Ford Tops ChaCha Questions Among Teen and Young Adult

Frost & Sullivan Mines ChaCha Questions & Answers
for Insights into Teen and Young Adult
Brand Behavior and Preferences
 
Ford Tops Questions in Auto Category 
 
INDIANAPOLIS (March 5, 2010)  <http://www.chacha.com> ChaCha, the popular
free service that has provided quick, accurate answers to hundreds of
millions of questions, today released a study by Frost & Sullivan that
analyzed millions of queries from the youth segment during a three month
period to provide insights into the popularity, penetration and perception
of different brands. ChaCha allows users to call 1-800-2-ChaChaT or text
questions to ChaCha (242-242T) on mobile phones and receive answers within
minutes. The company also provides online access to questions and answers at
ChaCha.com, and via other social platforms including Facebook and Twitter.
 
"ChaCha's vast data base of questions and answers is a powerful research
tool that marketers can leverage to get a near real-time pulse on the
thoughts and desires of teens and young adults," says Todd Day, Industry
Analyst with Frost & Sullivan. "There is no single source that provides a
more granular understanding of what's happening during the conversation-what
users care about and what they think, particularly as it relates to specific
brands and products. ChaCha is in a unique position to provide that data to
the industry and potential advertisers. Capturing the consumer's 'intent' is
always a priority for successful marketers, and ChaCha's extensive database
of questions and associated information about the subscriber can be mined."
 
Among the Frost & Sullivan findings of interest to automotive marketers
targeting teens and young adults:
Ford is leading in the hearts and minds of teens and young adults. They not
only ask more questions about the company, but they ask questions about
where to buy specific models and how much they are. The Mustang has the
highest awareness and affinity among both girls and boys between the ages of
13-24. It's interesting to see that car preferences are being made long
before a teenager is able to drive. Questions include: "What is the
horsepower of a Ford Mustang?", "Is a Ford Mustang a muscle car?" and "What
is a better car, a Ford Mustang or a Chevy Corvette?"
 
ChaCha processed over 125,000 questions relating to the automotive industry.
Nearly 16,000 questions involving one of the automotive brands of Ford,
Chevy, Toyota, or GMC:
 
FORD:
60.6% Ages 18-24
39.4% Ages 13-17
77% Male
23% Female
 
CHEVY:
63.5% Ages 18-24
36.5% Ages 13-17
78% Male
22% Female
 
TOYOTA:
62.3% Ages 18-24
37.7% Ages 13-17
70% Male
30% Female
Average is 7% higher than competing brands for females
 
GMC:
62.7% Ages 18-24
37.3% Ages 13-17
77% Male
23% Female
 
Ford was the top searched automotive brand. However, within the Ford brand,
individual models and demographics for each can also be gathered.
 
FORD:
60.6% Ages 18-24
39.4% Ages 13-17
77% Male
23% Female
 
MUSTANG:
Made up 56% of questions relating to Ford automobiles
58.3% Ages 18-24
41.7% Ages 13-17
82.5% Male
17.5% Female
 
F-150, Ranger, Focus, and Taurus made up 7% of the questions each
 
Other models combined made up 16% of the questions submitted regarding Ford
models
 
"Teens rely on their mobile devices as their primary media and they ask
ChaCha over a million questions each day providing insights on their brand
attitudes and actions," says Scott Jones, CEO of ChaCha. "Along with the
search query and answer string, ChaCha also has insights into other metrics
related to the end user-including demographics, location, and device type. 
 
"An in-depth analysis of ChaCha's data can provide actionable insights into
the consumers 'preferences' on a national or local level. For example,
traffic patterns can be analyzed to determine the impact of a particular ad
campaign, ascertain the popularity of different TV shows among the youth
segment, and even to determine regional interest levels for a particular
product," adds Mr. Jones. 
 
The complete ChaCha/Frost & Sullivan report can be downloaded here:
<http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/market-insight-top.pag?docid=188632147>
http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/market-insight-top.pag?docid=188632147
 
Frost & Sullivan ( <http://www.frost.com/> http://www.frost.com) the Growth
Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve
best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's
Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with
disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation,
evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost &
Sullivan leverages 49 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000
companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than
40 offices on six continents. 
 
ChaCha ( <http://www.chacha.com> www.chacha.com) has emerged as the #1 way
for advertisers and marketers to engage teens and young adults.  Through its
unique "smart friend" platform, ChaCha has answered over 400 million
questions since launch from over 12 million unique users per month via SMS
text (242-242T), online (http://www.chacha.com), Twitter (@chacha), Facebook
app, iPhone app, and voice (1-800-2-ChaChaT).  Working with major brands
such as Paramount, AT&T, Palm, Johnson&Johnson, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and
Presidential political campaigns, ChaCha.com is one of the fastest growing
mobile and online publishers according to Nielsen and Quantcast. 
 
ChaCha was founded by proven innovator and entrepreneur, Scott Jones, and is
funded by Bezos Expeditions, Morton Meyerson, former President and Vice
Chairman of EDS as well as Chairman and CEO of Perot Systems; Rod Canion,
founding CEO of Compaq Computer; the Simon family; and Jack Gill, Silicon
Valley venture capitalist.
 
 
George Simpson
George H. Simpson Communications
203.521.0352
george@georgesimpson.com
www.georgesimpson.com