When branding interferes with persuasion.

I read two papers in the last week re Web Analytics Assesment/Usage.

Appraising Your Investment In
Enterprise Web Analytics

● research conducted in Q2-thru-Q3 2009 by Forresters

● authored by Forresters Consulting
● commissioned by Google.

The Cost of Free

● based on research conducted in Q2 2009 by Forresters
● presented by web tech experts
● commissioned by Omniture.

Both are informative reads - thank you to all contributors for making them freely accessible. And both appear to present the data and subsequent analysis in the light most complimentary to their commissioners business interests - S.O.P... Aside from the content of each paper, what I find most interesting is the profound differences in positioning.

Should you read each paper you'll notice...
Branding

• the Google version includes a persistent but relatively obscure mention of Google as the host through out.
• the Omniture version includes logo and their standard collateral look & feel through out.

Scripting

• the Google version is academic, void of product mentions or associative need/solution based content.
  
• the Omniture version is promotional with a high volume of product mentions and associative need/solution based content.

Objectivity

• the Google version includes full disclosure of research methodology. Is authored by the researchers, Forresters.
• the Omniture version discloses competitors. It employs the reputations of web tech experts cited as the presenters; John Lovett [senior analyst at Forresters Research] along with Tony Bradshaw and Tim Munsell [senior DaveRamsey.com representatives]. Note... presenter vs author may be a matter of semantics.
  

My questions is...
Which approach do you believe to be more effective?

My take...
If the consumer believes the data and conclusions presented adheres to unbiased and accepted research standards they are more apt to use the information to assess competitive 'value offered'. Therefore perceived 'truth of data' is a significant factor in the probability of tactic persuasion. Google's hands-off approach feels more objective, thus credible, thus able to persuade.

Given the Omniture paper is categorized as a 'workbook' it may not be entirely fair to make an apples-to-apples comparison. As a workbook I would suspect presenting participants with the data and interspersing it with [carefully crafted] questions, allowing them to form their our own Omniture affirmative conclusions, may be a more persuasive variation on the original approach.

To access a link to each paper please click on it's corresponding image above.

Asking for the cheque.

In yesterdays post I wrote about the frequent opportunity we are now provided by freeware developers to donate a few dollars in trade for using their application. This is a smart revenue generation tactic on their part. One I assume most of us do not mind being requested to participate in... providing we gain value for our contribution.

My question is 'How successful are these appeals?'

Situation
This morning when I opened my Firefox browser I was greeted with a number of 'thank you' pages from developer groups whose add-ons I had installed last night. All included some variation-or-another on an honest and simple request... "Should you like using the application we would appreciate a donation". And conveniently they provide a donate button directly underneath the appeal.

Problem
We are making the appeal before our consumers have had a chance to test drive the app.

A good comparative is when our server at a restaurant asks us 'how is everything?' right when we're taking our first bite. Not only is our mouth full of food, rendering us pretty much incapable of a legible response. But more to the point, we haven't had a chance to start forming a 'value' opinion yet.

Suggestion
First, change that initial communication experience. Simply thank our consumer for...

• taking the time to download and test our app
• trusting our solution
  

Second, set expectations... i.e.

From time to time we release feature updates for 'X'. [browser name] will prompt you when these are available. Our ability to continuously add value to this and other applications is in great part determined by you. Should you decide to upgrade when new features become available we would appreciate a small donation. Your support keeps our computers humming, your applications free of ads, and engineers working hard for you.

Third, update often. Requesting a donation at that time.

Providing our consumers are satisfactorily engaged with us/our product [?] our efforts should be well rewarded.