New View of the American Dream

Among the study's key findings is that "having it all" is an unrealistic goal with 75% of those surveyed saying they would rather get out of the rat race than climb the corporate ladder – and instead, 76% said they would rather spend more time with family than make more money.  Moreover, Americans are showing disenchantment with the pursuit of money with 75% again saying they would trade job security over a job that offered an opportunity for raises.

"The most surprising thing about our study was how much consumers were saying what they would NOT do for money, even when money worries are high on the list," explained Graceann Bennett, Managing Partner and Director of Strategic Planning at Ogilvy & Mather Chicago.  "Prioritizing your life based on money is seen as a sure way to be disappointed since the pursuit of money is often reliant on factors outside of consumers' control.  They have gone down this road before and are saying that they are not necessarily happier or better off as a result."

In fact, the recession has revealed important new consumer priorities with quality of life and peace of mind at the top and a focus on living life in a more sustainable way both from an environmental and financial point of view.

"Sustainability" takes on a new Meaning

According to Manila Austin Ph.D., Communispace's Director of Research, "Consumers didn't fully understand the idea of sustainability until they found themselves living unsustainable lives – working too hard, carrying too much debt, and not living or planning for the long term.  Now consumers are re-imagining their lives for a sustainable future for themselves and their families."

Quality is still in according to the study with 73% of consumer saying they would rather have fewer, high quality things. But while they still want some luxuries, their shopping habits have changed as a full 92% say they are using coupons, 91% are shopping at cheaper/discount stores and 90% are buying more store brands

"We are finding consumers make very interesting trade-offs across seemingly unrelated categories in order to get their lives into balance while still feeling like they are treating themselves to those things that make them feel normal and well taken care of," explained Ms. Bennett.  "Holding off a few years to buy a new car may enable them to keep their everyday Starbucks indulgence going while someone else may ease up on their ambitions for a promotion to feel safer in their job even if it means less money."

The Complicated Consumer

Through a series of in-depth exercises with nearly 700 online community members, Communispace's Manila Austin noted that "many people feel the recession is not their problem.  They say that they are in control themselves, but see others spending and consuming too much and feel they need to change their habits.  Importantly, they also believe that it is the consumer who will get the country out of the recession, not the government or the banks."

A shrinking circle of trust in banks, established institutions and even the media   has led 69% of consumers to say that the recession has caused them to rethink their perspective and values with 78% saying that the recession has changed their spending habits for the better.  The local community – "Main Street" – is  now the focus for the majority of those polled.

"The consumer is moving forward, but many marketers are projecting the stresses of the economy in their marketing and are not connecting with the new consumer mindset," explained Ogilvy's Ms. Bennett.  "It's time for marketers to reflect the new positive self reliance of today's consumer and to tap into building relationships with more one-on-one marketing efforts."

Ms. Bennett cautioned however that it is important for marketers to tread carefully into the discount space, because brands that are associated with deprivation and the recession may conjure up less than positive associations once consumers have a bit more cash to spend.

With consumers dramatically increasing the research they do before making purchases large and small, the brand with the better information will win.  There are also significant demographic trends that demand a more personal message especially when looked at regionally with consumers on the west coast more optimistic than those on the East.  Some 32% on the West say the US will emerge from the recession stronger, while only 19% on the East coast feel this way.

"Today's consumer is even more complicated than before," explained Communispace's Dr. Austin.  "There is no one marketing solution that captures a mass value proposition. We called this study 'Eyes Wide Open, Wallets Half Shut' to reflect the challenge of understanding and connecting with how post recession consumers view the world."

How the Research Was Conducted

A variety of quantitative and qualitative research was conducted.  Ogilvy Chicago sampled a nationally representative 1,200 American adults through a robust online survey.  Communispace conducted a series of qualitative studies including interactive conversations, image galleries, and other dynamic and exploratory activities with its proprietary online community members which involved some 694 consumers participating.

About Ogilvy & Mather Chicago:

Founded in 1976, Ogilvy & Mather Chicago (www.ogilvy.com), includes Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, OgilvyAction, Ogilvy Public Relations and OgilvyOne, providing its clients with fully integrated marketing solutions. Its clients include CDW, Sears, Unilever, American Family Insurance, American Bar Association and others.  Ogilvy & Mather Chicago is a unit of Ogilvy & Mather North America, which is part of WPP Group plc (Nasdaq: WPPGY) one of the world's largest communications services groups.  

About Communispace:

The world's most admired brands turn to Communispace Corporation, the leader in generating game-changing insights via private online customer communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels Corporation. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, London, New York, San Francisco, as well as San Remo, Italy and Sydney, Australia. For more information, please visit: www.communispace.com.

SOURCE Ogilvy & Mather North America

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091028/NE00302LOGO )

"Today's ever-changing technology landscape has had a significant impact on the research field and made the industry increasingly electronic," said Juliette Goetzee, head of marketing relations, A&G products at Elsevier. "Compounding this development is the fact that global collaboration and cross-disciplinary research teams are becoming more prevalent, resulting in a variety of challenges for research administrators and managers. By interacting directly with this group in our community, we can better understand the unique circumstances  they're facing and ensure that our solutions address their most pressing needs—both now and as they evolve in the future." 

The research administrator community is the third international community Elsevier has launched with Communispace. In 2008, the companies partnered to create a community of librarians and another comprised of scientists and researchers to test prototypes, understand how to address the unmet needs of these groups and engage community members in the product development process. When Elsevier introduced its SciVal product suite to address the increasingly complex responsibilities of research administrators and managers, the company wanted to obtain similar feedback to ensure that the solution is as relevant and useful as possible.

Through a variety of community discussions and facilitated activities, Elsevier will use the community to ensure the SciVal solutions help institutions and individuals alike evaluate, establish and execute upon their research strategies efficiently and easily. The benefits of the community extend beyond tangible business results for Elsevier. By uniting this geographically disparate group of academics, Elsevier is providing them with a forum to discuss issues, exchange ideas and suggestions and share knowledge that could benefit the larger research community on a global scale. International collaboration and cross-discipline research are increasingly preferred by grant committees, and the diverse make-up of Elsevier's research administrator community makes it ideally suited to address these trends. Additional benefits of community participation include:

• The opportunity to discuss issues affecting the academic industry overall and how they impact the research administrator and manager role specifically
• The chance to learn about regulatory and policy issues affecting research in different countries
• A forum to share best practices with colleagues from developed and developing countries
• The ability to help Elsevier shape concepts and develop products to better suit the industry's needs

"Elsevier has always been known for its commitment to excellence in academia and its world-class reputation is largely due to its continued innovation," said Maria Rapp, managing director, Europe at Communispace. "By using online communities to unite its global customer base, Elsevier is extracting unprecedented insights that can not only improve its own products, but also inform developments that will benefit the research industry as a whole."

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

About Communispace

The world's most admired brands turn to Communispace Corporation, the leader in generating game-changing insights via private online customer communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, and Hilton Hotels Corporation. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, London, New York, San Francisco, as well as San Remo, Italy and Sydney, Australia. For more information, please visit: www.communispace.com.

Elsevier and Communispace launched two communities in 2008. The communities comprise 450 individuals from 69 countries, and Elsevier plans to launch a third community of research administrators. Current activities include ongoing discussions among members, product ideation and co-creation initiatives and prototype testing. Elsevier's communities are fostering loyalty and openness among its customers, giving users a clear sense of the company's creative process and customer focus, strengthening brand identity and demonstrably reducing product development cycles.

Among the many benefits of being involved in all cycles of the product development process, members of Elsevier's communities listed the following:

• A sense of camaraderie, as though they were a part of the Elsevier team.
• First-hand knowledge of Elsevier's continued efforts to innovate and enhance their products and services.
• An increased awareness of the breadth of Elsevier's product line—and a glimpse into what will be available in the future—enables librarians to make informed recommendations to their users.

Direct Member Feedback
"Being asked to provide feedback and suggestions, and seeing the thought that goes into designing said products, makes the practice of recommending them easier than it had been previously," said community member Robert Stibravy, academic librarian.

"I have become aware of extra features in Elsevier products that I did not previously know about and I have also realized how well it compares to other products. Looking at future developments is also encouraging," said community member Laura Foley, librarian, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.

"The field of research is constantly evolving in pace with the latest technological advances, and to meet the needs of our customers we must ensure that our solutions are useful, relevant and in step with how they work," said Juliette Goetzee, head of marketing relations, A&G products at Elsevier.

"Communispace provides a direct line to customer insight throughout our product development, creation and testing processes. Equally important are the deeper connections we've forged with our customer base, making them a real partner in our mission to improve research outcomes for academics around the world."

"Elsevier is a leader in the research community because they actually focus on the needs of their customers," said Maria Rapp, managing director, Europe at Communispace. "Using online communities to tap into the global wisdom of its customers proves once again that Elsevier is committed to delivering greater value through innovation. The active and valuable participation of community members during this first year is proof that customers can—and want to—play an important role in that process as well."

About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate game-changing customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels Corporation. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Atlanta, as well as Sydney, Australia and San Remo, Italy. For more information, please visit: www.communispace.com.

One of the most significant findings to emerge from Communispace’s research is that the sandwich generation is more of a situation than a quantifiable age group.  Members range from their 20s to their 60s, and the challenges they face span income and geographies. Communispace learned that sandwiched people view caring for their children as a natural and rewarding aspect of life, but feel that caring for aging parents is a stressor that is unexpected, unpredictable and incredibly frustrating. Despite these findings, sandwiched people are overwhelmingly more likely to sacrifice to help their parents, even at the sake of their own children:

• 58 percent said they would give a spare bedroom to an aging parent over their young adult child
• 65 percent said they would move in with an ailing parent, even if it meant a longer commute and/or a new school for their children
• 77 percent would change their purchasing behavior to accommodate their parents; for example, choosing a car with a larger trunk  to hold a parent’s walker over one that is comfortable or gets good gas mileage

“We were struck by how strongly members felt about off-target marketing messages,” noted Julie Wittes Schlack, Communispace’s SVP of Innovation and Design and a lead researcher on the project. “Advertisements that relied on fear-mongering and sugar-coating were absolutely repellant to people; but messaging that was realistic, reassuring and empowering was seen very positively.  Marketing messages have to strike that balance between reassurance and realism, innovation and tradition.”

The study also revealed a need for products and services targeted specifically to this unique market segment.

• 47 percent would like the ability to carry both their parents and their children on their health insurance, and 45 percent highly ranked a flexible long-term care policy that would cover their parents and themselves at different points in time
• 26 percent liked the idea of a service to dispense or remind their parents to take their medication
• 22 percent liked the idea of a service to install webcams in their homes or that of their parents
• 26 percent liked the idea of airline packages that would provide discounts on multiple trips to the same location or offer a reduced rate for children

Caring for elderly parents is not a concern limited to boomers; 83 percent of the Millennials participating in this study are already thinking about how they’ll handle this challenge.
 
“Not only did participants suggest ideas for the product categories you’d expect, such as insurance or healthcare, but they talked about the brands and services they rely on across many other domains, such as personal care, cleaning products, and food and beverage,” Wittes Schlack continued. “For Millennials and boomers alike, the need for products providing comfort and reliability suggests new opportunities for brands not usually associated with caring for the elderly.”

To learn more about Communispace’s sandwich generation research, and download a copy of the report, please visit: http://www.communispace.com/research/abstract/?Type=Cultural%20Context&Id=69.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate game-changing customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels Corporation. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Atlanta, as well as Sydney, Australia and San Remo, Italy.  For more information, please visit: www.communispace.com.

The co-creation project, utilizing a proprietary methodology developed by Communispace and conducted over a 10-week period, allowed Scholastic Book Clubs editors and designers to work directly with community members through a four-step process of exploration, ideation, prototype development and testing and, ultimately, production.  By bringing parents and educators together at the very beginning of the project, Communispace and Scholastic Book Clubs created a collaborative environment where informed ideation resulted in actionable insights. 

For example, Scholastic Book Clubs learned that, while parents and teachers share a desire to match children with age-appropriate books they love to read, each group differs in how they help children choose the right book.  So while teachers view reading level as the “most important” factor when selecting a book; parents prefer to flip through the pages to get a feel for the subject matter; and children want books that are similar to something they’ve enjoyed in the past. As a result, Scholastic Book Clubs made changes to its flyers to organize the books by reading level, in an open face layout showing a sample page from a book at each level, and with a recommendation section for books with a similar subject matter.

“For more than 60 years, Scholastic Book Clubs has worked with parents and teachers to help children learn to love to read,” said Judy Newman, president of Scholastic Book Clubs.  “These groups have trusted us for generations and we wanted to incorporate their feedback directly into every stage of our redesign project.  By teaming up with Communispace our editors and designers were given open access to parents’ and teachers’ thinking about kids and books, enabling us to truly bridge the gap between what teachers need and what parents want.”

“The rapid prototyping of the new flyer—and the positive feedback it received—underscores the value of our collaborative approach to product design and innovation,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace.  “Communispace is proud to have been a partner in this project and we’re thrilled to have our achievements recognized by Forrester Research.  We look forward to seeing the continued success of the Scholastic community and helping our clients drive business insights by tapping into the voices of their customers.”

The Forrester Groundswell Awards support and recognize the principles outlined in the Forrester Research book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008).  Winners are selected based on specific results demonstrating the successful use of social technologies to advance an organizational or corporate goal.  More information about the Forrester Groundswell Awards is available at: www.forrester.com/groundswell. 

“Every year the quality of business social applications goes up, and marketers become more sophisticated,” said Josh Bernoff, senior vice president, idea development at Forrester and coauthor of Groundswell.  “This year’s winners stood out in a very competitive field; all of them demonstrate not just creative use of social technologies, but impressive, measurable results.”

This year Communispace won an unprecedented two Forrester Groundswell Awards, bringing their total to four for the three years the awards program has been in existence. Communispace’s 2009 Forrester Groundswell Award submissions can be found online at: http://www.communispace.com/news/groundswell/

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate game-changing customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels Corporation. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Atlanta, as well as Sydney, Australia and San Remo, Italy.  For more information, please visit: http://www.communispace.com/.

About Scholastic
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books and a leader in educational technology and children’s media. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs and school-based book fairs, retail stores, schools, libraries, television networks and the Company’s Internet Site, http://www.scholastic.com/.

In this evaluation, Forrester assessed vendors across 46 criteria bucketed into three categories: current offering, strategy and market presence.  Communispace captured the highest score in all three categories and according to the report, “differentiates itself based on superior service, outstanding customer references, and a strong and tenured management team.”  The report also states, “Communispace, the most well-recognized name in the MROC space, is true to its reputation as a premium vendor.” 

The report continues, “Communispace excels in its customer service, moderation, and very high-quality deliverables that provide findings in an engaging and creative way that any senior executive would be able to digest with ease.”  In their analysis, Forrester gave Communispace the highest score for services (4.45 out of 5) highlighting the range and quality of services it provides particularly in community management, recruitment, reporting quality, creative services, analytics and account management.  Communispace received 5 out of 5 in the reference accounts category, indicating its client “references are very pleased with few suggestions for improvement and are using advanced capabilities of the community.”  The company also received high scores for analytics (4 out of 5), or the “analysis performed to distil community insights” and internationalization (4.5 out of 5), the ability to “serve clients with global research needs.”

During the past decade, Communispace has built more than 350 communities for the world’s leading brands that offer real business value and a competitive advantage.  The company currently has more than 230 employees who work with thousands of community members across 92 countries.  

“It has been ten years since we launched our very first insights community for a client, and it is gratifying to see the field expanding and becoming a real ‘industry,’” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace.  “As the leader in this growing pack, we’ve already worked with hundreds of companies to refine our offerings, improve our methodology and expand our expert staff.  This expertise, combined with our unmatched commitment to customer service, is why we’re able to provide researchers with more timely, robust insights that give their businesses the competitive edge.”      

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate game-changing customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels Corporation. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Atlanta, as well as Sydney, Australia and San Remo, Italy.  For more information, please visit:  www.communispace.com.

Nearly a decade ago, Diane and her leadership team transformed the company from a collaborative software application into an innovative platform that helps companies to use the Internet to listen to customers. By developing the first private branded online communities, Communispace now offers a social-media marketing model with a proven track record of providing real business value and competitive advantage to nearly 100 premier corporations across the globe.

Under Diane’s leadership, the company saw revenue increase by 30 percent in 2008, marking its 9th consecutive year of over 30 percent revenue growth. In the last year, profits have doubled, and more than 90 percent of Communispace’s clients have renewed their business. Communispace now has over 230 employees, and the company facilitates communities that are comprised of members from 84 countries – speaking 11 different languages.

To foster continuous innovation, each year Diane ensures millions of dollars are allocated to R&D, allowing the company to stay on the cutting edge of marketing and research. In addition to the many awards Communispace has received for its solution, the company has also been recognized frequently for its energetic and customer-focused culture.

“This nomination process allowed me to meet some remarkable people who are reshaping their industries and evoking positive change in their communities, and I’m truly honored to get this recognition from the Chamber,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “This is a very proud moment for me personally, but it’s really a reflection of the exceptional team we have at Communispace – and our amazing clients who are constantly pushing us to go to new levels.”

During the intensive interview process, this year’s award selection committee visited each of the impressive finalists to gain first-hand knowledge of their operations and determine who would join the elite ranks of past award recipients, including drug research and development pioneer, Dr. Janet Wolfe of Wolfe Laboratories, Inc. and artificial intelligence (AI) expert, Dr. Ian Lane Davis of Mad Doc Software, Inc. After careful consideration, the award committee selected Diane as this year’s winner, due to her accomplishments as the co-founder and CEO of Communispace, her open management approach that fosters a creative and welcoming environment, and her continued work with a long list of local charities, such as Horizons for Homeless Children.

To learn more about Communispace, please visit: www.communispace.com.

About the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Awards

Presented annually since 1985, The Small Business of the Year Awards, put on by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, honor the achievements and significance of small businesses and their contributions to the Greater Boston community, celebrating the spirit of entrepreneurship that drives the small business sector. The Small Business of the Year Awards Luncheon to honor this year’s winners will be held Thursday, October 15th, at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston, featuring guest speaker Randy Papdellis, CEO of Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc, and emcee Anthony Silva, Business Editor & Drive Time Anchor of WBZ AM 1030.

About Communispace

Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created nearly 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, as well as Sydney, Australia and San Remo, Italy.

Contact:
 
Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

“We see online communities and other forms of social networking as fundamental in the future of market research, equipping companies to supplement statistics with human experience,” said Steve Cierpicki, Colmar Brunton’s Global Head of Research 2.0. “Communispace has spent more than a decade honing its best-of-breed practices for building, managing and running online communities for brands around the world. We’re confident that their experience combined with our regional knowledge will offer marketers a whole new view of Australian and New Zealand consumers.”

As part of the partnership, Colmar Brunton will provide local resources to facilitate the communities for Communispace clients in Australia and New Zealand. The on-the-ground team will make it easier for local clients to build, interact with and glean insights from community members. Plus, Colmar Brunton’s community managers have a 20-year history in understanding the market in Australia and New Zealand, and familiarity with local trends, customs and cultures which will greatly enrich the conversations and ideas generated within the clients’ communities.

“When it comes to core values, our companies have a lot in common: a focus on innovation, a devotion to customers, a spirited staff and an unrelenting desire to understand people,” said Anne Massey, managing director, Asia Pacific at Communispace. “Colmar Brunton’s extremely talented team of market researchers adds a vital cultural understanding of and physical presence in Australia and New Zealand to our communities. The end result will be much richer consumer insights and interactions for both current and new customers in the area.”

Communispace and Colmar Brunton will initially focus on helping companies within the Food and Beverage sector, an industry where both companies have a long history, strong client relationships and a keen understanding of the market.

"From marketing communications to new product development, the V-Fuel Zone Community provides us with the perfect platform within which to interact with and listen to our target consumers in a truly meaningful and powerful way," said Johanna Campbell, marketing manager, Energy Marketing Team, Frucor Beverages Australia Pty Ltd.

“Even in the midst of a global economic decline, we’re receiving an unprecedented number of requests for communities in new geographic and cultural regions,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “In order to serve our global clientele, we’re seeking out world-class partners who understand the nuances of these local markets. We’re so impressed with the Colmar Brunton team’s approach and passion, and we look forward to working together to forge new relationships with both clients and consumers in Australia and New Zealand.”

For more information, please contact Anne Massey at: amassey@communispace.com or +61 2 9358 4131.

About Communispace

Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created nearly 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, as well as Sydney, Australia and San Remo, Italy. For more information, please visit: www.communispace.com.

About Colmar Brunton

Colmar Brunton is the largest independently owned market and social research agency in Australia, providing adhoc customised research for the country’s largest blue chip companies and government agencies. With over 20 year’s experience, Colmar Brunton specializes in FMCG, Services, Social and Online Communities research. We have offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Auckland. For more information, please visit: www.cbr.com.au.

Contacts:

U.S. Contact:
Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

or

Australia / New Zealand Contact:
Colmar Bruntono
Aja Shanahan, (+61 2) 8873 0888
aja.shanahan@cbr.com.au

Communispace’s innovative approach has positioned the company as a market research leader and made it possible for Communispace to achieve double-digit growth for the ninth consecutive year – with nearly 90 percent of existing clients renewing or establishing additional communities. This year’s Top 50 ranking also illustrates the company’s continued development and growth since its founding in 1999.

“We make it possible for brands to get closer to their customers, so they can innovate and grow, and we’re proud to be recognized not only for our continued growth, but for helping marketers to change the way they listen to consumers,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “Despite the economy, we’ve continued to develop and expand on a global scale, and we’re thrilled to be part of the prestigious Honomichl list.”

The Honomichl Top 50 rankings appeared in the 36th annual business report, published by the American Marketing Association (AMA), North America’s largest professional marketing associations, and Inside Research®, a one-source authoritative report founded in 1990 by Jack Honomichl, the leading market research industry authority.

###

This past year, Giant further embraced its Communispace community to better understand the impact of the economy on shoppers. Giant wanted to dive deeper into their hearts, minds – and grocery bags – to truly understand the emotional impact of the economy and the specific changes being made to deal with the downturn. It was also imperative to get a sense of which changes were likely to bring long-term behavioral shifts, or become the “new norm,” and which were only short term changes.

Giant trusted Communispace’s close relationship with their shopper community and unique methodology to drive insights they couldn’t get with traditional surveys and online discussions.

“Communispace has helped us push past traditional research techniques to gather a vast array of insights from our online community,” said Erik Keptner, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communication, Giant Food Stores. “Communispace’s high level of engagement has provided timely and relevant consumer feedback that helps to drive our decision-making.”

“Giant understands that the safest place during any economic downturn is right beside your customer,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “As you read through the verbatims from The Shoppers’ Idea Exchange, it’s clear that a new norm is emerging. Fortunately, thanks to its members, this won’t be some nugget that traditional research uncovers in a few weeks or months; it’s something that Giant is addressing with customers in stores right now.”

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created nearly 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, as well as Sydney, Australia and San Remo, Italy.

About Giant Food Stores
Giant Food Stores, LLC, one of the leading supermarket operations in the U.S., currently operates stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia under the names of Giant Food Stores, Martin's Food Markets and Giant To Go. As a company, Giant is proud to work with hundreds of local organizations in the communities it serves and has a long-standing commitment to eradicate hunger and improve the quality of life for children. For more information about Giant Food Stores, visit www.GiantFoodStores.com.

Contact:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

“The majority of our clients are global businesses, and although most of them understand the core differences among consumers in other countries, they believe it’s mission-critical to go beyond the basics: to hear the nuances, to listen deeply to customers, and to learn how to be as relevant to them as possible,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “Thus, at a time when many companies are cutting back, we’re investing in the people and technology to ensure that we can deliver globally.”

Communispace has just released a significant upgrade to its community-building software which is now fully compatible with local currencies, time zones and date formats. This release also adds Portuguese and Chinese versions to existing support for U.S. and UK English, European and Latin American Spanish, European and Canadian French, Dutch and German languages. In addition, the company has expanded its team of foreign language community moderators to include experts in Spanish, Mandarin and Dutch, furthering its ability to communicate with clients’ global customers and prospects. Communispace also opened a new office in Sydney, Australia and bolstered its sales operations in Asia Pacific, Italy and the UK.

To help clients leverage best practices, Communispace recently commissioned research to understand the differences in cross-cultural and multinational insight communities. The “Breakthroughs without Borders” study looks closely at participation in these communities, especially the role that culture plays, and offers strategies that businesses can use to more effectively recruit and engage their customers. The study, available here: http://bit.ly/CzGFV, includes “ten rules of thumb” for engaging multinational consumers, and provides practical advice for asking questions and interpreting insights.

“With 600,000 hotel rooms worldwide, it’s imperative we understand what people from different countries and cultures value,” said Cassandra Jeyaram, social marketing manager, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). “Our multinational Communispace community provides invaluable feedback, and we also used it to drive a word-of-mouth campaign that reached members’ friends and family in more than 30 countries and drove a quarter of a million dollars in incremental revenue in weeks.”

“Our clients have conducted some ground-breaking work within their multinational communities, giving us a unique perspective on listening to a global audience,” said Maria Rapp, managing director, Europe, Communispace. “While connecting to a global audience can be extremely challenging, diversity itself often becomes the ‘social glue’ of an online community, yielding amazing results and insights for a brand.”

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created nearly 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, as well as Sydney, Australia and San Remo, Italy.

Contact:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

"We can’t wait for a new generation of women to discover the new Liz, which is all about women recognizing their personal style,” said Dave McTague, EVP of Partnered Brands for Liz Claiborne Inc. “By bringing this community of actual customers into the fold, we’re gaining invaluable perspective into how they want to experience and interact with our brand. Whether shoppers are getting advice from our online style lab or watching videos on our YouTube channel, we hope to evoke the energy and happiness our new line embodies.”

Communispace, which has created more than 325 online communities for the world’s largest brands, kicked-off the Liz Claiborne New York community earlier this year and is now actively facilitating member activities. In just a few short months, the community has helped refine the print campaign and guided the structure of the company’s new loyalty program. Advisory Council members also took an active role in shaping the revamped Web site, which features Isaac TV with segments such as “Isaac’s Picks,” where Mizrahi highlights his favorite ensembles and “I.M: Just Happy,” in which he talks about the inspiration for the brand’s new look and feel.

McTague continued, “This is a strategic imperative to consistently dialogue with our customer! Who she is, what she thinks and cares about, what influences her and her friends is vital to meeting and exceeding her desires and expectations. This brand is incredibly invested in our woman, and we will relentlessly seek to enrich her life with fashion, ease and great price-value.”

"With the new Liz Claiborne New York line, the company has perfectly paired style and value, extending its appeal to a new community of shoppers,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “By listening directly to consumers, Liz Claiborne is demonstrating its continued retail leadership while gaining deep, actionable insights that are so vital in this economy. This community underscores the company’s ongoing commitment to connecting with real-life women and designing products to fit their real-life needs.”

About Liz Claiborne
Liz Claiborne New York, with Creative Director Isaac Mizrahi, designs and markets an extensive range of snappy, confident and comfortable women’s apparel, accessories and home products. The brand delivers fashion, quality and classic style domestically and internationally via wholesale and retail channels including department stores, specialty stores, on-line and in outlet stores. (www.lizclaiborne.com) The brand is owned and operated by Liz Claiborne Inc.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created nearly 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, Sydney and San Remo, Italy.
 

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“Gary is an invaluable part of the Communispace team, and we’re please that the BBJ is recognizing him for his dedication to our company and the business community as a whole,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “Through his outstanding leadership and financial expertise, we’ve been able to grow our business with confidence.”

At the end of 2008, Communispace grew its revenues by 30 percent, its ninth consecutive year of double-digit growth. In addition to solid revenue growth in 2008, nearly 90 percent of Communispace’s existing clients renewed their communities and several expanded the number of communities they operate.

The Boston Business Journal named sixteen award honorees for its first-ever CFO of the Year program. The BBJ selected honorees in six award categories: publicly traded companies, large private companies (over $50 million in revenue), midsized private companies ($20 million to $50 million in revenue), small private companies (under $20 million in revenue), nonprofits and lifetime achievement. The BBJ picked the award honorees using a six-person panel of judges comprised of BBJ editorial staff members and local business leaders in the financial-services sector. This year's honorees will be formally recognized at an award event, held at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel on July 16th. 

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created nearly 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, Sydney and San Remo, Italy.

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“We’re extremely honored to receive this award and humbled to be included in this incredible list of leading New England innovators. Each of these companies deserves to be recognized for their wonderful contributions and revolutionary approaches to their fields,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “We are in the business of helping our clients innovate, and this award is huge for us because it says that we practice what we preach.”

Communispace has grown rapidly since its founding in 1999, and in 2008 the company grew its revenues by 30 percent, marking the 9th consecutive year of double-digit growth. Last year, nearly 90 percent of its clients renewed their business, many of which expanded their number of communities to connect with additional customer segments.

Each Communispace community consists of 300–500 expertly recruited consumers who participate in weekly activities—from brainstorming ideas and commenting on market trends to sharing experiences and reacting to specific product innovations or advertising creative. Each dynamic community is managed by an expert Communispace facilitator to ensure strategic relevance and encourage vibrant participation, resulting in an unprecedented member participation rate of 86 percent on a weekly basis.

To ensure continuous innovation, Communispace spends millions of dollars each year in its Innovation and Research Group, comprised of ethnographers, data mining experts and social scientists. This group uncovers new patterns and trends evident in online community behavior and continuously tests new techniques and technologies.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created nearly 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, Sydney and San Remo, Italy.

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The District O Private Lounge, which kicked-off with an ambitious goal to enhance Overstock.com's loyalty program, has since blossomed into a customer insight machine for the company that extends well beyond Club O. Communispace, which creates online customer insight communities for many of the world's leading brands, recruited members for the community and now engages them in activities ranging from open discussions around the best and worst loyalty programs to generating feedback on the retailer's television commercials. Energized by the community experience, members also initiate their own activities in the community, generating unexpected insights that keep Overstock.com in step with its customers' changing needs.

"Although we've long relied on quantitative research to understand our customers, we've never had a way to engage in active dialogue with them, something that's incredibly valuable for an online business," said Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com Chairman and CEO. "We've already established a meaningful connection to our customers through The District O Private Lounge, and we're looking forward to learning more from these members. Their distinctive voices will clearly resonate in our strategy and communications in the future, specifically within our enhanced Club O program."

"Businesses are facing new challenges as consumers adjust spending and change habits to cope with the recession," said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. "Overstock.com is committed to understanding its customers' challenges by listening and engaging with them directly. The best way to build and sustain customer loyalty, especially now, is by making your customers active stakeholders in achieving mutual success."

About Overstock.com, Inc.
Overstock.com, Inc. is an online retailer offering brand-name merchandise at discount prices. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative inventory distribution channel. Overstock.com, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global Market System and can be found online at http://www.overstock.com. Overstock.com regularly posts information about the company and other related matters on its website under the heading "Investor Relations."

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands listen to, and engage with, their customers. They do this by building and managing private branded communities that enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, Sydney and San Remo, Italy.

Overstock.com(R) is a registered trademark of Overstock.com, Inc.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the projected benefits of the District O Private Lounge, and other Communispace products, and the relative value of these products in Overstock.com's business model. Our Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2007, our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, or any amendments thereto, and our other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission identify important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections, estimates or forward-looking statements.
 

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Communispace, which has created more than 325 online communities for the world’s largest brands, kicked-off the Elsevier community in November 2008 and is now actively leading member activity and the delivery of insights. Through ongoing discussions with members and facilitated activities, Elsevier hopes to better understand the challenges and unmet needs of researchers, gaining deeper insight into the pressing issues within the research community. Elsevier has already begun involving the community in developing new products that more precisely match the needs of researchers, from the early ideation phase to usability testing of prototypes.

"As a company, we’re committed to finding new innovative ways to better involve our users and buyers in our business, while providing them a global platform to engage with one another," said Jay Katzen, Managing Director Academic and Government Products. “During a time when resources are scarce and global collaboration is critical to achieving scientific breakthroughs, our goal for Innovation Explorers is to discover, in partnership with the researchers themselves, how Elsevier can help improve their research outcomes."

Innovation Explorers enables a select group of top scientists to interact and engage with colleagues from around the globe and across a broad range of fields of study.  These interactions offer Elsevier an unprecedented opportunity to listen to and learn from researchers as they communicate with one another.

In December 2008, Elsevier added librarians to the Innovation Explorers community, facilitating interactions among 150 librarians from 40 different countries.  Librarians are an important partner, alongside researchers, in designing the research library of the future.  These members participate in unique activities with fellow librarians as well as in joint activities with members of the researcher group. 

“Although the community is relatively new, we’re excited about the active level of participation and the richness of member dialogue we’ve seen so far,” commented Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “The geographic diversity of this community, with members from 69 countries, makes this an especially interesting initiative, and we look forward to seeing the unique insights that arise from this unprecedented global effort.”

Date: March 25, 2009
Contact: Malkie Bernheim/Jessica Disch
Padilla Speer Beardsley
+1 212-752-8338

mbernheim@psbpr.com/ jdisch@psbpr.com 

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About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 325 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels Corporation. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.

About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier’s 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/), bibliographic databases, and online reference works.

Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

• The Boston Globe “Top Places to Work.”
• Forrester Groundswell Award in the “Listening” Category (with Mattel).
• Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Marketing Services (Diane Hessan).
• Boston Business Journal Pacesetter Award.
• Boston Business Journal “Best Places to Work.”
• Stevie Awards for Women in Business (Most Innovative Company).
• Entrepreneur’s 50 Fastest-growing Women-led Companies.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 325 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.

# # #

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and drive revenue.  Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.

# # #

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Mattel’s Playground Community of 500 moms with children ages three-ten, created and managed by Communispace, allows Mattel to truly connect, listen to and gain insight into these moms' lives.  The award-winning client story demonstrated how Mattel’s target consumers offered candid guidance and advice during the 2007 toy recalls, providing their opinions on Mattel's response plan and thoughts on what the company could do to address their fears and concerns.  Listening to the voice of its customer during this critical time led to a tremendous positive impact on Mattel’s business as the company headed into the busy holiday season.

"We are so fortunate to have this dynamic and insightful group of moms who are at the ready to help us, not only during a difficult situation but also on an ongoing basis,” said Michael Shore, vice president of Worldwide Consumer Insights at Mattel.  “They open up and share their lives with us in the community so we can continue to create the best products to meet their needs.  The community truly is a strategic business asset for us."

Mattel created the private online community with Communispace to help Mattel's research organization listen to and gain insight into moms' lives and needs in order to help the company drive growth and innovation.  Through the efforts of Mattel and The Playground Community, the company won praise for its timely and thorough response.  On August 18, 2007 the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Mattel did everything it could to get its message out, earning high marks from consumers and retailers.  Though upset by the situation, they were appreciative of the company's response."

“Mattel’s community shows that when you engage your target customer in a truly authentic way and create vibrant conversation there is really nothing they won’t do to help you be better – whether it’s creating new products, improving the relevance of marketing messages or weathering a difficult time. We are so thrilled to be recognized for driving real business results through listening with our communities, and it goes way beyond traditional feedback; these moms have an ongoing impact on Mattel’s business,” said Corey Schwartz, senior community consultant with Communispace.  “It really demonstrates the key difference with our communities: it’s listening to engage, putting consumers and their voices at the heart of the brand and its products.”

The second annual Forrester Groundswell Awards recognize excellence in accomplishing business goals with social applications.  Forrester developed the awards program to support and recognize the principles outlined in the Forrester book Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008).  Winners are selected based on specific results demonstrating the successful use of social technologies to advance an organizational or corporate goal.  More information about the Forrester Groundswell Awards is available at: http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2008/10/2008-forrester.html.  Communispace’s 2008 Groundswell Award submissions can be found here: http://www.communispace.com/news/groundswell.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and drive revenue.  Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels.  Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.

About Mattel
Mattel, Inc., (NYSE: MAT, www.mattel.com) is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products.  The Mattel family is comprised of such best-selling brands as Barbie®, the most popular fashion doll ever introduced, Hot Wheels®, Matchbox®, American Girl®, Radica® and Tyco® R/C, as well as Fisher-Price® brands, including Little People®, Power Wheels® and a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines. Mattel is recognized as one of 2008's "100 Best Companies to Work For" by FORTUNE Magazine. With worldwide headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel employs more than 30,000 people in 43 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 nations.  Mattel's vision is to be the world's premier toy brands -- today and tomorrow.

# # # 
 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

IHG's first private online community is comprised of 450 US loyalty program members of Priority Club Rewards, defined as frequent business travelers. Based on the success of the first community, IHG launched a second global community well over a year ago and most recently launched a third community devoted specifically to high-volume European travelers.

"By listening to our customers, we're able to engage in conversations that are more timely, meaningful and appealing to our travelers," said Ken Bott, director, global consumer marketing at IHG.  "For example, our members were frustrated with carrying around multiple loyalty program cards, so partnering with Digitas we redesigned the back of our cards to allow room for membership numbers for other airline, hotel or car rental loyalty programs. The positive response to this easy change far exceeded our expectations and we would not have realized the opportunity without a direct ear to the open customer conversations that Communispace facilitates."

"Research is research, but what Communispace does is far more transformative," said Geoffrey Underwood, senior vice president of marketing at Digitas, Inc. "What we've learned from the community has paid incredible dividends for IHG. For example, community members suggested creative treatments that saved critical time to market for a recent stay-based promotion, which would have been difficult if Communispace wasn’t enabling IHG to listen to the voice of its customers." 

IHG's Communispace communities have enabled the Digitas team to develop strong campaigns that resonate with IHG’s customers by incorporating the voice of IHG’s customers – literally - into the campaign process. "We consulted with the community while conceptualizing a ‘Backyard Barbeque’ promotion for one of the extended stay brands. Members not only validated the idea of social events for extended stay travelers, but they proactively exposed insight around regional differences in the definition of a barbeque or a cookout that enabled us to improve the creative concept and the brand to more effectively market the event," added Underwood. 
  

“For nearly ten years, we've built communities for some of the world's most recognizable brands, such as IHG, and now we've started to build stronger relationships with their agencies,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace.  “We now enjoy a strong working relationship with Digitas and have seen that when our community can become a catalyst for creativity and innovation between an agency and its client, everyone wins."

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and drive revenue.  Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.

About Digitas
Digitas is a leading digital marketing agency, helping the world's biggest brands develop, engage and profit from building profitable relationships with their customers. The Agency pairs media, marketing, technology, creativity, imagination and analytics to ignite emotional bonds between people and brands. Digitas also operates the brand content platform, The Third Act, the independent healthcare marketing brand, Digitas Health, as well as Prodigious Worldwide, the world’s only standalone, global digital productions company. With sister agencies Starcom MediaVest, ZenithOptimedia and Denuo, Digitas is a member of Publicis Groupe's VivaKi—a global digital knowledge and resource center that leverages the combined scale of the autonomous operations of its members to develop new services, new tools, and new partnerships.

Paris-based Publicis Groupe S.A. is the world’s fourth largest communications group, the world’s second largest media counsel and buying group, and a global leader in digital and healthcare communications. With around the world activities spanning more than 104 countries on five continents, the Groupe employs as many as 44,000 professionals.

About IHG
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel groups by number of rooms.  IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 4,000 hotels and more than 590,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world.  The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites® and Hotel Indigo®, and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with more than 40 million members worldwide.
 
IHG has more than 1,700 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 150,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media

# # # 
 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

IHG's first private online community which launched in 2007  is made up of 300 members of its 25-year old Priority Club Rewards (PCR) loyalty program, the world’s largest hotel loyalty program with more than 39 million members worldwide,  and was designed to integrate the voice of their most valuable customers into their organization.   The quality of insights gained from this primarily US-based community prompted IHG to launch a second community with a more global focus for the company’s Ambassador Members.  The company is now in the process of launching a third community devoted specifically to the European region.

"Our online community initiative is one of those investments in our commitment to listening to our customers," said Ken Bott, director of global consumer marketing and CRM, IHG.  "We know that to maintain and grow our market position, we need to integrate the voice of our customer into every aspect of our business."

"We're proud of our work with IHG, and we're excited to be able to help IHG create more opportunities for listening to their customers across the globe,” said Leslie Forde, VP of Strategic Alliances.  “For us, expanding our business relationship with a client and industry leader such as IHG is especially important; it's incredibly gratifying for us that our clients see our brand of private online customer communities as long-term, strategic assets for their businesses."

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and drive revenue.  Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.

About IHG
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel groups by number of rooms.  IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 4,000 hotels and more than 590,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world.  The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites® and Hotel Indigo®, and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with over 39 million members worldwide.
 
IHG has more than 1,700 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 150,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media
 

# # # 
 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

"This is an exciting time for our business as we're seeing an upsurge of interest in insight communities from companies around the world," said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. "What's more, we're continuing to renew communities with existing customers at a rate of more than 90%, which is not only proof that our communities are seen as long-term strategic assets, but also that we're continuing to deliver results that matter."

Among the other highlights from the first half of 2008 were:

• Global Expansion:  Communispace continued strong international growth in Europe, including a new client engagement with the leading retailer in the Netherlands.
• New Products and Technology: 
  • The company launched a new software version designed to enhance scalability and improve analytics and segmentation—with features such as one-click charts and graphs and video-sharing capabilities
  • It also launched its paradigm-shifting New Product Development (NPD) Communities, which allows companies to harness the power of specially-selected creative consumers to act as co-innovators during the product development process.
  • In addition, the company launched its ground-breaking Premium Text Analytics offering, combining Text Mining, Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning technologies to uncover patterns and emotion within tens of thousands of community conversations.
• Employee Growth:  The company surpassed the 210 employee mark worldwide, with key hires to support global expansion and cross-cultural communities.

In addition to its business performance highlights, Communispace received significant peer and industry recognition.  Highlights over the past six months include:

• Ernst & Young named Communispace CEO and Co-founder Diane Hessan a winner of the 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Marketing Services category for New England.
• Boston Business Journal named Communispace a BBJ Pacesetter, recognizing the company's skill in managing a rapidly-growing company, as well as one of its Best Places to Work.
• Boston Women’s Business named Clare Robinson, Communispace SVP of client services, Best Boss of the Year.

Communispace also continues to provide industry thought leadership through groundbreaking research into best practices.  Recent highlights include:

• A cross-client study, done in conjunction with Design Continuum, to gain insight into how consumers and business buyers perceive and actually behave in relation to what’s “green” in their daily lives.
• A joint study with the Marketing Services Institute on the impact of community membership on brand equity.
• A first-of-its-kind analysis of online community composition based on Myers-Briggs testing.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and drive revenue.  Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels.  Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.
 

# # # 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Among the actionable findings for marketers are:

• Hispanics, regardless of age, income, primary language, gender or generation, will give willingly of their time and ideas in a private, online forum.  In fact, their rate of contributions – almost six per week – indicates an above-average level of engagement compared to similar English-language communities.
• Second-generation Hispanics demonstrated lower participation rates than their less acculturated, first-generation counterparts, indicating that they may feel less comfortable communicating in Spanish-only environments than in bilingual ones.  The finding suggests that marketers should strive to communicate bilingually with acculturated Hispanics, so as to more closely match their offline lives.
• Second-generation Hispanics are often less proficient at writing Spanish than at speaking it.  Marketers should take this distinction into account when seeking to engage with Hispanics through predominantly written channels such as online forums.

“With the number of Hispanic Internet users in the U.S. expected to rise to nearly 21 million by 2010, it’s clear that marketers have a tremendous opportunity to grow their consumer base by successfully targeting Hispanics online,” said Katrina Lerman, research associate at Communispace and author of the study.  “The problem is, most marketers have questioned if and how online venues are an effective channel for communicating with Hispanics.  In conducting this research, we set out to help our clients understand if and how they can use online communities to successfully engage members of this important consumer segment, and what differences within this broad and diverse population should be considered in formulating a community strategy.  Our findings offer valuable insight not only for businesses evaluating online communities, but also for marketers considering other online channels—such as social networks—as a strategy for engaging Hispanics online.”  

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and drive revenue.  Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy. 

 # # # 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

“Our community already helps us make better business decisions because we’re collaborating with our customers in a way that enables us to truly know them,” said Lorrie Copeland, head of global consumer insights for Hasbro. “Now, with Premium Text Analytics, we can add another layer of analysis to our community.  We can uncover patterns and emotion within the tens of thousands of conversations that have taken place in our community in a way that we couldn’t before.  Now we have even more insight into not only what our customers are saying, but why.” 

“At Communispace, our expertise is in delivering the true voice of the customer for our clients,” said Julie Wittes Schlack, SVP of innovation at Communispace.  “By offering Premium Text Analytics, we allow them to see patterns in conversation and can constantly mine the community for insights that could identify an important new trend, competitive threat or product offering.”  

How Premium Text Analytics Works
Communispace Premium Text Analytics utilizes cutting edge natural language processing and machine learning technologies combined with a unique analytic process to analyze connections and themes in words and sentences.   By tracking trends in conversation over months and years, it can demonstrate how these topics ebb and flow in importance and frequency over time.  Premium Text Analytics moves beyond traditional text mining tools with the added ability to examine the emotional context of the conversations—or the “share of heart”—based on a set of emotions, rather than just the typical process of classifying positive and negative sentiment.  This analytical capability brings new power and meaning to the unstructured conversations in a client’s community.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and drive revenue.  Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities with a 90%+ client retention rate, for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy. 

# # # 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

As a New England award recipient, Hessan is now eligible for consideration for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 national program.  Award recipients in several national categories, as well as the overall national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award recipient, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California on November 15, 2008.  The awards are the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.  

Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year awards are pleased to have the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and SAP America as national sponsors.

In New England, local sponsors include Boston Magazine, J. Robert Scott, MARSH, Bowne, Curran & Connors, Scherzer International, UK Trade & Investment, ADP, Accounting Management Solutions, and Boston Private Bank & Trust Company.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, speed innovation, and drive revenue.  Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, and San Remo, Italy.

About Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year
Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs.  The award makes a difference through the unique way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement.  As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 135 cities in 50 countries.

About Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 130,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality.  We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve potential.  For more information, please visit http://www.ey.com/.

###

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

The Boston Business Journal ranked Boston-based Communispace number thirteen on a list of sixty based on information the BBJ gathered and assessed detailing the company’s performance from 2004 to 2007.

“Communispace was founded nine years ago on the belief that small, exclusive, highly-engaged customer communities are the best way to capture the voice of the customer to drive insight, innovation, and business growth,” said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “We’re extremely proud of the long-term relationships we’ve built with some of the biggest brands across the globe—in industries ranging from CPG to Hotels to Pharma—because we know that we generate meaningful insights for them year after year.”

“Most of all, we’re proud of the people here at Communispace – they’re experts at what they do and are completely committed to each and every customer,” continued Hessan. “They are the engine that drives our clients’ successes and, as a result, our own. This award is a testament to their hard work.”

“We are very excited to kick off the Pacesetters this year,” said George Donnelly, editor of the Boston Business Journal. “This award acknowledges those private companies that skillfully navigate a competitive national and international marketplace and are growing quickly to be leaders in their field.”

“Pacesetters was created because it’s important to raise the profiles of rapidly-growing companies,” said Boston Business Journal Publisher Michael Olivieri. “This will help give guidance to the business community as a whole as to what makes a company successful and who they should be seeking out as potential partners.”

About BBJ/Pacesetters
The Pacesetters list was determined by survey information gathered and analyzed by the Boston Business Journal from private companies throughout the Greater Boston region. Based on the information provided, 60 companies were selected on their revenue growth between 2004 and 2007, which had to exceed at least $1 million as of 2004.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.
 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.
 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

“Our success last year mirrors an exciting business trend in which leading brands are now devoting significant resources to proactively engaging customers as brand advisors,” said Communispace CEO Diane Hessan.  “And, as more companies such as Subaru, HP and Charles Schwab demonstrate that listening is a catalyst for new growth and profitability, we believe the best days for Communispace are yet to come."

Among the 2007 highlights for Communispace were:

Significant Revenue Growth:

• Communispace revenue increased 92 percent in 2007.

Client Retention and Growth:

• More than 90 percent of Communispace's existing clients renewed in 2007.
• Communispace added 60 new communities in 2007 (for a total of 300 to date) and expanded its work with several clients to include multiple communities.
• The company increased its capability to handle the complexities of regulated industries, such as financial services and pharmaceuticals.

Employee Base Expansion and Strategic Hires:

• Communispace added over 100 new employees and several strategic executive-level hires in the areas of marketing, sales, technology innovation and client service.
• Technology/Platform Enhancements:
• The U.S. Patent Office awarded Communispace a patent for its online community software, U.S. Patent 7,159,178: "System for Supporting a Virtual Community."

Global Expansion:

• Communispace expanded into Europe in 2007 and successfully launched new communities for leading brands in the consumer electronics, airline and food industries.

Expanded Demographic Expertise:

• Communispace launched new specialized communities in 2007 to give its clients access to important consumer segments such as African American families, Spanish-speaking consumers, physicians and Echo Boomers. This strengthens its leadership in recruiting the hardest-to-reach consumers for its clients' communities.

Industry Recognition:
Communispace received the following accolades in 2007:

• Boston Business Journal “Pacesetter” award for fastest-growing companies.
• Forrester Groundswell award for “Listening” category with client Charles Schwab.
• Mass. Technology Leadership Council's “Social Media Company of the Year” award.
• One of Inc. Magazine’s fastest-growing companies for the second year in a row.
• Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award nomination (Diane Hessan, Communispace CEO).  
• Finalist position for Boston Women’s Business “Top 10 Bosses” award (Clare Robinson, Communispace SVP, client services).

Research/Reports Published:
Communispace published landmark research reports outlining best practices for building, managing and facilitating private online communities, all of which are available on its website:

• “The Fifth ‘P’ of Marketing: Participation”
• “Creating a Culture of Participation”
• “Move over Maslow: Gaining Business Value from Social Networking comes from Fulfilling Six Human Social Needs.”
• “Influence: Exploring Perspective in Private Customer Communities.”
• “Is Research Fatigue a Myth? Communispace study finds consumers willing to do more to help marketers.”
• “Size matters: When Insight is the Goal, Small Communities Deliver Big Results.”
• “Beyond the ‘Other’ Box: Giving Customers an Independent Voice in your Community”

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.
 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

• Customer-company relationships are strengthened. After being a member of a small community people report feeling more positive about the company sponsoring the community (e.g., greater trust and respect for company, more likely to recommend company’s products).They also report that feeling heard by a company was positively and significantly related to purchase intent as well as how likely they were to recommend a company’s products or brand.
• Participation is more vibrant and robust:  Participation rates outperform larger, panel-based or public communities in terms of average monthly participation, volume of posts and weekly lurker rates.
• People make higher quality contributions: In addition to a higher quantity of posts, people provide more targeted, actionable ideas and suggestions.
• The exclusive experience has huge appeal:  Being part of an exclusive, “in group” with insider status is a key reason why people want to participate in smaller communities.
• People do more for the sponsoring company because their voices matter:  When people know the company that’s sponsoring the community and believe that they can influence and have a relationship with the company, they do more. Branded communities deliver, on average, 5,000 more pieces of new content yearly than unbranded communities.

Beware “shared” communities, online research panels

The report also warns that tapping into “shared” communities or online research panels is unlikely to provide the value of branded communities where people and companies develop trusted relationships.

“Although it may be more cost-effective on the surface to pay for periodic access to ‘shared’ communities, or to simply tap into large communities of networked panel members, companies will not reap the benefits of meaningful and lasting customer relationships with these models,” say the paper’s authors. “Indeed, one of the risks with these approaches is that members of large networks form a relationship with the panel or community provider, and thus the vendor more than the sponsor company gains the benefits of increased customer advocacy, loyalty and enduring goodwill.”

For a copy of this paper and other Communispace research studies please go to: http://www.communispace.com/research/.

About Communispace

Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 275 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, and Atlanta.

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

The Six Social Needs People Seek in Social Networks

The Communispace researchers, building on the work of social scientists, have identified the specific social needs that are met  through participating in social networks.

1. Expressing personal identity: online social networks provide people with the ultimate tool for defining and redefining themselves, as evidenced in profile pages on Facebook and MySpace.

2. Status and self-esteem: the need for autonomy, recognition and achievement are essential to our sense of self-worth and are fulfilled in online communities, blogs, and social networks that provide a way to develop and manage a virtual reputation.

3. Giving and getting help: people have a need to both seek and provide help to others. Mutual assistance between strangers is a phenomenon that has been uniquely enabled by the Internet.

4. Affiliation and belonging: online communities are becoming the way people find, create and connect with others “just like me” – people who share similar tastes, sensibilities, orientations or interests.

5. Sense of community: a sense of belonging or affiliation alone is not equivalent to a true sense of community. Achieving a real sense of community requires long-lasting reciprocal relationships and a mutual commitment to the needs of the community as a whole.

Communispace tapped its other research on social networking behavior and found that when companies meet the full range of social needs, they gain trust and deep insights into their consumers and community members – marketing nirvana. And when companies go still further to actively embrace and act on people’s ideas they fulfill a sixth social need:

6. Reassurance of value and self worth.  People want to be reassured of their worth and value, and seek confirmation that what they say and do matters to others and has an impact on the world around them.   Meeting all 5 + 1 of these social needs generally requires the level of intimacy and facilitation that are the hallmarks of smaller, invitation only online communities.

 About Communispace

Communispace Corporation, is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty.  Founded in 1999, the company has created over 275 communities for major corporations across a broad range of industry sectors. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, and Atlanta. 

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

10. Pay attention to what members initiate.  The best consumer insights often come from discussions and activities started by members.  How members talk to each other about how an issue or product “fits” into their lives can be incredibly revealing, as is how members influence one another.  The best “best practice” is to shut up and listen.

About Communispace

Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 275 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, and Atlanta.

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

MASS TLC PR Contact:
Amy Krigman
Topaz Partners
781.404.2437

Communispace PR Contacts:
Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

The Forrester Groundswell Awards are the first awards to recognize excellence in business uses of social technologies, with entries judged primarily on business effectiveness and value.  The winning entry is an online customer community of Generation X-ers that Communispace designed and facilitated for Charles Schwab. Communispace was also a finalist in the “Listening” and “Embracing” categories in collaboration with two of its other clients, Kraft and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.

“Companies are realizing that the power of social networks goes much deeper than advertising platforms,” said Diane Hessan, chief executive officer of Communispace.  “Done right, smaller, facilitated social networks like the online communities we’ve built for Schwab generate priceless insights for product and service innovation, brand differentiation, and ‘get-it-right-the-first-time’ marketing.  For meaningful business value, marketers need to create a customer experience that inspires gut-level sharing of ideas and emotions, and they need the tools and skills to listen to, engage and analyze what it all means so they can take action.”

The Schwab example illustrates the power of customer communities “done right”.  Through a mix of relationship-building and research activities in the “Money and More” community, Schwab learned from Gen X-ers not only about their perceptions of investing and financial services firms, but also their life priorities, their savings goals and important messaging cues.

“We have listened to and learned about Gen X customers much more deeply and productively than ever before,” said Jonathan Craig, Vice President - Younger Investor at Schwab.  “Most important, we’ve taken specific action that has strengthened our offerings and our relationship with a young group that’s just sorting out how to manage their finances.”

Schwab got big ‘a-has’ from listening to what’s important to Gen X-ers in the community: Gen-X-ers need financial guidance, but don’t fully trust the motives of investment services firms. Community members shared their concerns and issues which allowed Schwab to hear their unfiltered feedback and adapt their approach accordingly.  Gen X-ers also don’t want to hear about retirement.  They’re not even close to thinking about it.  They want help now with other things like managing their expenses, so they can then move on to saving for the future.  And based on customer insights about the entry points for investing and saving, Schwab Bank created its Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking ™ account tied to a companion Schwab brokerage account tailored to Gen X-ers.

In addition to creating more relevant and differentiated products and services based on new insights, marketers are also discovering that truly listening deepens customer loyalty.  Two stories from Schwab’s “Money and More” community members:

“It was a community in a real sense. It was the first time I was deeply involved with a community, frankly… Take my words. When I decide to invest, I would surely see Schwab first.”

“Being a part of this has certainly made me think a little more about my finances and my financial future. And knowing that Charles Schwab has gone to these lengths to hear the opinions of potential customers has made me think more favorably about the company.”

The Forrester Groundswell Awards are an outgrowth of the book, Groundswell, to be published in 2008 by Harvard Business School Press. Written by Forrester's Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li, Groundswell will focus on effective business strategies in a world transformed by social technologies, and will feature the types of case studies recognized by the Forrester Groundswell Awards.  More information about the Forrester Groundswell Awards is available at http://www.forrester.com/groundswell.

About Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation (Nasdaq: SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with more than 300 offices and 6.9 million client brokerage accounts, 1.2 million corporate retirement plan participants, 200,000 banking accounts, and $1.4 trillion in client assets. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of securities brokerage, banking, money management and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org), and affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through its Schwab Institutional division. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and Charles Schwab Bank are separate but affiliated companies and subsidiaries of The Charles Schwab Corporation. Brokerage products offered by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., are not insured by the FDIC, are not deposits or obligations of Charles Schwab Bank, and are subject to investment risk, including the possible loss of principal invested. Deposit and lending products and services are offered by Charles Schwab Bank, Member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender.
CyberTrader(R), Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org) is an electronic trading technology and brokerage firm providing services to highly active, online traders. More information is available at http://www.schwab.com.

About Communispace

Communispace Corporation, is the leader in building, managing, and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty.  Founded in 1999, the company has created over 275 communities for major corporations across a broad range of industry sectors. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, and Atlanta.

Communispace, a leader in building and managing online customer communities, doubled its revenues in the first half of 2007, signed 21 new clients, increased its staff 50 percent, and sustained its 90+% renewal rate among its clients. In addition, it released four new research studies about how customer engagement and influence play out on the Internet. To date, the company has run 275 private customer communities for clients across industry sectors, including GlaxoSmithKline, Hewlett-Packard, Kraft, Avon and Charles Schwab.

Communispace CEO Diane Hessan attributes the company’s continued strong growth to two primary factors: the burgeoning interest corporations have in establishing ongoing conversations with key customers, and the eight years of experience that Communispace has in helping companies generate customer insights online. Communispace is one of the few companies in the world to offer full-service community development, technology, management, and reporting capabilities.

“Marketers realize that private online communities are becoming a “must have” for their organizations, but they don’t have the bandwidth to piece together and experiment with all the elements that are needed to make communities successful,” says Hessan. “Because of our full-service capabilities, unique technology, and track record running nearly 275 communities, we make it easy for companies to quickly get communities up and running and to see fast results.”

Growth: Communispace’s first half 2007 revenues increased 108 percent over the same period last year. The Watertown, Mass.-based company hired 50 new employees since January, bringing its employee total to 153.

Clients: 21 new companies signed with Communispace during the first half of 2007, including The TJX Companies, Dunkin’ Brands, Citrix, Mattel, Best Buy, Verizon Wireless, Hasbro, Sprint, Alberto-Culver, Campbell Soup Company, Philips Electronics, and Meredith Corporation.

Client awards: Hewlett-Packard’s PhotoSpace community of digital enthusiasts, run by Communispace, was awarded the HP CIRCLE award for marketing excellence, beating out 443 other entries from 36 countries. Collaboration, innovation, relevance, consistency, learning, and effectiveness were the criteria for winning this prestigious award.

Community highlight: In June, Communispace client GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare introduced alli™, the only FDA-approved weight loss product available without a prescription. During the past two years Communispace has run two communities to help GSK glean rich insights about the target consumer.

New research: During the first half, Communispace’s Research and Innovation team released four new studies, which are available at http://www.communispace.com:

“The Fifth “P” in Marketing: Participation”

“From Research to Relationship: Using Communities to Gain Entrée into Customer Conversations”
“Beyond the ‘Other’ Box: Giving Customers an Independent Voice in Your Community”
“Influence: Exploring Perspectives in Private Customer Communities”

About Communispace

Communispace Corporation, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty.

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

The Mass Technology Leadership Council, Inc. announced the first group of finalists of the Council’s annual Technology Leadership Awards honoring Massachusetts companies and individuals who best exemplify leadership and excellence in business and technology. Unlike most technology awards, The Technology Leadership Awards recognize outstanding achievement in both the development and deployment of information technologies that address critical business issues.

The first group of Finalists for the Awards program, announced June 28, were in the following categories: CEO; CTO; Emerging Executive; and Technology Developer/Vendor companies in Enterprise, Communications, Consumer/ Social Media, Emerging/ Innovation.

INDIVIDUALS:

CEO
Andrew Bernstein, Cymfony
Walter Doyle, uLocate Communications
Doug Levin, Black Duck Software
Keith Parent, Court Square Data Group
Mark Shirman, GlassHouse Technologies
Jeremy Wertheimer, ITA Software

CTO
David Cancel, Compete
John Chapin, Vanu
Kenneth Kuenzel, Covergence
Ron Newbower, CIMIT
Reed Sturtevant, Eons

Emerging Exec
Renat Khasanshyn, Apatar
Keith Kocho, ExtendMedia
Pam Randhawa, Phase Forward
Darren Ross, Cramer
Singu Srinivas, HiWired

VENDORS:

Enterprise
ChoiceStream
elQnetworks
Imaginatik Plc
Open Pages
Supplyscape

Communications
BladeLogic
Equallogic
Integra5
Pyxis Mobile
Reva Systems
Silverlink Communications

Consumer/Social Media
Cymfony
Communispace
Eons
Kaspersky Lab
Lycos

Emerging/Innovation
Avid Technology
Innocentive
LiveData
NeuroLogica
Soliloquy Learning

“The Mass Technology Leadership Council is committed to fostering entrepreneurship and promoting the success of companies that develop and deploy technology across industry sectors and these awards are an important part of this effort,” said Joyce Plotkin, president of the Mass Technology Leadership Council. “These honorees represent the spirit of innovation, the history of accomplishment and the future promise that define the Massachusetts technology community.”

The next group of Finalists will be announced on July 17, 2007 in the following categories: CIO, CXO, Mover and Shaker, and Buyer/ User of the year.

More than 180 submissions were received during the open nomination process. The Council’s Board of Trustees selected the finalists and a separate group of judges will determine the final winners. The winners will be announced at the Fall Awards Gala, October 18, 2007, at the Westin Hotel in downtown Boston. The 2007 Awards Program is sponsored by Citizens Bank, Hosted Solutions, Microsoft, and UK Trade & Investment.

For more information, visit www.masstechleaders.org.

About The Mass Technology Leadership Council, Inc.
The Mass Technology Leadership Council, Inc. is the only association that addresses the critical leadership issues of innovative software and technology-enabled companies. Formed by the combination of Massachusetts Software Council and New England Business and Technology Association, Inc., the organization is dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship and promoting the success of companies that develop and deploy technology across industry sectors. The Mass Technology Leadership Council conducts educational programs, hosts industry events, facilitates networking, sponsors research, advocates in favor of technology policies that promote innovation, entrepreneurship and competition, and recognizes industry-leading companies and people.

###

For Information Contact:

Joyce Plotkin
President
617-437-0600, X16
tom@masstlc.org

Amy Krigman
Topaz Partners
781-404-2437
akrigman@topazpartners.com

The less companies try to control the activities in their private online communities - and the easier they make it for customers to interact and initiate dialogue - the more vibrant and valuable the community will be for both the brand and customers, according to new research released today by Communispace.

The research, which analyzed activity in 84 private, branded online communities, suggests that companies’ interests are best served when they enable customer-to-customer dialogue and activities, but don’t try to control or limit them. These customer-initiated conversations yield valuable marketing insights and customer engagement with the brand, according to the study titled “Beyond the ‘Other’ Box: Giving Customers an Independent Voice in Your Community.”

The study found that those communities with a higher percentage of activities initiated by members (vs. the company) had greater overall participation in terms of participation rates, volume of contributions and frequency of activity. Specific findings include:

When customers initiate the conversation they say more and contribute more often over time. On average, members generated nearly half (44.1%) of all activities on the online community sites, with individual communities ranging from 4% to 82% member-initiated content. These “ownership” rates, as evidenced by members initiating and directing many-to-many conversations, were found to be positively correlated with weekly member participation rates, number of weekly contributions per contributor, and the percentage of active weeks a member contributes during their tenure in the community. In other words, a higher percentage of members are visiting more often and saying more in communities that have a good mix of customer voices and topics.

The more people “own” the community, the more they talk with the sponsoring company. People in high-ownership communities engage more with the company sponsoring the community. For example, a financial services community with a 58.9% ownership rate averages 78.7 contributions per client-generated activity, while a comparable community with 38.9% ownership averages only 56.6 contributions per client-generated activity. Even in relatively “high-ownership” communities, the majority of contributions still go to company-sponsored activities, e.g., asking members to take polls, brainstorm ideas, share journals or report on shopping experiences. The mere presence of multiple voices seems to promote overall community participation.

Implications
These study findings suggest some important implications for companies looking to create online consumer communities:

By allowing members to engage with each other in the context of a brand, they will engage more with the brand itself.

Not limiting conversations to topics determined by the sponsoring company allows “outside-the-box” ideas to come to light – ones that might otherwise be overlooked.

The more member-initiated conversations, the more likely that community discussions will stay relevant and engaging without facilitators having to predict what topics will be of interest to members.

Ensuring that members can make their voices heard independent of the sponsor’s agenda and making the dialogue truly reciprocal may also help members feel valued and listened to, and thus promote participation.

For a copy of the study, please go to http://www.communispace.com/3_news/perspectives.asp

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is a leading social networking firm that specializes in creating online communities used by major corporations to build long-term relationships with customers. The company builds, manages and facilitates private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, Communispace has created more than 250 online customer communities for industry leaders including: Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Hilton Hotels, General Mills, PepsiCo, Capital One and many more.

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
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Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Communispace, the leading provider of private online communities, has promoted Julie Wittes Schlack to senior vice president of Innovation and Design.

Schlack has been with Communispace since it was founded in 1999, and has been instrumental in designing the social networking company’s online community offering, used by over 70 leading companies like GlaxoSmithKline, Reebok, Hewlett-Packard, Hallmark and Kraft, to build trusted relationships with customers and prospects that generate deep insights and speed innovation. Some of her most recent work centers on how communities can help pharmaceutical companies design more effective market launches for new drugs as well as uncovering issues critical to the lives of patients and the medical professionals who care for them.

Over the past 18 months Schlack has built an Innovation and Research Group comprised of ethnographers, data mining experts and social scientists whose mission is to uncover new patterns and trends in online community behavior and test new techniques and technologies for engaging customers in private online communities and social networks. Her group's work has been widely published and it has transformed Communispace's ability help companies hardwire the voice of the customer into their businesses.

Recently published research from her group includes “The Fifth ‘P’ of Marketing: Participation,” “From Research to Relationship: Using Communities to Gain Entrée into Customer Conversations,” and “What Companies Gain from Listening: The Effect of Community on Members’ Attitudes and Behaviors to the Sponsoring Company.”

In addition to her promotion, Schlack was recently elected to the prestigious board of directors of WOMMA, the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association.

Prior to Communispace Schlack was manager of learning design for Omega Performance and Micromentor. She has an Ed. M. in interactive technology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a B.A. in creative writing and psychology from the University of Michigan. She is a resident of Cambridge, Mass.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is a leading social networking firm that specializes in creating online communities used by major corporations to build long-term relationships with customers. The company builds, manages and facilitates private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, Communispace has created more than 250 online customer communities for industry leaders including: Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Hilton Hotels, General Mills, PepsiCo, Capital One and many more.

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

In this new era of "conversational marketing", the measure for engagement in a community isn’t the number of people logging on. Rather, it’s how actively people participate in the community, according to research just released by Communispace, the leading provider of branded online communities.

"Everybody is talking about communities now, and so the question is no longer ’should we have one?’, but more ’what kind should it be?’ and ’how can we design it to truly engage customers and fulfill our objectives?’" says Communispace President and Chief Executive Officer Diane Hessan.

New Communispace research, which analyzed participation behavior among 26,539 members of 66 private online communities, provides an initial look at member participation in communities.
The study evaluated communities along three participation metrics:

Frequency - how often members contribute

Volume - the number of contributions made by each member

Bystander or "lurker" rate - what percentage of members are simply observing versus actively participating.

Key findings of the research:

The more intimate the community, the more people participate. Results indicate that 86 percent of the people who log on to private, facilitated communities (average community size: 300-500 people) made contributions: they posted comments, initiated dialogues, participated in chats, brainstormed ideas, shared photos and more. Only 14 percent merely logged in and observed, or "lurked." In contrast, on public social networking websites, blogs, and message boards, this ratio is typically reversed, i.e., the vast majority of site visitors do not contribute. In fact, in a typical online forum (e.g., wiki, community, message board or blog), one percent of site visitors contribute and the other 99 percent lurk. (Source: McConnell & Huba, 2007. Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message. Chicago: Kaplan Publishing). This disparity suggests that the more intimate the setting, the more people will participate and get involved in the online community.

"Big public communities may attract more eyeballs, but they may not be the answer for marketers who are looking for deep engagement with customers" says Julie Wittes-Schlack, Communispace vice president of innovation and research.

People get more involved when they know whom they are talking to and why

The study also compared participation levels of branded vs. unbranded communities. While the contribution and lurker rates were fairly consistent, branded sites showed a higher volume of participation.

When potential members were considering whether to participate in an online community, they were 30 percent more likely to log on when the welcome notice disclosed the company sponsoring the community. Branded sites had an initial log in rate of 71 percent, compared with 55 percent for unbranded sites. This suggests that transparency - being upfront about who's behind the online community - is a key factor for companies that want to engage with customers in a community.

Why people participate: social glue, shared passion, having a voice

Communities of parents get the highest involvement: of the 66 communities analyzed, parent communities, as a group, had the highest levels of participation. In general, the research found that the stronger the "social glue" - common interests and passions among members- the greater the participation.

Differences between how men and women participate: based on analysis of single-sex communities, the research found that although members of women’s communities participated more frequently than men, men seemed to have more to say when they did participate: 4.8 weekly contributions for men compared to 4.1 for the women.

Homogeneity triggers participation: the research found that communities based around a particular demographic tended to have higher participation rates. Women and men each participated more in single-sex communities than they did on average in co-ed communities. African-Americans participated at a higher overall level in an all African-American community than they did in other, multi-racial communities. This suggests that people have more in common and are more interactive with a homogeneous group in an online community setting.

Education and household income were not related to online community member participation. Again, the passion around the community’s purpose or its social glue appears to influence participation more than traditional demographics like education and income.

Having a voice, productive leisure: One of the implications from the research is that people may get more involved in private, intimate online communities because they feel like they can have a say and that community members and the sponsoring company hear their views. Another implication is that people may view the time spent as "productive leisure." They see participating as an interesting or fun outlet for communicating with other people who love what they love. It’s a bridge from what they do in real life to their passions.

For more on the "Community Participation Trends and Drivers" study, visit http://www.communispace.com/3_news/perspectives.asp for the forthcoming white paper.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is a leading social networking firm that specializes in creating online communities used by major corporations to build long-term relationships with customers. The company builds, manages and facilitates private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and build loyalty. Founded in 1999, Communispace has created more than 250 online customer communities for industry leaders including: Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Hilton Hotels, General Mills, PepsiCo, Capital One and many more.

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Communispace, the leader in creating and managing private online customer communities, today announced that sales increased 91 percent in 2006. The company added to its client list 29 major corporations from all sectors including pharmaceutical, technology, and financial services. Existing clients renewed their communities at a 96 percent rate, with nearly half of them expanding their relationship with Communispace by introducing additional online communities to engage both their business and consumer targets. New clients included Dell, Godiva, ConAgra, Novartis, Cox Enterprises, Cadbury-Schweppes, and Capital One.
Communispace's business has nearly doubled year over year for the past three years, reflecting companies' stepped-up commitment to engaging customers in ongoing, meaningful conversations. Online communities are powerful because they give customers a voice in everything from new products and packaging to channel strategy and promotions, and provide marketers with an authentic and continuous way to listen to, and involve customers."

"Our clients know that the 5th 'P' in marketing has become Participation. Online communities provide a pragmatic way for customers to participate and for companies to listen and learn. The result is better, faster insight - and a way to hardwire the voice of the customer into a range of important business decisions," says Diane Hessan, president and chief executive officer of Communispace. "From our experience in creating and managing over 225 private online communities we've also learned that the more intimate and exclusive the community, the more actively and deeply people participate, which in turn provides more meaningful customer insights."
Other 2006 Communispace milestones:

New employees: the company increased its staff by 108 percent, bringing its total number of employees to 110, with the majority based in its Watertown, Mass. headquarters.

Patent award: The United States Patent Office awarded Communispace a patent for its online community software application, U.S. Patent 7,159,178, titled "System for Supporting a Virtual Community." Research and development into community technology continues to be a key priority for the company.

Broader community scope: In 2006 the company expanded the ethnic and geographic scope of its communities, inviting people from around the world into clients' global communities, and creating several communities exclusive to Hispanic members and moderated by Hispanic, Spanish-speaking facilitators.

Expanded innovation team: Communispace expanded its Research and Innovation team to five ethnographers, data mining experts and social scientists whose mission is to uncover new patterns and trends in private online community behavior and test new techniques for engaging community members.

Upgraded software: Communispace rolled out quarterly releases of its community software since its inception and now has launched its most ambitious development project ever, which will result in significant new capabilities by the summer of 2007.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation (www.communispace.com), headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is a leading marketing technology and services firm that specializes in creating online communities used by major corporations to build relationships with customers that produce continuous insights, foster co-innovation and increase loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 225 online customer communities for global corporations including: Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Avon, Hilton Hotels, General Mills, the Chicago Tribune, PepsiCo, and many more.

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

The United States Patent Office has awarded Communispace, the leader in building online customer communities, a patent for its online community software application.
"From working closely with our clients over seven years to build and facilitate more than 225 private, online communities, we’ve learned about the essential ingredients in creating an engaging experience. We have developed specialized social software and process applications that engage customers and generate a level of consumer insight well beyond commodity applications like chats or bulletin boards," explains Brian Harrold, chief product and technology officer at Communispace. "This patent recognizes our unique capabilities based on the sociology of human interaction, an essential element in successful online communities. You can’t simply put up a standard bulletin board and call it an online community."

According to Harrold, highly effective and efficient online communities have four key elements: core collaboration tools, a specialized layer of social and process software, active facilitation, and design and planning. These elements impact the level and type of participation among hundreds of community members, as well as the ease with which customer conversation and contributions are read and analyzed, primary criteria for successful customer communities.

Communispace began developing customized software to advance the functionality of common collaboration tools in 1999. Research and development into innovations in community technology continues to be a key priority for the company.

For more information on Communispace’s patent, U.S. Patent 7,159,178 titled "System for Supporting a Virtual Community," visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Website at http://patft.uspto.gov.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation (www.communispace.com), headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is a leading marketing technology and services firm that specializes in creating online communities used by major corporations to build relationships with customers that produce continuous insights, foster co-innovation and increase loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 225 online customer communities for global corporations including: Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Avon, Hilton Hotels, General Mills, the Chicago Tribune, PepsiCo, and many more.

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

CDW Corporation’s (NASDAQ:CDWC) innovative use of online customer communities to listen and collaborate with customers has earned the company a top award from the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA).

"While more and more companies that sell to consumers are using online customer communities as part of their marketing strategies, CDW is among the leaders in using them to engage business customers," said ITSMA President and CEO Dave Munn. "CDW’s online communities have allowed the company to gauge the true pulse of its customers over time, while also strengthening its relationships with them. We are extremely pleased to honor CDW for its pioneering approach to putting the customer at the front and center of its business."

CDW, a leading provider of technology products and services to business, government and education, accepted the award at ITSMA’s 2006 Marketing Conference in Cambridge, Mass. Other finalists in the category were Accenture, EMC, Fujitsu and IBM.

"Through our online communities, CDW receives continuous customer feedback from IT decision makers that allows us to include the voice of the customer in our day-to-day business decisions." said Calvin Vass, Senior Manager, Market Research. "We are able to act quickly on what customers are telling us and this allows us to develop stronger relationships."

CDW collaborated with Watertown, Mass.-based Communispace Corp., the market leader in building private online communities, to build and facilitate CDW’s five active online communities.

"CDW truly puts customers at the center of the business – and using online communities helps ensure they deliver on their mission" said Diane Hessan, CEO and president of Communispace. "CDW has taken its work with communities far beyond their initial market research mission to create a much more strategic marketing asset."

About ITSMA
ITSMA is a membership community for marketing executives who market and sell technology-related services and solutions. With nearly 100 corporate members around the globe, ITSMA provides best practice insight, and active leadership community, and hands-on advisory guidance around the unique requirements for marketing technology services and solutions.

About CDW
CDW®, ranked No. 343 on the FORTUNE 500, is a leading provider of technology solutions for business, government and education. CDW is a principal source of technology products and services including top name brands such as Acer, Adobe, Apple, Cisco, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Symantec, Toshiba and ViewSonic. CDW’s direct model offers customers one-on-one relationships with knowledgeable account managers and access to more than 600 on-staff engineers and advanced technology specialists who customize solutions for customers’ complex technology needs. CDW also provides same-day product shipping and post-sales technical support. CDW was founded in 1984 and employs approximately 5,250 coworkers. In 2005, the company generated sales of $6.3 billion. For more information, visit CDW.com.

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For More Information about CDW:

Visit CDW on the Internet at http://www.cdw.com. Contact CDW Investor Relations via the Internet at investorrelations@cdw.com or by telephone at 847-419-6328.

CDW is a registered trademark and CDW@work is a trademark of CDW Corporation. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Online customer communities are central to creating innovative products and customer experiences, according to best selling business writer Patricia Seybold in her new book "Outside Innovation: How Your Customers Will Co-Design Your Company’s Future." "What I realized in researching this book is that almost all of the two dozen best practice business cases had one thing in common: vibrant online customer communities," she says.

"The only way organizations can break out of the pack is to open up their business to passionate customers and welcome them into every aspect of product, service and customer experience design," says Seybold. Companies that learn to truly listen to and bring customers inside, most effectively through private online communities, will create products and services that better meet the needs of prospective customers, revolutionize business models, and attract fanatically loyal customers, according to Seybold.

The book features several case studies on companies running online communities created and facilitated by market leader Communispace, including Hallmark, Kraft, Charles Schwab, RC2, and Unilever. Examples of what marketers are learning from their communities:

Now that’s funny: community members helped Hallmark understand how baby boomers’ thinking about humor - and aging - had changed. Result: increased sales from updated card lines.

$100 million idea: Kraft’s Nabisco division learned that consumers didn’t want to think about “diet” foods. Instead, the company learned from listening to community members talking to other members, that consumers wanted "treats" and portion control. Kraft’s answer: 100 calorie packs of their favorite cookies and crackers, and a big new business for Kraft.

Active traders love their spreadsheets: Charles Schwab’s online community of 400 stock traders not only actively participated in the surveys and discussions initiated by Communispace facilitators, they launched their own idea- (and spreadsheet-) sharing conversations, helping Schwab marketers identify unmet needs, test pricing and prioritize new services.

"The spotlight on communities in Outside Innovation should get marketers thinking hard about what they’ll do differently in 2007 to involve customers more deeply and authentically," said Communispace President and CEO Diane Hessan. "Patricia Seybold makes it easy to see why private online communities are one of the fastest growing customer involvement strategies, and we’re honored to have shared our experience with her readers."

About Patricia Seybold
Patricia B. Seybold is the author of international bestsellers Customers.com and The Customer Revolution. She is the founder and CEO of the Patricia Seybold Group, a consulting firm that excels in customer-led innovation and customer experience transformation. For more information, visit www.psgroup.com and her blog http://outsideinnovation.blogs.com.

About Communispace Corporation
Communispace Corporation (http://www.communispace.com) is a leading provider of online community software products and solutions. Founded in 1999,the company has created more than 225 online customer communities for global corporations including: Kraft,Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Avon, Starwood Hotels, General Mills, the Chicago Tribune, PepsiCo, and many more. Francisco.

New advice for companies looking for proven ways to inject social networking into their marketing programs: build online communities – and make them private, keep them small, and treat members as advisors to the company. These best practices and several others are offered by Communispace based on its experience building and facilitating over 225 online customer communities for global corporations. According to Communispace, online customer communities can help companies deeply connect with their customers and prospects, capture marketing insights, and build brand advocates. But some of the most successful techniques for running communities are counterintuitive for marketers.

“We’ve found that customer advisory panels, chatrooms, blogs and focus groups just skim the surface compared to what marketers can learn from continuously talking with people in their communities,” said Diane Hessan, Communispace CEO. “We’ve also observed that companies’ instincts on how to manage their communities are often too self-serving, relying on research techniques rather than social networking engagement principles. The key is creating an intimate sense of community among people with common interests, and then tapping into the community in multiple ways, through a variety of methodologies, to get into the hearts and minds of customers.”

Communispace’s best practices for managing online customer communities:

1. Invite the right people, keep it private and small. When you find people who have a common interest and put them together in a community (fewer than 400 people), their energy explodes. Screen people to uncover interests, passions, and willingness to participate, and avoid using only simple demographic and geographic criteria. Second, keep the community private. More of the right people are likely to participate in private communities than public communities because they feel more comfortable in an environment where they know what they say will only be seen by other identified community members, the facilitator and company representatives.

2. View members as advisors to the company. Think of community members as valuable advisors to your company, not as a market research panel. When you treat community members as advisors they will go to amazing lengths to help your company -- and for very little compensation. People in one of Communispace’s shoppers communities recently drove over 100 miles to check out and compare competitive stores despite high gas prices. An important note: be sure to let your community advisors know how your company is using their ideas. The more you reciprocate, the more people will help your company.

3. Find the social glue, make it member-centric. The more focused the community is on topics of shared interest and relevance to its members, the more involved they are likely to be. Don’t base a community on just your product or company. Rather, find the commonalities among potential members that are also relevant to your business, and ask people for help in better understanding that particular topic or domain. For example, one pharmaceutical client is exploring the emotions behind a disease and how people make treatment decisions rather than just testing drug ads. A financial services client is exploring not just how people feel about their brand or even just their category, but how and why members have come to consider themselves consumer activists.

4. Work at building the community. Communispace clients are often stunned when they learn that, on average, 68 percent of community members are actively participating within 48 hours of joining the community. One reason for such high participation is this best practice: create community building activities that help people quickly understand what the community is about, make them feel comfortable participating, and allow them the means over time to get to know one another. Some of these community building best practices are creating “rituals” like Tuesday night chats or “random thoughts” weekly polls asking people to post personal profiles, share personal stories relevant to the community’s focus, or upload photos, like pictures of their favorite pet or the inside of their medicine cabinet.

5. Be genuine, encourage candor. The community’s facilitator should set a genuine, open, and candid style and tone for the community. When a new member starts a conversation, make a big deal about how much you value the comment as this will reinforce the behavior. For example, the facilitator may respond, “Hey, great idea. We want to hear everything so please say what you want.” Or the reinforcement can be a spontaneous award. Make a conscious effort to give people permission to be honest and say what they really think.

6. Just plain ask. Companies often over-think how to phrase a question or issue to community members. The best way is to just ask, simply and straightforwardly. One client came up with a dozen ways to try to understand why African Americans didn’t use their products. Communispace advice: just ask African Americans flat out “why?” A retail client was worried about customers’ reactions to a number of store closings. The best advice: post the press release and ask members what they have to say about the closings. Another technique that is consistently successful is to ask members these questions: “What are we missing? Is there something we didn’t ask about that you wanted to share?” Members almost always say something useful.

7. Pay even more attention to what members initiate. While companies regularly poll members and ask them to take brief surveys and answer questions, the best customer insights often come from discussions started by members. How members talk to each other about how an issue or product “fits” into their lives can be incredibly revealing, as is how members influence one another. Within 24 hours of launching an investment community, there were 11 different dialogue topics underway and only four of those had been seeded by the community facilitators. The rest were created by members around issues they care about. Listen more than ask.

8. Don’t squelch the negative. One of the most common mistakes marketers make is to try to squelch conversations about negative customer feedback. “We can’t let them talk about that!” is a common reaction. However, some of the best lessons come from hearing about those things that annoy, disappoint or outrage customers. Encourage members to give the good bad and ugly.

9. Don’t ask too much, too often. As marketers get to know their community, many become overly-enthusiastic about the ability to ask customers all the time, any time, about everything – new product ideas, advertising concepts, competitor moves. Don‘t ask members for too much too often or they will become fatigued.

10. Use the right mix of technologies and methodologies, and keep experimenting. Make sure the community is built on multiple underlying technologies and methodologies so that people aren’t stuck just answering surveys or posting to message boards, and so you can mine the customer insights with the right analytics. Engage customers through a variety of functions: conduct live chats, create visual member profiles, and use icons to classify discussion replies, upload advertisements; ask members to review products, keep diaries. Communispace recommends blending a range of methodologies and modes of expression including ethnographic, storytelling, mystery shopping, role playing, video diaries, and polling. Similarly, keep experimenting with ways to more deeply involve people, create a richer community experience, and analyze what the community’s conversations mean to marketing strategies.

About Communispace Corporation
Communispace Corporation (http://www.communispace.com) is a leading provider
of online community software products and solutions. Founded in 1999,
the company has created more than 225 online customer communities for global corporations including: Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Avon, Starwood Hotels, General Mills, the Chicago Tribune, PepsiCo, and many more. Francisco.

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

While many people are hitting the beaches this summer, thousands are glued to their new online customer communities, talking about technology, underwear, newspapers, makeup, home decorating, budget travel and life after 50. Communispace, a leader in developing and running online customer communities, has launched 15 new communities this summer for clients like Hewlett-Packard, Jockey, Avon, Behr Paint, Cendant, the L.A. Times, and Eons. The firm’s business has grown more than 100% in the past year, now having managed more than 225 online communities.

“What’s amazing is how involved the members are in their communities,” says Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “Our research has found that approximately 68 percent of community members get actively involved in their communities within 48 hours of being invited to join. People don’t do this for money; what attracts them is the ability to be insiders for a company and to have a genuine and valued voice in that company’s future.”

According to Hessan, more and more companies are launching online communities to learn from customers who serve as informal company advisors and advocates, doing everything from reviewing competitive products and providing ideas on new products to creating ways to better market to customers and advising on how to deal with potentially negative situations.

Although most of Communispace’s clients are large corporations, some newer innovative companies are also contributing to Communispace’s momentum and the customer communities trend. “We are proud to have established the first community specifically for adults 50+. The passionate responses and good advice we have received from our participants have been invaluable to Eons in shaping our new company,” says Jeff Taylor, former CEO of Monster.com and now CEO of Eons, a media company for people over 50 which is officially launching today.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is a leading marketing technology and services firm that specializes in creating online communities used by major corporations to build long-term relationships with their customers. A pioneer in the exploding field of customer engagement (e.g., blogs, word-of-mouth, communities, consumer-generated media), Communispace builds and runs private, branded customer communities that generate high-ROI insights, innovation and customer loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 225 online customer communities for global corporations including: Kraft, American Express, Avon, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, Reebok, General Motors, State Farm, Starwood Hotels, General Mills, The Chicago Tribune, PepsiCo, and many more. Recently, Communispace has won a number of awards including the Stevie Award for Best Woman-Owned Company of the Year and the CRM WizKid Award for innovation by Beagle Research (2006). Gartner named Communispace a “Cool Vendor” in a March 2006 report spotlighting companies with innovative approaches for understanding and deepening relationships with customers. www.communispace.com

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Communispace – the leading creator of private online customer communities – today announced that Clare Robinson has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Client Services. The company is adding executive bench strength in response to over 100% growth in the last year.

"Companies are quickly realizing that if they listen to and involve customers in their business, they are leveraging their best marketing asset – their customers – for new ideas and to drive growth,” said Diane Hessan, president and CEO of Communispace. “We’re seeing it happening across all business sectors. In this new position, Clare will help us scale and masterfully manage our expanding roster of Fortune 500 client relationships."

Robinson brings both innovative marketing technology and management consulting experience to Communispace. Most recently an Executive Vice President and Relationship Leader at Digitas, a leading interactive marketing services company, she was a member of the executive team that grew the company from a 30-person direct mail shop to an interactive marketing leader with $250 million in revenues and 1,800 employees. At Digitas, Clare developed acquisition and relationship management strategies in the consumer and business-to-business markets, leading a number of key accounts and helping to build the capabilities to deliver integrated, multi-channel marketing solutions. Previously, Robinson was a consultant with Mercer Management Consulting (then known as Temple, Barker and Sloane) where she specialized in marketing strategy, organizational design and business model development for the financial services, telecommunications and transportation industries. Robinson graduated with a political science/economics degree from Williams College and has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School and Boston University.

“Joining such an innovative company, especially at this time in Communispace’s growth, is an extraordinary opportunity. I look forward to helping the company evolve their offering to meet surging marketplace demand and continue to deliver actionable results for clients,” said Clare Robinson, new Senior Vice President of Client Services, Communispace.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is a leading marketing technology and services firm that specializes in creating online communities used by major corporations to build long-term relationships with their customers. A pioneer in the exploding field of customer engagement (e.g., blogs, word-of-mouth, communities, consumer-generated media), Communispace builds and runs private, branded customer communities that generate high-ROI insights, innovation and customer loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 225 online customer communities for global corporations including: Kraft, American Express, Avon, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, Reebok, General Motors, State Farm, Starwood Hotels, General Mills, The Chicago Tribune, PepsiCo, and many more. Recently, Communispace has won a number of awards including the Stevie Award for Best Woman-Owned Company of the Year and the CRM WizKid Award for innovation by Beagle Research (2006). Gartner named Communispace a “Cool Vendor” in a March 2006 report spotlighting companies with innovative approaches for understanding and deepening relationships with customers. www.communispace.com

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Companies searching for the holy grail of customer engagement — the emotional bonding, trust and word-of-mouth that result in genuine customer loyalty (as opposed to “satisfaction”) and that drive sales growth –– will find new answers in a research study of 20 different private, online customer communities conducted by market leader Communispace. Study highlights were released today, and include findings that 82 percent of community members said they were more likely to recommend the client company’s products since joining its community; 76 percent felt more positively about the company; and 52 percent reported that they were more inclined to purchase products from the sponsoring company.

In the study, titled “What Companies Gain from Listening: The Effect of Community Membership on Members’ Attitudes and Behavior in Relation to the Sponsoring Company,” researchers analyzed surveys among 2196 members of 20 online communities built and facilitated by Communispace for a wide range of brand-name companies: 13 business-to-consumer (B2C) communities in the consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical, photography products and services, hospitality, home appliance, financial services, fast food, and Internet service provider industries; and seven business-to-business (B2B) communities in the technology, insurance, health care, publishing, and financial services industries.

“Our clients have always gained enormous consumer insights, product and service ideas, and marketing and positioning feedback from customers in their online communities. Now we’re demonstrating how engaging customers in these communities builds deep relationships, fosters loyalty and enhances word of mouth,” explained Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “This research shows that when companies really listen to customers and make it easy for them to have a say, customers become incredibly connected with the sponsoring company; they trust the company more, provide more thoughtful and detailed feedback, and recommend the company’s products to more people. Communities are becoming the core of successful customer engagement.” Unlike public communities such as MySpace or blogs, private customer communities are password-protected sites where up to 400 invited customers and/or prospects spend an average of 30 minutes a week over a period of months brainstorming ideas, offering advice to one another and to the sponsoring company, sharing experiences, commenting on market trends and helping the company figure out business issues. Online customer communities are emerging as a 24/7 strategic marketing asset that ensures that customers are at the center of marketing and communications planning, innovation and research.

Other highlights of the research study:

76 percent of community members surveyed indicated they felt generally more positively about the company since joining the community;

As specific drivers of overall positive feelings, 75 percent of the community members surveyed said that they felt more respect for the company sponsoring the community; 63 percent said that membership had increased their trust of the company;

91 percent felt that their community enabled them to give candid feedback and suggestions to the company; 89 percent said they felt the company is truly concerned with what its customers have to say;

Based on the research of loyalty guru, Fred Reichheld (“The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth,” 2006), Communispace has begun routinely asking the “ultimate question”—how likely customers are to recommend a company—of prospective members before they join communities, and then asking it again after they’ve been in the community for at least three months. Initial analyses indicated that 82 percent of members asked said they were more likely to recommend the company’s product than before joining the community;

While word of mouth marketing was not a primary objective of most communities at the time of the survey, 59 percent of members reported talking positively with friends and family about their community experience and the sponsoring company.

Download the accompanying researchPDF

More details on the study in a forthcoming white paper will be available by contacting Communispace at http://www.communispace.com/perspectives.asp.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, is a leading marketing technology and services firm that specializes in creating online communities used by major corporations to build long-term relationships with their customers. A pioneer in the exploding field of customer engagement (e.g., blogs, word-of-mouth, communities, consumer-generated media), Communispace builds and runs private, branded customer communities that generate high-ROI insights, innovation and customer loyalty. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 200 online customer communities for global corporations including: Kraft, American Express, Avon, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, Reebok, General Motors, State Farm, Starwood Hotels, General Mills, The Chicago Tribune, PepsiCo, and many more. Recently, Communispace has won a number of awards including the Stevie Award for Best Woman-Owned Company of the Year and the CRM WizKid Award for innovation by Beagle Research (2006). Gartner named Communispace a “Cool Vendor” in a March 2006 report spotlighting companies with innovative approaches for understanding and deepening relationships with customers. www.communispace.com

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Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
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Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

• Innovative: The vendor has developed technologies and products that enable users to do things they never could before.
• Impactful: The vendor has developed technologies and products that have or will have business impact. It isn't just "technology for the sake of technology."
• Intriguing: The vendor has developed technologies and products that have caught our interest/curiosity during the past six months or so.

Communispace creates and facilitates online customer communities for over 60 clients including Starwood Hotels, Kraft, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, and Charles Schwab. Viewed as a new marketing asset, a community is a password-protected private online site where up to 400 invited prospects and customers spend an average of 20 minutes a week brainstorming ideas, offering advice to the company and one another. Community members’ involvement benefits the company on a wide range of business issues including co-innovation of new products and creating and testing marketing and advertising concepts. Participation in communities has also been shown to increase customer loyalty, advocacy and word of mouth.

"We believe being named a Gartner 'Cool Vendor' recognizes the value of private online customer communities in engaging customers in strategic new ways," says Diane Hessan, Communispace CEO. "The relationships developed in these communities build customer loyalty, create company advocates, and provide extraordinary insights for developing new products, positioning brands, and finding ways to attract new customers."

About Gartner's Cool Vendors Selection Process
Gartner's listing does not constitute an exhaustive list of vendors in any given technology area, but rather is designed to highlight interesting, new and innovative vendors, products and services. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness of a particular purpose.

Gartner defines a cool vendor as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are: Innovative, enable users to do things they couldn't do before; Impactful, have, or will have, business impact (not just technology for the sake of technology); Intriguing, have caught Gartner's interest or curiosity in approximately the past six months.

About Communispace
Founded in 1999, Communispace (www.communispace.com) has created more than 200 online customer communities for customer-focused companies in industries ranging from travel and beauty products to food and financial services. For a detailed Communispace client list visit http://www.communispace.com/clients.asp. CEO Diane Hessan, a recognized expert in customer-centered growth strategies, was named in 2005 one of the 15 “Best Bosses” in the country by Fortune Small Business. Communispace is headquartered in Watertown, Mass., with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco.

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Communispace, which creates and runs online customer communities for major corporations, today announced that it has been awarded a 2006 WizKids™ innovation award by the Beagle Research Group.

The annual award is given to emerging companies that demonstrate new and innovative solutions to business problems in customer relationship management. Other winners are BlueRoads, Rearden Commerce, Knowlagent, Five9, ShareMethods, RightNow Technologies, Eloqua Corporation, and Salesforce.com.
Communispace creates and manages private online customer communities. Clients include Charles Schwab, Unilever, Kraft, The Chicago Tribune, GlaxoSmithKline, and Starwood Hotels.

In these facilitated, by-invitation only communities companies engage their customers in on-going, two-way conversations -- sharing ideas, discussing trends, seeking advice, and continually incorporating that advice into business strategy. Communispace’s clients view their communities as a robust marketing asset rather than a one-time transactional activity.

For the WizKid award entry, Communispace showed how its client Charles Schwab, one of the country’s largest financial services firms, has gained valuable customer insights, market outlook perspectives, and new product direction from its community of 400 high net worth clients.

For example, before going out on a recent market tour, Chairman Charles Schwab asked community members for their views on market trends and investment strategies.

“Clients were literally writing essays to him about what they liked and what needed improvement,” says Jim Hawn, a vice president in Schwab’s retail brokerage business.

“Customers are dying to be more involved with companies,” says Diane Hessan, Communispace CEO. “When companies treat customers like insiders, like Schwab does using its online community, customers not only provide advice and direction, they become loyal advocates for the company. That’s why some business experts believe that communities are the fastest way to build and get to the top of the customer loyalty ladder.”

For more information about the WizKids award or a copy of the Charles Schwab case study, go to www.beagleresearch.com.

About Communispace
Founded in 1999, Communispace (www.communispace.com) has created more than 200 online customer communities for 60 companies in industries ranging from travel and beauty products to food and financial services. Approximately 94% of Communispace’s clients renew their contracts because of the strategic value they get from their customer communities. Communispace is headquartered in Watertown, Mass., with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, New York and San Francisco.

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Communispace, which creates and runs private online customer communities for major corporations, today announced that it added 17 new clients in 2005, including Charles Schwab, GlaxoSmithKline and PepsiCo, bringing the number of customer communities it has developed to 200.

Communispace also reported that 94 percent of its existing clients renewed their community contracts for 2006. The company’s clients include Hallmark, Chicago Tribune, Unilever, Kraft, Starwood Hotels, State Farm, Reebok, and EarthLink.

“With increasing customer distrust and declining advertising effectiveness, companies are realizing that engaging customers is absolutely critical to today’s marketing success,” explains Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. “Engagement is not about using more interesting marketing techniques; it is about being more interested in and involved with your customers.

“We and our clients have found that if you treat customers like insiders – asking for their advice, listening to them, and sharing ideas on an ongoing basis – those customers will engage with your company like never before, giving you insights about new products, market trends, and what will and won’t fly in the market. Having a customer community is one surprisingly easy way to genuinely engage with clients, and that’s why our business is growing so much.”

Communispace increased its staff by 91% percent in the past year, bringing its total number of employees to 65, with the majority based in its Watertown, Mass. headquarters. The privately held company’s 2005 revenues increase 71% over 2004; this is the third year in a row that Communispace’s revenues have increased more than 70%.

About Communispace
Founded in 1999, Communispace (www.communispace.com) has created more than 200 online customer communities for customer-focused companies in industries ranging from travel and beauty products to food and financial services. For a detailed Communispace client list visit http://www.communispace.com/clients.asp. CEO Diane Hessan, a recognized expert in customer-centered growth strategies, was named in 2005 one of the 15 “Best Bosses” in the country by Fortune Small Business. Communispace is headquartered in Watertown, Mass., with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, New York and San Francisco.

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

FSB: Fortune Small Business announced today its 2005 list of Best Bosses, 15 entrepreneurs in various industries—from homebuilders to junk removal and robot construction—who are particularly well-rounded, with the vision, creativity, focus, and great people skills to get the best out of their employees.  To compile the list of Best Bosses, FSB collaborated with Winning Workplaces, a non-profit organization that helps small businesses create successful workplace practices. The list appears in the October issue of FSB, and at www.FSB.com.

Managing the Gen Y workers flooding the job market is a key part of the success of this year’s Best Bosses. “Young, fast-growing companies in quickly changing industries hire more young workers than the average firm and place a premium on grabbing the most creative ones,” says writer Ellyn Spragins. And, managers who don’t effectively address the needs of this generation will struggle, says one workplace consultant. The result? “The Best Bosses have crafted business practices to satisfy the demands of twenty-somethings, treating them more like consumers than employees,” says Spragins. “In return, workers put in high-energy performances and rarely entertain other job offers—all of which translates into lower turnover and faster growth.”

The word “fun,” often with an exclamation point, is featured in more than half of these businesses mission statements, mottos, or self-descriptions.  Owners indulge their employees in scavenger hunts, dodgeball tournaments, free beer on Fridays, go-cart racing, pumpkin-carving contests, and trips.  Their offices overflow with waterfalls, koi ponds, and climbing walls, as well as the standard day-care centers and gyms.  But, Best Bosses go beyond simply dispensing a laundry list of benefits; rather, they make sure their entire workplace culture fits the needs of their employees.

This year’s Best Bosses had to sweat a little harder to prove themselves winners. FSB and its partner, Winning Workplaces raised the bar by expanding the judging criteria. To cull the finalists from a group of 100 nominees, FSB, Winning Workplaces and a panel of judges evaluated employee satisfaction, investment in workers, benefits such as medical insurance and retirement plans, as well as other measures. The business owners were subjected to a 360-degree performance review by talking with customers, financial and legal advisors, board members, investors, and randomly selected employees about the nominee’s management style and philosophy.  “What’s most heartening is to see leaders from a wide range of industries and from across the country all find ways to create workplaces where employees are gratified and rewarded, and the businesses and the employees both benefit,” says Kenneth Lehman, chairman of Winning Workplaces.

This year’s Best Bosses are:

Greg Wittstock (Aquascape Designs, Batavia, Ill.) At this maker of pond kits and supplies, workers vet each other’s ideas.

Larry Weinberg/Josh Baker (BOWA Builders, McLean, Va.) This homebuilder aggressively recruits from Latin American communities.

Diane Hessan (Communispace Corp., Watertown, Mass.) Workers at this supplier of private online communities and customer surveys can gripe online, anonymously.

Bob Cutler (Creative Consumer Concepts, Overland Park, Kan.) This seller of promotional items for kids encourages employees to volunteer.

Trish Karter (Dancing Deer Baking, Boston) Inner city, immigrant workers at this baking company have 360-degree reviews.

John Nix/Larry Spear (Go2Call.com, Evanston, Ill.) Employees at this provider of VOIP services are reviewed every two weeks.

Colin Angle (iRobot, Burlington, Mass.) The robot builder offers a distinct career track for its engineers.

Pamela Davis (Nonprofits Insurance Alliance Group, Santa Cruz, Calif.) Employees can earn small gifts at this nonprofit insurer of other nonprofits.

Tom Raffio (Northeast Delta Dental, Concord, N.H.) This nonprofit dental-insurance provider measures employee satisfaction.

Patty McManus (Olsson Associates, Lincoln) Employees at this engineering-services firm share in 85% of company profits.

Andrew Field (PrintingForLess.com, Livingston, Mont.) Employees hired at this company must meet 25 criteria.

Steve Randazzo (Pro Motion, St. Louis) This event-marketing firm helps temporary staffers find their next outside job.

Margie Traylor/Bret Giles (Sitewire Marketplace Solutions, Tempe, Ariz.) Workers at this Internet marketer praise colleagues at weekly meetings.

Brian Scudamore (1-800-Got-Junk?, Vancouver, B.C.) This junk-removal franchiser makes one dream come true for every employee.
   
Keith Smith (180solutions, Bellevue, Wash.) At this online marketing firm, employees play dodgeball and volleyball.

About Winning Workplaces
Winning Workplaces is an Evanston, IL-based not-for-profit, whose mission is to help the leaders of small and midsize organizations create great workplaces.  Founded in 2001, Winning Workplaces serves as a clearinghouse of information on workplace best practices via a website and a monthly e-newsletter; recognizes outstanding leaders of small organizations through the Best Bosses collaboration with FORTUNE Small Business magazine; provides seminars and workshops on workplace-related topics; helps organizations assess their workplaces through employee surveys and other customer feedback tools.

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For more information:
Susan Brown Williams
FORTUNE
212-522-0133
susan_williams@timeinc.com

Jenna Landry
FORTUNE
212-522-4269
jenna_landry@timeinc.com

Richard Melcher
Winning Workplaces
Melcher+Tucker Consultants
312-795-3550
rmelcher@mtconsultants.com

Communispace Corporation was named Best OverallCompany of the Year in the Service Business sector at The 2004 Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs.

The Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs, www.stevieawards/women, is a national awards competition recognizing the accomplishments of women small business owners in the UnitedStates. The awards are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business Awards, hailed as “the business world’s own Oscars” by the New York Post (September 22, 2002) and exclusively sponsored by Advanta.

Winners were announced on Friday, October 22 at a gala ceremony at the Marriott Marquis in New York City’s Times Square. The masters of ceremonies were Bill Rancic, winner of the hit television show “The Apprentice” and spokesperson for Advanta, the exclusive sponsor of the awards, and Rhonda Schaffler, the New York Stock Exchange Senior Correspondent for CNNfn and CNN Business News.

A total of 18 Stevie Awards were presented in categories ranging from Best Entrepreneur and Technology Innovator to Best New Product and Mentor of the Year.

More than 600 nominations from small companies in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration.

Communispace Corporation was selected among the group as the Best Overall Company of the Year in the Service Business sector for its accomplishments in delivering a superior software and service solution—for businesses of all sizes.

Communispace’s unique offering provides companies with continuous connections to its customers through the creation of proprietary online communities.

“We are delighted to be recognized for this award,” said Diane Hessan, President and CEO of Communispace. “The Stevie recognizes and underscores our commitment to reinvigorate marketing and serve our clients with the key to innovation and growth—the voice of the customer.”

Advanta Corp. (NASDAQ: ADVNB; ADVNA) is the exclusive sponsor of The 2004 Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs, and has been committed to supporting the success of women in business for over 50 years. Founded as Teachers’ Service Organization, originally providing need-based loans to teachers – mostly women – at a time when banks often did not, Advanta is now one of the nation’s largest issuers of MasterCard business credit cards to America’s small businesses through its subsidiary Advanta Bank Corp.

“The winners of the Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs reflect the vital and exciting role that women small business owners play in today’s economy,” said Dennis Alter, Chairman and CEO of Advanta. “Helping women entrepreneurs build their business is a longtime goal of Advanta’s. That’s why we’re extremely proud to honor these outstanding winners.” The Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs are governed by a board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors that features many leading women entrepreneurs and figures in American business, including Carrie Fitzmaurice, Publisher for Entrepreneur Media Inc.; Dr. Lisa Krinsky, Chairman & President for SFBC International; and Dr. Betty Spence, President of The National
Association for Female Executives.

“Women small business owners are at the forefront of business innovation, but they rarely get the acclaim they deserve,” said Michael Gallagher, President and Founder of The Stevie Awards. “The Stevie Awards are an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the extraordinary women who are re-inventing American business.”

The elegant Stevie trophy was designed by R. S. Owens, the same company that makes the Oscar and the Emmy.

Details about The Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs and the full list of Winners are available at www.stevieawards.com/women.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation, www.communispace.com, is the leading provider of vibrant online communities designed to engage customers, 24/7, in a rich and multi-dimensional dialogue. Communispace builds, manages, and facilitates proprietary online customer communities that generate unprecedented customer insights and directly connect market intelligence to business innovation. Companies secure real-time responsiveness that results in faster product development, increased customer loyalty, and decreased marketing costs. Communispace is headquartered in Watertown, MA with offices in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

About The Stevie Awards
Hailed as “the business world’s own Oscars” by the New York Post (September 22, 2002), Stevie Awards are conferred in three programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, and The Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs. Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Harris Interactive®, a global market research and consulting firm, today announced that it will join forces with Communispace Corporation, a leader in creating online communities, to provide clients with a new and powerful qualitative research capability. Utilizing a platform and process developed by Communispace, Harris Interactive will now improve the integrity and
depth of information derived from online qualitative research while lowering the cost to clients. Online Communities enable qualitative researchers to uncover rich information very quickly, while integrating dozens of activities, such as online chat, bulletin board, virtual brainstorming and polling methods. In a community, hundreds of consumers interact with companies on a continuous and private basis, often entering the site several times each week to respond to new topics, participate in scheduled activities, and initiate communication with others.

Research methods used are flexible and varied, depending on objectives. Harris Interactive’s qualitative consultants will guide research design, moderate communities and provide content analysis, leveraging Communispace’s expertise in creating vibrant online communities. “This is a very synergistic alliance,” said Diane Hessan, president and CEO of Communispace. “The combination of Harris Interactive research expertise and Communispace experience in building dynamic online spaces will provide significant value for organizations that need to ensure that their customers’ voices are easily and clearly heard.”

Online Communities can help end users of research to:

Conduct ongoing market research, testing products, services and ad concepts

Have a jump on trends in the marketplace and generate new ideas

Know who their competitors are and what they are doing

Assess their brands

Evaluate employee satisfaction

Give their customers a real voice

Jim Longo, vice president of qualitative research at Harris Interactive, said, “Our clients are increasingly interested in learning new ways to gain insights about their customers. We are confident that Online Communities will add significant value for these organizations, by allowing community participants to shape future research initiatives.” Longo concluded, “Relationships developed among consumers in the online communities offer invaluable customer insights into what’s important to them about products and services – and it can provide important competitive intelligence for our clients.”

For more information on specific features: http://www.communispace.com/prodFeatures.aspl

About Harris Interactive®
Harris Interactive (www.harrisinteractive.com) is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll®, and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, U.S.A., Harris Interactive combines proprietary
methodologies and technology with expertise in predictive, custom and strategic research. The Company conducts international research through wholly owned subsidiaries—London-based HI Europe (www.hieurope.com) and Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan—as well as through the Harris Interactive Global Network of local market-and opinion-research firms, and various U.S. offices. EOE M/F/D/V
To become a member of the Harris Poll OnlineSM and be invited to participate in future online surveys, visit www.harrispollonline.com.

About Communispace Corporation
Communispace Corporation (www.communispace.com) is a leader in building and managing online, proprietary communities for organizations. These communities are helping companies to speed up innovation, build and improve customer loyalty, and generate deep insight into the needs and behaviors of customers and employees. The company is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, U.S.A. For more information about online customer communities, go to http://www.communispace.com/custcomm.asp

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For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

Communispace Corporation, a leading provider of online customer community software and services, announced today the release of the latest version of its award-winning software. Version 4.0 was developed to make it even easier for companies to create, brand, and tailor virtual communities that give companies a competitive edge.

“Successful companies in today’s complex marketplace need to have deep connections to their customers and employees” said Communispace President and CEO, Diane Hessan. “Our newly released technology makes it even easier for our clients to make those connections, leading to faster innovation, better customer insight and clearer direction than ever before.”

The primary goals of this software release were to make the user interface, functionality, and roles and privileges for Communispace users much more flexible and customizable at the community level. The company began this project because they found that configuration requests vary not only based on the type of community (e.g. business-to-business, business-to-consumer or business-to-employee), but that clients with similar types of communities have different implementation and configuration preferences.

“Configurability at the community level is increasingly important as our clients launch multiple communities, each of which have different types of members and serve different purposes,” notes Ms. Hessan. “For example, Sun Life Financial’s Canadian operations require communities in both English and French. Multinational companies like Unilever, which has hundreds of operating companies in its corporate portfolio, not only need their communities linked in one “enterprise”, but also need to be able to brand each community with the logos, colors, and terminology specific to the purpose and composition of each community. Version 4.0 allows for that kind of configuration in a fast, cost-effective manner.”

Communispace Version 4.0 Applications
In its customer community application, Communispace is revolutionizing how companies capture the voice of their customers by providing a unique alternative to traditional marketing and intelligence gathering approaches. With Communispace, clients such as Hallmark (www.hallmark.com) are designing and facilitating effective online customer communities that operate as persistent 24/7 advisory groups. The consumer insights gained from these communities have resulted in faster product development, increased customer loyalty, and lower costs of market research.

Also an innovator in knowledge exchange for corporate employees, Communispace creates dynamic, virtual workspaces where employees can achieve specific business objectives regardless of geographic and time differences. Designed and facilitated by experts, the Communispace environment generates rapid decision-making, problem solving, innovation and knowledge sharing within companies. Sun Life Financial’s Canadian operations use Communispace to support its broad-based agent network to increase sales productivity, market share and agent retention.

About Communispace Corporation
Communispace Corporation (http://www.communispace.com) is a leading provider of online community software products and solutions. Founded in 1999, Communispace works with dozens of global companies from its headquarters in Watertown, Massachusetts and offices in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

For more:

Jessica Casano-Antonellis
Text 100
Account Manager
jessicaa@text100.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com