way. In the consumer arena, much of the talk is revolving around how social media will be used and who will be the best in class. A July 8th Mashable article by Sam Laird takes a concise but entertaining look at 2008 versus 2012 activity levels on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, making the point that Four years is an eternity in Internet time. Clearly, the Olympics in London mean big business in social media terms. But what are those terms, exactly? How will success be quantified? Much has been said about how sponsors, with the U.S. Olympic team sponsors Team USA sponsors including names ranging from Coca-Cola and McDonald’s to one of the 2008 Olympics social media “pace setters”, Nike. As anticipated, budgets exponentially increased in order to develop engaging, relevant content. Likes, Followers and unique visits will shape the story here, separating the winners from the rest of the pack. But beyond the sponsors, attention will gravitate around the athletes themselves.