See Your Business as the Media Sees You

In today's business climate it's important to know not only how you are perceived, but also how your competitors are perceived. Of course, quantifying your image is no small task. Enter Biz360, a company that specializes in market intelligence. More specifically, it help businesses gauge their media presence.

To date, Biz360 has focused its efforts on large companies such as 3Com, Harley-Davidson Motor Company and others. In an effort to tap the burgeoning small and mid-size business market, however, the San Mateo, Calif.-based company today announced Market360 Workgroup Edition, which it describes as the "first automated media analysis application with an affordable price point for small to mid-size organizations."

Market360 Workgroup Edition's continuous media analysis is built to enable communications managers to make better strategic decisions, faster tactical responses and more informed resource allocation.

Market360 Workgroup Edition is designed to enables company interested in tracking their public relations impact accomplish the following:

• Monitor company and competitor media coverage.
• Analyze news source.
• Establish benchmarks to support tactical execution and improve campaign evaluation.
• Provide current, relevant media analysis for strategic planning.
• Change campaign tactics according to day-to-day changes in media response and promotional opportunities.

The Web-based application features a dashboard that shows a Mindshare graph, a snapshot view based on your company's coverage versus that of key competitors. The dashboard also displays the latest headlines (gleaned from thousands of sources), which is designed to capture the media buzz surrounding both your company and your competitors. You can also choose to have e-mail alerts sent to you whenever a story about you or a rival hits the streets or the Net.

According to Ralph Hibbs, director of product marketing, Market360 tracks 5,000 print publications and 1,200 Internet-based magazines. For print publications, the company partners will Thomson NewsEdge, but Hibbs says Biz360 uses its own technology for tracking Web sites.

Hibbs said the process to implement Market share360 begins with an initial consultation, which takes an hour or two. It then takes about a week to set up the system and another week to do the training, according to Hibbs. The cost: well, it's not insignificant. A one-year subscription is $20,000. A price that, Hibbs admits, will appeal mostly to the "mid" end of the small and mid-size business market. Key among Biz360's target audience for Market360 are companies that deal with technology, biotech, financial services, energy -- in short any business that is image-conscious.

Dan Muse is executive editor of internet.com's Small Business Channel.

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