New Research Reveals Where - and How - CMOs Are Using Social
         Data to Drive Their Brands and Businesses Forward

AUSTIN, Texas, July 25, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bazaarvoice
(Nasdaq:BV) today released the results of a new chief marketing officer
(CMO) study conducted in partnership with The CMO Club that details how
marketing executives are using social data across their organizations.
The survey, which represents brands with more than $1 billion in annual
revenue (56%) as well as smaller business-to-business (B2B) and
business-to-consumer (B2C) brands, finds that almost half of CMOs have
used social data to make predictions or forecasts, and nearly nine in
10 say this data has influenced their decisions. CMOs also drive this
data beyond marketing, sharing data with other C-level executives
(97.3%) and with functions, including sales (36.8%) and product
management and development (35.1%).

The CMO Landscape

Customer centricity has become a priority for CMOs and CEOs alike --
61% of CEOs now say that as a CEO, they must exhibit "customer
obsession," according to the 2012 Global IBM CEO Study. At the same
time, CMOs continue to rapidly invest in new technologies to achieve
this goal. Gartner reported in a January 2012 Webinar that "By 2017 the
CMO will Spend More on IT Than the CIO."

As the business world re-centers around new ways to serve and delight
consumers, the Bazaarvoice and The CMO Club study finds that CMOs are
seizing the opportunity to use social data to transform their role and
organizations.

Bazaarvoice and The CMO Club Survey Key Takeaways:

Social data impacts decisions for nearly all CMOs. CMOs are turning to
social data for insights into consumers, products, and brands that
traditional market research and focus groups can't.


  --  Nearly all CMOs (89.4%) say social data has impacted at least some of
      their decisions. This includes 21.3% of CMOs who say social data affects
      at least one in every five decisions they make.
  --  Social data can also hint at future consumer sentiment and campaign
      success. Nearly half (47.3%) of all CMOs have used social data to make
      predictions or forecasts, most commonly to project sales.




CMOs use social data to drive smarter decisions beyond marketing. While
marketing teams and agencies most often extract the data, insights from
it are used in product development, customer experience, sales, and
C-level discussions.


  --  Agencies are most commonly responsible for reporting to CMOs on social
      data (according to 50.9%), followed by marketing research (45.6%), and
      marketing communications (45.6%) teams.
  --  Brand management teams make the most use of social data, according to
      59.6% of CMOs. Other teams that access the data marketing collects
      include sales (36.8%), customer experience and web design (36%), and
      product management and development (35.1%).
  --  Almost all CMOs (97.3%) share findings from social data with other
      C-level executives at least annually, and most (67%) report to the
      C-level on social insights at least monthly.




CMOs believe social data reveals consumer sentiment and improves brand
awareness. CMOs believe social data reflects business trends and use it
to identify consumer traits and patterns that impact brand loyalty and
awareness.


  --  CMOs are most confident in social data's effectiveness in analyzing
      consumer sentiment toward individual products and product lines, rating
      their confidence level 6.4 out of 10, on average.
  --  As a whole, 83.3% of CMOs believe social data is at least somewhat
      effective in indicating discernible trends or patterns that may impact
      the business. And 77.9% find social data at least somewhat effective in
      analyzing the influence of individuals or groups.
  --  Most CMOs (82.3%) are at least somewhat confident that their brands'
      social efforts have a measurable impact on brand awareness, while 81.5%
      are at least somewhat confident that their social initiatives have a
      measurable effect on brand loyalty.




Comments on the News


  --  "The best big data story to be told is how social data impacts the
      organization to transform business. CMOs have historically been the
      closest to the customer, and they are now the ones who are leading the
      charge to use this data to evolve and elevate their brands and business.
      With word of mouth being digital for the first time in human history,
      they can listen to their customers like never before and bring that
      learning to their entire company, not just in marketing. This is
      tremendously exciting for any marketer, and really any executive, and it
      will change business forever -- creating more customer-centric
      processes, organizations, and companies." -- Brett Hurt, founder and
      CEO, Bazaarvoice
  --  "In a consumer-obsessed C-suite, the CMOs are the chief customer
      advocates and social data is their ultimate weapon. Social data lets
      CMOs truly know their customers and predict consumers' future needs
      before they even have them. Nearly all CMOs now use this data to drive
      decisions. As the business world re-centers around serving and
      delighting consumers, social data is turning CMOs into customer
      champions -- and heroes within the C-suite. And as an industry, we have
      just started to tap into the potential of social data." -- Erin Mulligan
      Nelson, CMO, Bazaarvoice




Additional Resources


  --  Download the full report: http://www.bazaarvoice.com/cmo-club
  --  Follow @Bazaarvoice on Twitter or visit www.bazaarvoice.com




About Bazaarvoice

Bazaarvoice brings the voice of customers to the center of business
strategy, transforming business performance for nearly 1,800 clients
globally. Bazaarvoice social software helps clients like Best Buy,
Costco, Dell, Macy's, P&G, Panasonic, QVC, and USAA create social
communities on their brand websites and Facebook pages where customers
can engage in conversations. These conversations can be syndicated
across Bazaarvoice's global network of client websites and mobile
devices, which allows manufacturers to connect directly with customers.
The social data derived from online word of mouth translates into
actionable insights that improve marketing, sales, customer service,
and product development. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Bazaarvoice
has offices in Amsterdam, London, Munich, New York, Paris, San
Francisco, Stockholm, and Sydney. For more information, visit
www.bazaarvoice.com, read the blog at www.bazaarvoice.com/blog, and
follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bazaarvoice.

The Bazaarvoice logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=13784

About The CMO Club

The CMO Club (TheCMOclub.com) was created for the unique purpose of
bringing chief marketing officers together in a private, exclusive
environment of openness, and contribution that enables them to become
better leaders, marketers, officers, and deal makers. Tailored
exclusively to top marketing executives, this club hosts dinners and
events, shares reports and research from leaders in the marketing
industry, videos and CMO shows at www.cmoclub.tv, and leverages the
first online community for "Heads of Marketing only" for sharing ideas,
helping each other, and serving as a resource for CMO career
opportunities. The CMO Club was founded in 2007 by seasoned marketing
executive Pete Krainik and currently has more than 600 members
worldwide. Follow @TheCMOClub on Twitter or visit www.thecmoclub.com.


CONTACT: Media Contact:
         Emily Brady
         Brady PR on behalf of Bazaarvoice, Inc.
         650-692-6107
         emily@bradypr.com
         
         Bazaarvoice
         Chandra Hosek
         512-551-6612
         Chandra.Hosek@bazaarvoice.com