Media Alert

The Global Language Marketing has released the London 2012 Ambush Marketing May 15 Update.

For these rankings GLM measured the strength of the brand affiliation for each official Olympic sponsor against those of their primary non-affiliated competitors. Though ‘ambush marketing’ is well understood to mean an organization knowingly exploiting a brand affiliation with the Games without the benefit of official sponsorship.

All perceived Olympic affiliations according to their presence in the global media, and statistically linked to the London Games, qualify for GLM’s Ambush Marketing rankings.

Once you download the London 2012 Ambush Marketing Update, you are entitled to one free hour of consultation from the Ambush Marketing experts from the Global Language Monitor, which has been tracking Branded Affiliations at the Olympics for the last three Olympiads.

The GLM Brand Affiliation Index for this analysis, ranged from a high of 524.45 to a low of 1.49.  The higher the score, the closer the brand affiliation with an event.  GLM has been tracking ambush marketing at the Olympics since the Beijing Games in 2008.  For London 2012, GLM began the three tiers of official sponsors since the third quarter of 2011.  These results are based on a study concluded on May 1,  2012.

With its Branded Individual Index (BII) GLM also tracks the brand equity of the athletes before and during the Games.

The official Olympic sponsors are divided into three tiers:  Worldwide Partners, Official Partners, and Official Supporters. GLM tracks over fifty non-affiliated companies that are direct competitors with the Official Olympic sponsors.

Remember that once you download the London 2012 Ambush Marketing Update, you are entitled to one free hour of consultation from the Ambush Marketing experts from the Global Language Monitor, which has been tracking Branded Affiliations at the Olympics for the last three Olympiads.

For more information call +1.512.815.8836 or email info@languagemonitor.com

About the Rankings

The TrendTopper MediaBuzz Rankings measure near real-time movements of an institution’s reputation or ‘brand equity’, using the same techniques used to measure the appeal of any other branded product, such as luxury automobiles, or consumer electronics. For the first time GLM expanded the Rankings to over 400 schools, 210 in the University Division with another 200 in the College Division to widen the bases of comparison for the education marketplace.

What Others are Saying:

Colleges, Ranked by ‘Media Buzz’

By Eric Hoover

The  Summer / Spring 2012 Edition now includes over 400 schools, including specialty, Art, Design, Music, online, and for-profit institutions.  It  includes positive or negative movement vs the competition.  It also ranks school by MediaBuzz Velocity and Momentum that tells how a school’s (short-term and long-term) brand equity is increasing or decreasing against its peer group, and the other colleges.

Buy the Spring/Summer 2012 TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide, Enrollment Management Edition.  Get All the Numbers Behind the Numbers, to better understand your precise position & positioning.  (GLM also provides you with one hour of free consulting with your purchase.)

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Spring/Summer ’12) Student Edition and priced accordingly.

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Fall ’11/Winter) Student Edition  and priced accordingly.

If  the book does not download automatically, call 1.512.815.8836 and specify 1) the Fall/Winter Guide Student Edition, 2) the Spring/Summer Student Edition, or 3) The Enrollment Management Edition, for college executives who need to know the complete data for their school and that of their competitors.

Unlike other college rankings, specialty schools such as Julliard, SAIC, and the Cooper Union, the service academies, business, tech schools are included in the rankings.  Also incorporated into the rankings are ‘for profit” (University of Phoenix) and online institutions, such as Capella and Walden.  This is to provide true comparisons between and among the various types of post-secondary institutions now available to the discerning educational consumers. The full rankings  include positive or negative movement, and MediaBuzz Velocity and Momentum that reveal how a school’s (short-term and long-term) brand equity is increasing or decreasing against its peer group, and the other competitors.

Methodology

The  TrendTopper MediaBuzz Analysis uses the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classifications as the basis to distinguish between Universities and Colleges. The schools were ranked in the last week of March 2012, with a December snapshot as well as the last day of the previous surveys as the base.

TrendTopper MediaBuzz utilizes a  mathematical model that ‘normalizes’ the data collected from the Internet, social media, and blogosphere as well as the top 175,000 print and electronic media, as well as new social media as they emerge.  The end result is a non-biased analytical tool that provides a gauge of relative values among various institutions, as well as measures of how that value changes over time.

For more information go to www.LanguageMonitor.com or call 1.512.815.8836 or send email to info@LanguageMonitor.com.

Nike over Adidas; BA Trails Three Competitors; Subway and Pizza Hut Top McDonald’s

Kate Middleton ‘Brand’ Tops Coke, Adidas, and BA

Austin, Texas. Weekend May 4-6, 2012.  Ambush Marketers continue to dominate the run-up to the London Summer Games.  In fact ‘non-affiliated marketers’ took 27 of the top 50 spots measuring effective brand activation by the Global Language Monitor’s Brand Affiliation Index (BAI).

This despite the recent tightening of the rules by the IOC,  The GLM BAI rankings are not simply a matter of pride or bragging rights but rather a battle for brand equity and the consumer’s mind and the billions of dollars committed to the IOC, which are primarily used to fund the Games.

“The Olympic movement it is not immune to the historic shifts in communications affecting all institutions worldwide,” said Paul JJ Payack, founding president of the Global Language Monitor. “The seemingly all-pervasive media ensure that the flow of information can be stopped neither by national boundaries nor institutional gatekeepers.   There is no reason to think that marketing activities are immune from such forces.  In fact, marketing has been one of the foremost purveyors of new media technology.”

Ambush Marketing May 15 2012 Update

Remember that once you download the London 2012 Ambush Marketing Update, you are entitled to one free hour of consultation from the Ambush Marketing experts from the Global Language Monitor, which has been tracking Branded Affiliations at the Olympics for the last three Olympiads.

For these rankings GLM measured the strength of the brand affiliation for each official Olympic sponsor against those of their primary non-affiliated competitors. Though ‘ambush marketing’ is well understood to mean an organization knowingly exploiting a brand affiliation with the Games without the benefit of official sponsorship.

All perceived Olympic affiliations according to their presence in the global media, and statistically linked to the London Games, qualify for GLM’s Ambush Marketing rankings.

The GLM Brand Affiliation Index for this analysis, ranged from a high of 524.45 to a low of 1.49.  The higher the score, the closer the brand affiliation with an event.

GLM has been tracking ambush marketing at the Olympics since the Beijing Games in 2008.  For London 2012, GLM began the three tiers of official sponsors since the third quarter of 2011.  These results are based on a study concluded on May 1,  2012.

With its Branded Individual Index (BII) GLM also tracks the brand equity of the athletes before and during the Games.

The official Olympic sponsors are divided into three tiers:  Worldwide Partners, Official Partners, and Official Supporters. GLM tracks over fifty non-affiliated companies that are direct competitors with the Official Olympic sponsors.

To schedule your confidential consultation, call +1.512.815.8836.

For these rankings, encompassing the first quarter of 2012, GLM measured the strength of the brand affiliation for each official Olympic sponsor against those of their primary non-affiliated competitors. Though ‘ambush marketing’ is well understood to mean an organization knowingly exploiting a brand affiliation with the Games without the benefit of official sponsorship.

All perceived Olympic affiliations according to their presence in the global media, and statistically linked to the London Games, qualify for GLM’s Ambush Marketing rankings.

The top findings include:

1. McDonald’s is in a tough fight, ranking behind Subway and Pizza Hut, but beating KFC.
2. Ambusher Nike leads Partner Adidas by a wide margin.
3. British Airways trails ambushers Lufthansa, United and Air France in the rankings.
4. Royal Philip outpaced ever-strong GE.
5. P&G continues to crush ambush competitors as it did in Vancouver.
6. Ambusher Ericsson Over Supporter Cisco by a 3:1 margin.

The Duchess Effect Meets the Summer Games

One interesting side note is that even the Summer Games are encountering the Duchess Effect.  The GLM BAI analysis showed that when linked with London  2012, Kate Middleton had a closer brand affiliation than a number of top sponsors including Coke, Adidas, BA and Panasonic, among others.

This again demonstrates the power of the ‘Kate Middleton Brand’.  A Tier 1 Olympic sponsor pays about $160 million for the privilege, plus the attendant advertising fees promoting the relationship that can cost upwards of $500 million over the four-year arrangement.  This would suggest that the Kate Middleton Brand could be valued at nearly a billion dollars or more, just in relationship to Summer Games.
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The Top Ten Official Olympic Sponsors by BAI are listed below.

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The Top Ten non-Olympic Affiliated Marketers by BAI are listed below.

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The Top Twenty Combined Olympic Sponsors and Non-Affiliated Marketers Ranked by BAI.

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The GLM Brand Affiliation Index for this analysis, ranged from a high of 524.45 to a low of 1.49.  The higher the score, the closer the brand affiliation with an event.

GLM has been tracking ambush marketing at the Olympics since the Beijing Games in 2008.  For London 2012, GLM began the three tiers of official sponsors since the third quarter of 2011.  These results are based on a study concluded on March 31,  2012.

With its Branded Individual Index (BII) GLM also tracks the brand equity of the athletes before and during the Games.

The official Olympic sponsors are divided into three tiers:  Worldwide Partners, Official Partners, and Official Supporters. GLM tracks over fifty non-affiliated companies that are direct competitors with the Official Olympic sponsors.

Customized GLM Ambush Marketing Rankings are released monthly up to and following London 2012.  The Ambush Marketing London 2012 report features dozens of charts representing the interrelationship of each company to the Olympic Brand, their competitors and their partners. In addition, the reports contain exclusive and individualized Narrative Tracker analyses, the most advanced trend tracking analytics available. For more information, individualized reports, or a monthly subscription, call +1.512.815.8836 or email info@LanguageMonitor.com

About Global Language Monitor:  ”We Tell You What the Web is Thinking”
Founded in Silicon Valley, Austin, Texas-based GLM collectively documents, analyzes and tracks trends worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language.

GLM employs proprietary ‘algorithmic methodologies’ such as the NarrativeTracker for global Internet and social media analysis.  NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture of what the public is saying about any topic, at any point in time.

NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 175,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new media sources, as they emerge.  For more information, individualized reports, or a monthly subscription, call +1.512.815.8836 or email info@LanguageMonitor.com

Since 1970 a whole new vocabulary has entered the English Language.

New Words and New ‘Senses’ of Old Words

Austin, Texas, April 20, 2012.  Since the first Earth Day was celebrated as en ‘environmental teach-in’ on April 22, 1970 a whole new vocabulary has entered the English Language.   The Global Language Monitor has determined the top new words and new ‘senses’ of old words that have been engendered  since that first Earth Day in 1970.  The words are ranked by order of present-day usage in the English-speaking world.  The study was completed the first week in April.

“The environmental movement has had a profound, lasting, and ever-increasing effect on global culture and, hence, the English language,” said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of GLM. “The words we have analyzed are but the most profound examples of a movement that has become ever-more influential in the life of the planet.

Many in the younger generations,” Payack continued. “grew up practicing recycling, engaged in green activities, and attempting to live a green life style.  It is best for us all to remember that these advances were won over a generation or more, sometimes at great cost.

These words present a lasting legacy of what came before and what still needs to be accomplished.”

GLM used their Narrative Tracker methodologies to determine and rank the Earth Day words.  The criteria included determining which words have had an impact on the environmental movement and/or were influential in its growth.

The Top Words Engendered by Earth Day since 1970 are listed below.

Rank/Word/Definition

1.  Green — Practices that are in harmony with the environment.

2.  Renewable energy– Energy derived from solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and similar ‘sustainable’ sources.

3.  Sustainable — The ability to create self-replicating systems that can persist over time.  Sustainable was GLM’s word of the year in 2006.

4.  Climate change — Favored by those who think the warming of the planet is primarily dues to long-term atmospheric cycles.

5.  Eco- (as a prefix) — Shorthand for ‘ecological’; from the Greek ‘oikos’ for house (or table).

6.  Emissions —  In this sense, gases and particles sent out into the atmosphere through industrial production, automobiles, etc.; from the Late Latin emittere, to send out of.

7. Ecology — the relations of beings to each other and their environment; from the Greek ‘oikos’ for house (or table).

8.  Recycle — The re-using of materials once viewed as waste.

9.  Vegan — Those who abstain from eating animal or dairy products, often avaiding any products any product made from animals (such as leather or gelatin); coined in 1944 in the UK by Donald Watson.

10.  Global warming — Favored by those who think the warming of the planet is primarily due to human influence.  (Compare Climate  Change, above).

11.  Solar power — Energy derived by harnessing the sun’s electromagnetic radiation.

12.  Biomass — Material derived from plants that can be used as a renewable energy source.

13.  Biodegradable — Organic material that decays naturally in a relatively short time.

14.  Greenhouse gas (GHG) — Any gas emitted into the atmosphere that trap heat (e.g., CO2); without them the Earth would be uninhabitable for humans; with an excess the Earth would be uninhabitable for humans.

15.  Wind power — Energy derived by harnessing the wind. The top countries for generating electricity from wind power are the US, China, Germany and Spain.

16.  Organic food  – Food grown or produced without synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, hormones, irradiation and genetic modification.

17.  Carbon footprint — The total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generate by a human activity.  Driving a late-model, fuel-efficient car emits about 6 pounds of CO2 every ten miles.  Term first used in 1980.

18.  Post-consumer (waste) — Material that can be used as a resource to build new products.

19.  Natural (food) – Food grown with without artificial ingredients (such as color)  and produced in a manner similar to that used in a well-stocked home kitchen.

20.  Hybrid (car) – Cars that use a mixture of technologies to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.

21.  Greenhouse Effect – The heating of the Earth’s surface in a fashion similar to a greenhouse, with GHG acting as glass windows that trap heat.  The result of the increased emission of CO2 and other GHGs.

22.  Greenwash — Highlighting aspects of a product that may or appear to be favorable to the environment in order to re-shape its brand image.

23.  Carbon trading — Trading, in effect, the rights to pollute between different manufacturers in the global marketplace.

24.  Free-range — The animal has been raised with access to the outside; not the same as ‘free roaming’.

25.  Save a Tree! – One of the first rallying cries of the Environmental Movement.  Unfortunately, replacing a renewable resource with one made of petroleum created ecological problems of its own.

For this analysis, the Global Language Monitor collected data from the Internet, blogosphere, the top 175,000 print and electronic media, as well as new social media as they emerge.

Summer/Spring 2012 Rankings

No. 1 MIT first Tech School to top rankings

Game changing OpenCourseWare propels MIT to the highest score ever measured

Top 415 US Colleges and Universities (Six Universities Added April 6th)

Volatility evident as educational consumers are presented with more choices

Penn State stumbles but holds onto a top ranking

Richmond Tops all Colleges

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Austin, Texas, April 4, 2012 (Updated April 16)  – MIT topped Harvard for the top ranking of American universities by Internet Media Buzz according to the Global Language Monitor.

This was the first time a technical institute topped the rankings; MIT did so by the largest distance ever measure in the history of the TrendTopper Rankings.

Also, in the first major rankings since the Penn State scandal, the school stumbled but held onto a top ranking.

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This is the eighth TrendTopper MediaBuzz ranking over the preceding five years; the rankings are conducted every nine months.

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. Buy the Spring/Summer 2012 TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide, Enrollment Management Edition.  Get All the Numbers Behind the Numbers, to better understand your precise position & positioning.  (GLM also provides you with one hour of free consulting with your purchase.)

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In the University Division, MIT was followed by Harvard, with the highest PQI differential between No. 1 and No, 2 ever recorded.  The University of Chicago took its usual position in the Top Ten, this year at No. 3, followed by Columbia University and past No. 1, the University of Wisconsin–Madison.  Always strong Cornell moved up to No. 6, while UCLA took the top spot in California besting Stanford.  Yale and the University of Texas-Austin Rounded out the Top Ten.

MIT gained the top spot apparently from the global buzz surrounding their announcement of their OpenCourseWare program.  OpenCourseWare  povides the same information available to MIT students to the world-at-large.  Not only can anyone, anywhere take M.I.T. courses online free of charge, they can  also earn certificates certifying mastery of the subject matter.

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Spring/Summer ’12) Student Edition and priced accordingly.

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Fall ’11/Winter) Student Edition  and priced accordingly.

If  the book does not download automatically, call 1.512.815.8836 and specify 1) the Fall/Winter Guide Student Edition, 2) the Spring/Summer Student Edition, or 3) The Enrollment Management Edition, for college executives who need to know the complete data for their school and that of their competitors.

“The higher education world is in the midst of a major upheaval that has only begun to sort itself out. You can’t have an institution of MIT’s stature give away its product for free, or millions of students opting for on-line schools or educations provided by for-profit organization, and of course the globalization of higher ed and not record significant change.  In fact you need a seismograph to better understand the shifting of the educational plates, once long thought stable,” said Paul JJ Payack, president and Chief Word Analyst of GLM.  This is the fifth year and eighth edition of the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Rankings.

Penn State’s stumble came in the wake of the child sex-abuse scandal in November that tarnished the legend of one of the most revered, and successful, major college football programs in the nation. Of concern to GLM was whether the scandal would dramatically increase the number of web citations, however the opposite was the case, as happened when Harvard took a massive hit to its endowment a few years ago. Significantly, only 3.42 percent of the global citations were considered of negative sentiment, so Penn State held onto a high ranking.

The TrendTopper MediaBuzz Rankings measure near real-time movements of an institution’s reputation or ‘brand equity’, using the same techniques used to measure the appeal of any other branded product, such as luxury automobiles, or consumer electronics. For the first time GLM expanded the Rankings to over 400 schools, 215 in the University Division with another 200 in the College Division to widen the bases of comparison for the education marketplace.

The Top Universities by TrendTopper MediaBuzz with current ranking and change from last ranking follow:

1.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (5)

2.  Harvard University  (-1)

3.  University of Chicago (+4)

4.  Columbia University (0)

5.  University of Wisconsin—Madison (+9)

6.  Cornell University (+4)

7.  University of California—Los Angeles (+10)

8.  Stanford University  (-1)

9.  Yale University  (+4)

10. University of Texas—Austin (-2)

11. University of Washington (0)

12. University of Pennsylvania (+4)

13. University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (-3)

14. University of California–Berkeley (-12)

15. Princeton University (+1)

16. Ohio State University—Columbus (+13)

17. University of California — Davis (+2)

18. Indiana University—Bloomington (+6)

19. Virginia Tech (+18)

20. New York University (+3)

21. Duke University (+6)

22. University of California—San Diego  (+3)

23. Georgia Institute of Technology (-2)

24. Johns Hopkins University (+7)

25. University of Virginia (+11)

For all 210 Universities and Master-degree granting colleges, go here.

University of Richmond tops all  colleges

In the college rankings the University of Richmond completed its long climb to the top.

Reflecting the healthy distribution of ‘Little Ivies’ across the nation landscape, Richmond is the sixth different college to take the top spot since these rankings began, which now have been represented by the South (Richmond and Davidson), the West (Colorado College), the East (Williams and Wellesley College) and the Midwest (Carleton College).  Wellesley was also the only Women’s College to top a general college ranking.  Richmond Williams switched places with Smith, Bucknell and Union coming on strong.  Amherst, Colorado College, Oberlin College, The Cooper Union and the Pratt Institute rounded out the Top Ten.

The Top Universities by TrendTopper MediaBuzz with current ranking and change from last ranking follow:

1.  University of Richmond (+2)

2. Williams College (+1)

3. Smith College  (+18)

4. Bucknell University  (+19)

5. Union College  (+3)

6. Amherst   (+13)

7. Colorado College   (+21)

8. Oberlin College   (+20)

9. The Cooper Union  (+28)

10. Pratt Institute   (+12)

11.   Colgate University (+37)

12.   Wellesley College  (+14)

13.   Occidental College (+27)

14.   Middlebury College  (+16)

15.   The Juilliard School  (+8)

16.   Davidson College (+26)

17.   School of the Art Institute of Chicago   (+22)

18.   Pomona College   (+6)

19.   United States Military Academy   (+24)

20.   Vassar College   (+29)

21.   Emerson College (+45)

22.   Bowdoin College   (+17)

23.   Carleton College   (+9)

24.   United States Naval Academy   (+32)

25.   Hamilton College   (+38)

For a complete list of all 200 colleges, go here.

The TrendTopper MediaBuzz Rankings measure near real-time movements of an institution’s reputation or ‘brand equity’, using the same techniques used to measure the appeal of any other branded product, such as luxury automobiles, or consumer electronics. For the first time GLM expanded the Rankings to over 400 schools, 210 in the University Division with another 200 in the College Division to widen the bases of comparison for the education marketplace.

Unlike other college rankings, specialty schools such as Julliard, SAIC, and the Cooper Union, the service academies, business, tech schools are included in the rankings.  Also incorporated into the rankings are ‘for profit” (University of Phoenix) and online institutions, such as Capella and Walden.  This is to provide true comparisons between and among the various types of post-secondary institutions now available to the discerning educational consumers. The full rankings  include positive or negative movement, and MediaBuzz Velocity and Momentum that reveal how a school’s (short-term and long-term) brand equity is increasing or decreasing against its peer group, and the other competitors.

Methodology

The  TrendTopper MediaBuzz Analysis uses the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classifications as the basis to distinguish between Universities and Colleges. The schools were ranked in the last week of March 2012, with a December snapshot as well as the last day of the previous surveys as the base.

TrendTopper MediaBuzz utilizes a  mathematical model that ‘normalizes’ the data collected from the Internet, social media, and blogosphere as well as the top 175,000 print and electronic media, as well as new social media as they emerge.  The end result is a non-biased analytical tool that provides a gauge of relative values among various institutions, as well as measures of how that value changes over time.

What Others are Saying:

Colleges, Ranked by ‘Media Buzz’

By Eric Hoover

The  Summer / Spring 2012 Edition now includes over 400 schools, including specialty, Art, Design, Music, online, and for-profit institutions.  It  includes positive or negative movement vs the competition.  It also ranks school by MediaBuzz Velocity and Momentum that tells how a school’s (short-term and long-term) brand equity is increasing or decreasing against its peer group, and the other colleges.

Buy the Spring/Summer 2012 TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide, Enrollment Management Edition.  Get All the Numbers Behind the Numbers, to better understand your precise position & positioning.  (GLM also provides you with one hour of free consulting with your purchase.)

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Spring/Summer ’12) Student Edition and priced accordingly.

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Fall ’11/Winter) Student Edition  and priced accordingly.

If  the book does not download automatically, call 1.512.815.8836 and specify 1) the Fall/Winter Guide Student Edition, 2) the Spring/Summer Student Edition, or 3) The Enrollment Management Edition, for college executives who need to know the complete data for their school and that of their competitors.

Five Universities were added to the list on April 6th.

Below are the top 215 University and Master-degree granting institutions for Spring/Summer 2012 ranked by their Internet Brand Equity as determined by GLM’s analytical methodologies.

. Buy the Spring/Summer 2012 TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide, Enrollment Management Edition.  Get All the Numbers Behind the Numbers, to better understand your precise position & positioning.  (GLM also provides you with one hour of free consulting with your purchase.)

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For the full list of the 200 Top Colleges go here.

The Top 215 Universities by Internet MediaBuzz for Spring/Summer 2012

Rank / University

The TrendTopper MediaBuzz Rankings measure near real-time movements of an institution’s reputation or ‘brand equity’, using the same techniques used to measure the appeal of any other branded product, such as luxury automobiles, or consumer electronics. For the first time GLM expanded the Rankings to over 400 schools, 210 in the University Division with another 200 in the College Division to widen the bases of comparison for the education marketplace.

Unlike other college rankings, specialty schools such as Julliard, SAIC, and the Cooper Union, the service academies, business, tech schools are included in the rankings.  Also incorporated into the rankings are ‘for profit” (University of Phoenix) and online institutions, such as Capella and Walden.  This is to provide true comparisons between and among the various types of post-secondary institutions now available to the discerning educational consumers. The full rankings  include positive or negative movement, and MediaBuzz Velocity and Momentum that reveal how a school’s (short-term and long-term) brand equity is increasing or decreasing against its peer group, and the other competitors.

Methodology

The  TrendTopper MediaBuzz Analysis uses the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classifications as the basis to distinguish between Universities and Colleges. The schools were ranked in the last week of March 2012, with a December snapshot as well as the last day of the previous surveys as the base.

TrendTopper MediaBuzz utilizes a  mathematical model that ‘normalizes’ the data collected from the Internet, social media, and blogosphere as well as the top 175,000 print and electronic media, as well as new social media as they emerge.  The end result is a non-biased analytical tool that provides a gauge of relative values among various institutions, as well as measures of how that value changes over time.

What Others are Saying:

Colleges, Ranked by ‘Media Buzz’

By Eric Hoover

The  Summer / Spring 2012 Edition now includes over 400 schools, including specialty, Art, Design, Music, online, and for-profit institutions.  It  includes positive or negative movement vs the competition.  It also ranks school by MediaBuzz Velocity and Momentum that tells how a school’s (short-term and long-term) brand equity is increasing or decreasing against its peer group, and the other colleges.

Buy the Spring/Summer 2012 TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide, Enrollment Management Edition.  Get All the Numbers Behind the Numbers, to better understand your precise position & positioning.  (GLM also provides you with one hour of free consulting with your purchase.)

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Spring/Summer ’12) Student Edition and priced accordingly.

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Fall ’11/Winter) Student Edition  and priced accordingly.

If  the book does not download automatically, call 1.512.815.8836 and specify 1) the Fall/Winter Guide Student Edition, 2) the Spring/Summer Student Edition, or 3) The Enrollment Management Edition, for college executives who need to know the complete data for their school and that of their competitors.

Below are the top 200 Liberal Arts and Colleges focusing on baccalaureate  instruction for Spring/Summer 2012 ranked by their Internet Brand Equity as determined by GLM’s analytical methodologies.

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Buy the Spring/Summer 2012 TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide, Enrollment Management Edition.  Get All the Numbers Behind the Numbers, to better understand your precise position & positioning.  (GLM also provides you with one hour of free consulting with your purchase.)

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For the complete list of all 215 Top Universities go here..

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The Top Colleges by Internet MediaBuzz for Spring/Summer 2012

Rank / College

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The TrendTopper MediaBuzz Rankings measure near real-time movements of an institution’s reputation or ‘brand equity’, using the same techniques used to measure the appeal of any other branded product, such as luxury automobiles, or consumer electronics. For the first time GLM expanded the Rankings to over 400 schools, 210 in the University Division with another 200 in the College Division to widen the bases of comparison for the education marketplace.

Unlike other college rankings, specialty schools such as Julliard, SAIC, and the Cooper Union, the service academies, business, tech schools are included in the rankings.  Also incorporated into the rankings are ‘for profit” (University of Phoenix) and online institutions, such as Capella and Walden.  This is to provide true comparisons between and among the various types of post-secondary institutions now available to the discerning educational consumers. The full rankings  include positive or negative movement, and MediaBuzz Velocity and Momentum that reveal how a school’s (short-term and long-term) brand equity is increasing or decreasing against its peer group, and the other competitors.

Methodology

The  TrendTopper MediaBuzz Analysis uses the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classifications as the basis to distinguish between Universities and Colleges. The schools were ranked in the last week of March 2012, with a December snapshot as well as the last day of the previous surveys as the base.

TrendTopper MediaBuzz utilizes a  mathematical model that ‘normalizes’ the data collected from the Internet, social media, and blogosphere as well as the top 175,000 print and electronic media, as well as new social media as they emerge.  The end result is a non-biased analytical tool that provides a gauge of relative values among various institutions, as well as measures of how that value changes over time.

What Others are Saying:

Colleges, Ranked by ‘Media Buzz’

By Eric Hoover

The  Summer / Spring 2012 Edition now includes over 400 schools, including specialty, Art, Design, Music, online, and for-profit institutions.  It  includes positive or negative movement vs the competition.  It also ranks school by MediaBuzz Velocity and Momentum that tells how a school’s (short-term and long-term) brand equity is increasing or decreasing against its peer group, and the other colleges.

Buy the Spring/Summer 2012 TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide, Enrollment Management Edition.  Get All the Numbers Behind the Numbers, to better understand your precise position & positioning.  (GLM also provides you with one hour of free consulting with your purchase.)

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Spring/Summer ’12) Student Edition and priced accordingly.

Buy the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Guide (Fall ’11/Winter) Student Edition  and priced accordingly.

If  the book does not download automatically, call 1.512.815.8836 and specify 1) the Fall/Winter Guide Student Edition, 2) the Spring/Summer Student Edition, or 3) The Enrollment Management Edition, for college executives who need to know the complete data for their school and that of their competitors.

Ranked by Internet Media Buzz

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TrendTopper MediaBuzz Ranking the Top Colleges by Internet Brand Equity.

See where your college choice ranks before making you final enrollment decision!

Here are a few hints:

Top University:

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Top College:

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Top Women’s College:

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What Others are Saying:

Colleges, Ranked by ‘Media Buzz’

By Eric Hoover

‘Big Data’ and ‘The Cloud’ are the Most Confusing Tech Buzzwords of the Decade (thus far)

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SOA continues its reign as most confusing acronym

Austin, Texas, March 15, 2012 — ’Big Data’ and ‘The Cloud’ are the Most Confusing Tech Buzzwords of the Decade (thus far) according to the  The Global Language Monitor.  Topping the list for 2012 are:  Big Data, the Cloud, The Next Big Thing, Social Discovery, Web 2.0 (3.0, and so on).  Solid State, CERN, Solar Max, De-dupe, 3G/4G/5G, and SoLoMo.

“High tech terms have long spilled into popular culture and this is nowhere more evident that at SXSW where the digital world intersects with those of music and the movies,” said Paul JJ Payack, president of the Global Language Monitor.   ”To a large and growing extent, high tech buzzwords are fueling the growth of English, which now serves as the Earth’s means of global communication.”

“SXSW can best be described as a weird mash-up of Cannes, COMDEX, and Woodstock.  If creative ideas don’t mix here, it’s just not going to happen.

Narrative Tracking

Pop Culture

High Technology

Colleges MediaBuzz

Ambush Marketing

Top Fashion Capitals

Number of Words

Political Services

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See how GLM Brand Affiliation Services can help your organization; call 1.512.815.8836 or email info@LanguageMonitor.com

Angelina Jolie Meme Measures ‘Super-Colossal’ on GLM Scale
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Ignition

Austin, Texas, March 5, 2012. (Update) The Internet Meme ignited when Angelina Jolie took a dramatic stance revealing her famously long (and notoriously thin) right leg at last week’s Oscar ceremony was the largest I-Meme ever recorded as measured by the  Global Language Monitor.  The ‘Jolie Leg’ meme registered  at Level 4 (out of 5) on the GLM Internet Meme Intensity Index  (IMII).

Verification

Launch

We find it Ironic that ‘Silence’ was the Top HollyWord of 2011 according the ninth annual analysis by the Global Language Monitor.

For information on GLM’s Internet Meme Tracking Services and the Internet Meme Intensity Index, call 1.512.815.8836

… after Tebowing the start of a Global Linguistic Trend?

Austin, Texas February  24, 2012– Lin-sanity, the excitement generated by the rapid ascension of the un-drafted, un-heralded, 23 year old Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks  basketball team,  has been acknowledged as an English language word according to the Global Language Monitor. Lin is the only native-born American of either Chinese or Taiwanese descent playing in the NBA and the fact that he is an acknowledged nerd, a Christian  — as well as a recent Harvard grad — only also adds to his intrigue.

It also helps to have a name that lends itself to obviously short-lived, yet clever neologisms such as: Linspiration, Linderella, Linvitation, Linvisible, a Linja warrior.  Lin-ough, already!

Since there is no official agency for accepting new words into English language such as the Académie française for French, the Global Language Monitor recognizes new words once they meet the criteria of a 25,000 citations across the breadth of the English-speaking world, with the requisite depth of usage in books,  journals and periodicals, on the Internet, blogosphere, social media, and in the top 75,000 global print and electronic media.

Linsanity, without the hyphen,  has recently met and surpassed all these criteria.

Lin-maniac

Pre Lin-Mania

“Linsanity following the ascension of the word ‘tebowing’ (from the knee-bending, devoutly Christian quarterback and his winning exploits for the Denver Broncos football team) so quickly might herald the beginning of a linguistic fad.

A fad where the names of sports personalities are continually blended with conventional terms into interesting new word forms that convey the achievement, personality, or other characteristic of the competitor,” said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor.  ”

History records a number of such linguistic fads such as words ending with the suffix ‘-ama’ in the 1950s (Cinerama, Lumberama, and Wonderama) or in the prefacing the names of political figures with ol’ or old in mid-19th c. America (such as Old Abe (Lincoln) or Old Kinderhook (for Martin van Buren and the origin of the word ‘OK’).

With the London 2012 Olympics on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if the fad becomes a multi-lingual global phenomenon.

Does anyone remember Phelpsian Pheats?”

The Duchess Effect (Kate Middleton in yet Another Guise) Top Fashion Buzzword of 2012

Pippa’s Bum also makes the list

The Fifth Annual Analysis by the Global Language Monitor

Pippa

Kate

New York, February 9, 2012 – Kate Middleton, now entitled Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, again stands atop the Fashion Buzzword List of 2012, this time as ‘the Duchess Effect’, according to the annual analysis by the Global Language Monitor (GLM).  This is the first time someone has topped the list two years running.  Previously Lady Gaga held the No. 1 and No. 2 positions during the 2010 and 2011 seasons respectively, Ms. Gaga dropped off the list for 2012.

Following ‘The Duchess effect’ were ‘peplums’, ‘braid bars’, ’pyjamas’, and ‘Pippa’s bum’.  Rounding out the Top Ten were ‘paisley,’ Gatsby’,  ‘pale colors,’ ‘tangerines,’ and ‘novelty denim’.

“The Duchess Effect appears to extend much further than the economic impact of Kate’s fashion choices; this year the fashion landscape seems to be a brighter, more accessible place with the styles more colorful, feminine and graceful than we’ve observed in many years, said Bekka Payack, GLM’s Manhattan-based Fashion Director. “Fashion is now being influenced from all points on the globe, with the rise of the regional fashion centers driving tribal, sustainable and eco-based trends”.

New York Fashion Week begins February 9^th and kicks off the global calendar, immediately followed by London, Milan, and Paris.

GLM used NarrativeTracker 2.0 for this analysis.  NT2.0 is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture of what the public is saying about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 75,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new media sources, as they emerge.

The Top Fashion Buzzwords for 2012 with commentary follow:

1. The Duchess Effect – The positive economic impact of Kate Middleton’s fashion choices, derived from her new title, ‘the Duchess of Cambridge’.
2. Peplums –  Kate (Hepburn) and Rosiland sported them in ‘40s flicks; now it’s your turn.
3. Braids  – And a new twist is ‘braid bars:’ ‘I’ll have a G&T and some funky braids, please; make it to go.’
4. Pyjamas – Though the trend has spread from the campuses to the catwalks, you can’t get a Stella McCartney in the discount bin at Target’s.
5. Pippa’s Bum – Absurdly large media interest tracks the Duchess’ sister in general and her bum in particular.
6. Paisleys – No they were not invented during the Summer of Love, and not even in 17^th c. Scotland; they have been in and out of style for more than millennium and a half.
7. Gatsby – That’s right, not Gangsta’ but Gatsby.  Call it ‘20s Luxe.
8. Pale Colors – Such as glacier blue, minimal whites, lavender, or spindrift.
9. Tangerines – Such as Tangerine Tango for nails and accessories.
10. Novelty denim – With prints and dyes, stitched, embroidered, or bejeweled, it almost like a ‘60s’ ‘happening’
11. Luxe Hides — Super luxurious animal skins, faux and otherwise.  (See below.)
12. African Prints – Fierce, gently, mesmerizing or subtle.
13. Ankle Boots – Worn with skirts, bare or with stockings, leggings or pants.
14. Mixed florals – Beaucoup of bouquets, mixed together and sorted  printed over all.
15. Color blocking – Boldly bright and boldly blocked.
16. Vintage styles of the ‘20s (Flappers).
17. Vintage styles of the ‘40s (tea dresses).
18. Vintage styles of the‘50s (Clean, crisp, all-American).
19. Ethical Fashion – Taking a bolder stand, moving into the mainstream with Stella McCartney and Ally Hewson leading the way.
20. Sustainable Fashion – Not just from Austin, Berkeley and Portland anymore.

Each summer, the Global Language Monitor ranks the Top Fashion Capitals by Internet presence.    London overtook New York City as the Top Global Fashion Capital for 2011.  London and New York were followed by Paris, Milano, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong.  Barcelona, Singapore, Tokyo and Berlin rounded out the top ten.

Three Distinct Narratives during Presidency

President Obama’s State of the Union Address earlier this week provided the Global Language Monitor the opportunity to analyze the changing Obama Narrative since he rose to the national prominence some five years ago. GLM found three distinct narratives with the communication styles supporting each narrative forming arcs of their own, characterized by their specific word choices, styles of delivery, rhetoric, and diction.

Obama 1.0 Narrative
We had Obama 1.0 whose narrative was that of soaring rhetoric, of hope and inclusiveness, and meeting ourselves in the future.

Reprinted from The Hill, Washington, D.C.

This was the “Yes, We Can!” presidential hopeful who would lead us out of Iraq and Afghanistan, harness Iran, close down Git-mo, bring peace to the Holy Land and then get elected to the presidency. This was the time of short declarative sentences or finely honed sentences that would never end, but who cared? This was the un-Bush and proud to say it. This was yet another ‘New Order for the Ages’”.

Obama 1.0 Frequent Word Choices: Americans, Change, Hope, Dreams, Unity

Then the Bush Iraq war policies were kept in place (or even expanded), Guantanamo remained (and still remains) open. This transformation occurred as the hopes and dreams that Obama represented collided with a very real political reality, of war and terrorism, of K-Street operatives, and healthcare plans that had to be passed it in order to know what was in them.

This was the era when the top political buzzwords included ‘anger and rage’, the residue remaining from the (still-ongoing both then and now) global economic restructuring. GLM tested out the new meme and found that what had been characterized as ‘anger and rage’ was actually better represented as ‘frustration and disappointment’.

Obama 2.0 Narrative
The Obama 2.0 Narrative that emerged from the bitter and prolonged healthcare battle, where the behind the scenes wheeling-and-dealing seemed to equal (or even surpass) the worst in memory. Obama 2.0 was now viewed as an ‘aloof’ president who presided over the decision to ‘surge’ in Afghanistan, expanded Bush’s drone warfare, culminating in the president’s handling of the Gulf oil spill and the nationwide speech he then delivered.

Obama’s speech was considered a turning point by many supporters who longed for a leader who would demonstrate how an engaged president would quickly and effectively reach out to those in dire need during such an event (the direct opposite of the Bush response to Katrina). This was to prove not be the case – and the ‘Spill-Cam’ made it all the worse as the oil spouted forth, 24 x 7, for weeks on end.

The voters delivered their verdict on Obama 2.0 in early November 2010, where Obama’s party was pommelled by historic proportions.

Obama 2.0 frequent word choices: surge, Tea Party, deficit, oil spill, healthcare.

The Obama 3.0 Narrative

When President Obama delivered his third and possibly final State of the Union address, he used language that seemed to introduce yet another public persona. This would be his third since his emergence into the spotlight in 2007.

Judging from the language used during his recent State of the Union address, the Obama 3.0 Narrative will be very much like those of George W. Bush, with equal portions of the second term Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and even a sprinkling of JFK. The Obama 3.0 Narrative’s word choices are only remotely attached to those of Ted Kennedy (and even Al Gore). Those of Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter were definitely eschewed.

Obama 3.0’s Narrative, according to his word choices and focus was on “American Values,” even citing “America as the indispensable nation” (Madeline Albright’s phrasing) apparently an updated reference to ‘American exceptionalism’, a phrase normally verboten to the American Left, since it can represent cultural imperialism and American political hegemony.

The president also emphasized phrases and buzzwords that are generally considered to skew right:

• Mentioned America and Americans nearly fifty times (vs. 11 times in his Inaugural Address)
• Defining issue was reclaiming American values.
• Offered unvarnished praise for the military
• Praised increased oil and oil production.
• Preaching fiscal and individual responsibility
• Highlighted “More feet on the border than ever before”

Finally, the use of negative words and phrases nearly surpassing that of positive words phrases in the State of the Union address.

• Weakened
• Shrinking
• Bailouts
• Handouts
• Cop-outs
• Fraud
• Dumping
• Out-dated
• Unnecessary
• Phony
• Obstruction
• Fiasco
• Plunged
• Unstable
• Corrosive
• Loopholes

Summary

Obama Narrative 3.0 is strikingly different than that of his campaign and early administration.

In some ways this could be the Left’s worst nightmare: a potentially transformative president, now turning into a Bill Clinton/Ronald Reagan hybrid.

In other ways this could be the Right’s worst nightmare: Obama as the 1996 Bill Clinton, adjusting to his Mid-term ‘thumpin’ and rushing to the center to win a second term.

GLM used NarrativeTracker Technology in this study. NarrativeTracker is based on the global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture of what any audience is saying about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, the top global print and electronic media, as well as new media sources as they emerge.

Paul JJ Payack is the president of Global Language Monitor.

Ten-week rise of the Global ‘Branded Individual’ Phenomenon

The highest rated ‘branded individuals’ across fields include Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and,  the former Kate Middleton.

Austin, Texas January 14, 2012 – Tim Tebow, the reverent, knee-bending, soft-spoken quarterback of the Denver Broncos, has now claimed another milestone:  Tebow now tops the Global Language Monitor‘s Sports Brand Affiliation Index (SBAI).   The GLM SBAI tracks the top athletes in a variety of global athletic endeavors and measures the strength of their ‘brand affiliation’  to their particular  sport.

Tebowing Child

For this analysis, GLM tracked athletes in American football, baseball, basketball, football (soccer), Formula 1, golf, NASCAR, tennis, track and field, skiing, and swimming.

The frenzy has only increased over the last week with Tebow’s dramatic touchdown pass on the first play of overtime to defeat the heavily favored (and defending conference champions) Pittsburgh Steelers.

“In the rankings, Tebow bested this week’s nemesis, Tom Brady, by a score of 100.00 to 38.96, and the defending Super Bowl winning quarterback, Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, who scored 28.13 on the Sports BAI,” said Paul JJ Payack, president and Chief Word Analyst of GLM . “Perhaps more surprising, is that Tebow out-ranked fourteen champion athletes in more than a dozen global sports, among them the reigning champions of Formula 1, various Summer and Winter Olympic events, the National Basketball Association , Skiing, and Tennis.”

The Sports BAI is one of a number of  Leading Brand Affiliated Indicators that GLM uses to measure the influence of ‘branded individuals’ in fields as varied as Entertainment, Politics, Celebrity, Royalty, and the retired-yet-still powerful. The highest rated ‘branded individuals’ across fields include Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and, of course, the former Kate Middleton.

GLM has previous noted that the rapid rise of  ’tebowing’ as an English language word closely resembling the rate of  adoption of the word Obamamania in early 2008.   The first mention of ‘tebowing’ can be traced to the dramatic overtime victory of the Denver Broncos football team over the Miami Dolphins on October 23, 2011, when  Tebow ‘took a knee’  in a moment of prayerful reflection.

The Sports BAI is one of a number of  Brand Affiliated Indexes that GLM uses to measure the influence of ‘branded individuals’ in fields as varied as Entertainment, Politics, Celebrity, Royalty, and the retired-yet-still powerful.

GLM consultants employ its NarrativeTracker technologies for brand-affiliated tracking, forecasting, and analysis. NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 75,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new media sources, as they emerge.

IBM Global Services, Dell, and Nike among Leaders

Non-sponsors Continue to Rank High on Brand Affiliation Index (BAI)

Austin, Texas, January 12, 2012. IBM Global Services, Dell, and Nike were among the Top “Ambush Marketers” for the London 2012 Olympics as ranked by The Global Language Monitor (GLM), the Internet and Media Trend Tracking Company. In the rankings, encompassing Q3 and Q4 of 2011, GLM measured the strength of the brand affiliation for each official Olympic sponsor as well as those of their primary non-affiliated competitors.

Remember that once you download the London 2012 Ambush Marketing Update, you are entitled to one free hour of consultation from the Ambush Marketing experts from the Global Language Monitor, which has been tracking Branded Affiliations at the Olympics for the last three Olympiads.

For these rankings GLM measured the strength of the brand affiliation for each official Olympic sponsor against those of their primary non-affiliated competitors. Though ‘ambush marketing’ is well understood to mean an organization knowingly exploiting a brand affiliation with the Games without the benefit of official sponsorship.

All perceived Olympic affiliations according to their presence in the global media, and statistically linked to the London Games, qualify for GLM’s Ambush Marketing rankings.

The GLM Brand Affiliation Index for this analysis, ranged from a high of 524.45 to a low of 1.49.  The higher the score, the closer the brand affiliation with an event.

GLM has been tracking ambush marketing at the Olympics since the Beijing Games in 2008.  For London 2012, GLM began the three tiers of official sponsors since the third quarter of 2011.  These results are based on a study concluded on May 1,  2012.

With its Branded Individual Index (BII) GLM also tracks the brand equity of the athletes before and during the Games.

The official Olympic sponsors are divided into three tiers:  Worldwide Partners, Official Partners, and Official Supporters. GLM tracks over fifty non-affiliated companies that are direct competitors with the Official Olympic sponsors.

Remember that once you download the London 2012 Ambush Marketing Update, you are entitled to one free hour of consultation from the Ambush Marketing experts from the Global Language Monitor, which has been tracking Branded Affiliations at the Olympics for the last three Olympiads.

“There is more than pride at stake, since billions of dollars in incremental revenue are at risk for the official Olympic sponsors. In turn,  these same organizations fund some 30% of staging the Games,” said Paul JJ Payack, president of the Austin, Texas based Global Language Monitor. “Though ‘ambush marketing’ is well understood to mean ‘an organization knowingly exploiting a brand affiliation with the Games without the benefit of official sponsorship’, all perceived Olympic sponsors (according to their presence in the global media and statistically linked to the London Games) qualify for GLM’s Ambush Marketing Index.”

There are twenty-five top official Olympic sponsors divided into three tiers: Worldwide Partners, Official Partners, and Official Supporters. GLM tracks over fifty non-affiliated companies that are direct competitors with the Official Olympic sponsors.

Measuring each tier against their ambushers, GLM has found that, for the second half of 2011, two of the three tiers of Ambushers beat their legitimate competitors according to the  Q4 2011 Brand Affiliation Index.

Comparison of London 2012 Sponsors Vs. Ambushers by Q4 2011 BAI

Among Worldwide Partners

1. Coca-Cola,
2. DOW, and
3. McDonald’s

scored the highest on GLM’s Brand Affiliation Index (BAI) for Q4 2011.

In terms of movement, Omega and Coca-Cola both improved their BAIs by some 350%, over the last half of 2011.

Among Worldwide Partner Ambushers

1. IBM Global Services (Atos),
2. Royal Phillips (General Electric),
3. HP (Acer),
4. Barclaycard (Visa), and
5. Dell (Acer)

all scored significantly higher on GLM’s BAI for Q4 2011 than their Worldwide Partner competitors. In terms of movement, IBM Global Services, Dell, and KFC all improved their BAI’s by 250% or more through the end of 2011.

Among Official Partners

1. EDF Energy,
2. Lloyds TSB, and
3. the BT Group

scored the highest on GLM’s Brand Affiliation Index (BAI) for Q4 2011. In terms of movement, Lloyds TSB, the BT Group, and BP, all improved their BAI more than 100% over the last half of 2011.

Among Official Partner Ambushers

1. UnitedContinental (BA),
2. the 3i Group (Lloyds TSB)
3. Nike (Adidas)

all scored significantly higher on GLM’s BAI for Q4 2011 than their Worldwide Partner competitors. In terms of movement, the 3i Group (Lloyds TSB), UnitedContinental (BA), and Nike (Adidas) all improved their BAI’s by 250% or more through the end of 2011.

Among Official Supporters,

1. Arcelor Mittal,
2. UPS
3. Cadbury

scored the highest on GLM’s Brand Affiliation Index (BAI) for Q4 2011.

In terms of movement, Arcelor Mittal, Cadbury, Cisco Systems, and Adecco all improved their BAI more than 200% over the last half of 2011.

Among Official Supporter Ambushers,

1. Hebie Steel (Arcelor Mittal)
2. Kraft (Cadbury)
3. PricewaterhouseCoopers (Deloitte)

all scored significantly higher on GLM’s BAI for Q4 2011 than their Official Supporter competitors.

In terms of movement, Hebie Steel (Arcelor Mittal), DHL (UPS), and Ericsson (Cisco) improved their BAI’s by 250% or more through the end of 2011.

Customized GLM Ambush Marketing Rankings are released monthly up to and following London 2012. They can also be individualized for any organization. The Ambush Marketing London 2012 report features dozens of charts representing the interrelationship of each company to the Olympic Brand, their competitors and their partners. In addition, the reports contain exclusive and individualized Narrative Tracker analyses, the most advanced trend tracking analytics available. For more information, individualized reports, or a monthly subscription, call +1.512.518.8836 or email info@LanguageMonitor.com.

More:  Who’s Sneaking into the London Games

Global Language Monitor’s Top Words of 2012 projections from current word trends

This is according to current word trends in global English being tracked by the Global Language Monitor. Last month, Austin, Texas-based Global Language Monitor had announced that ‘Occupy’ was the Top Word, ‘Arab Spring’ the Top Phrase and ‘Steve Jobs’ the Top Name of 2011 in its twelfth annual global survey of the English language.
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The words are culled from throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 1.83 billion speakers (January 2012 estimate).
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The Projected Top Words of 2012
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1.  Kate — There are seven billion humans on the planet but sometimes it seems that it’s all about Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, the former Kate Middleton in terms of fashion, celebrity, and the royal line.
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2.  Olympiad — The Greeks measured time by the four-year interval between the Games.  Moderns measure it by medal counts, rights fees and billions of eyeballs.
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3.  Middle Kingdom – There is little indication that China’s continuing economic surge will fade from the global media spotlight –or abate.
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4.  Bak’tun — A cycle of  144,000 days in the Maya ‘Long Count’ Calendar. This bak’tun ends on December 21, 2012, also being called the Mayan Apocalypse.  (Actually Maya ‘long-count’ calendars stretch hundreds of millions of years into the future, December 21st merely marks the beginning of a new cycle.)
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5.  Solar max —  The peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle;  in 1854 solar storms melted telegraph wires; what’s in store for our all-pervasive electronic infrastructure?
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6.  The Election —  No Obama-mania this time around, more of an Obama-ennui for the November 6 elections.
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8.  Rogue nukes —  Iran and North Korea will be the focus of attention here.
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9.  CERN — Neutrons traveling faster than light?  The ‘God Particle’? The world ending in a mini-black hole? All these somehow revolve around CERN (The European Center for Nuclear Research). One CERN scientist calculated that the chance of a mini-Black Hole swallowing the Earth is less than 1 in 50,000,000.  Somewhat comforting until you realize this is about ten times more likely than winning a national lottery.)
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10.  Global Warming — The earth has been warming since New York was covered under a mountain of ice; what makes 2012 any different?
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11.  Near-Earth Asteroid —  Yet another year, another asteroid, another near-miss. (However, one does strike the Earth every one hundred million years or so.)
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GLM employs its NarrativeTracker technologies for global Internet and social media analysis. NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic, at any point in time.
NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 75,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources as they emerge.

Rank / Word / Comments

Tebowing Accepted into English Language

Six-week rise of the Global Phenomenon

Austin, Texas December 12, 2011  (Dec. 16 update)– Tebowing, the act of  ’taking a knee’  in prayerful reflection in the midst of an athletic activity, has been acknowledged as an English language word according to the Global Language Monitor.

Tebowing Enters English Video

The rapid rise of use of the word  has seldom been equaled, mirroring, for example, the rate of  adoption of the word Obamamania in early 2008.  The first mention of the word can be traced to the dramatic overtime victory of the Denver Broncos football team over the Miami Dolphins on October 23, 2011.  During the victory celebration, Tim Tebow ‘took a knee’ and was photographed in a moment of prayerful reflection.  Tebow is the 2007 Heisman trophy winner who  led the University of Florida to the 2008 BCS National Championship.

Though there is no official agency for accepting new words (or neologisms) into the English lexicon such as France’s Académie française, since 2003 the Global Language Monitor has been recognizing new words once they meet the criteria of a minimum number of citations across the breadth of the English-speaking world, with the requisite depth of usage on the Internet, in social media and in the top 75,000 global print and electronic media.

“Sports have become significant generators of new cultural trends and memes that transcend the athletic arena”,  said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor.  ”The ESPN sports broadcasting network has widely championed the word.  Jared Kleinstein’s tebowing.com website, devoted to people posing in the ‘tebowing position’, has been wildly popular.  The New York Times has recently carried an editorial on the subject and the Chinese search engine, Baidu.com, already has hundreds of citations for tebowing.” (See  ’Tebowing Goes Global’ in The Daily Beast.)

The Urban Dictionary defines ‘tebowing’ as ”To get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different’.

The English language currently has some 1.58 billion speakers around the globe.

GLM released its Top Words, Phrases and Names of the Year lists on November 10th. Occupy is the Top Word of the Year, Arab Spring the Top Phrase of the Year, and Steve Jobs the Top Name of the Year.

GLM employs its NarrativeTracker technologies for global Internet and social media analysis. NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 75,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources.

Occupy is the Top Word of the Year,

Arab Spring is the Top Phrase of the Year and

Steve Jobs is the Top Name of the Year

Global Language Monitor’s 12th Annual Survey of Global English

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AUSTIN, Texas  December 6, 2011 (Updated from November 10) — The Global Language Monitor has announced that ‘Occupy’ is the Top Word, ‘Arab Spring’ the Top Phrase and ‘Steve Jobs’ the Top Name of 2011 in its annual global survey of the English language. Occupy was followed by deficit, fracking, drone, and non-veg. Kummerspeck, haboob, 3Q, Trustafarians, and (the other) 99 rounded out the Top 10.

“Our selections this year, to a large extent, reflect the ongoing political and economic uncertainty that seems to be affecting much of the developed world – with notable exceptions such as the Royal wedding and the continuing rise of China ,” said Paul JJ Payack, President of the Global Language Monitor.

“Our top words, phrases and names this year come from five continents… confirmation of the ever-expanding influence of the English language.

“The words are culled from throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 1.58 billion speakers. The Global Language Monitor’s Word of the Year rankings are based upon actual word usage in the English speaking world.

“In global English, words are not bestowed upon, agreed upon, or voted upon by cultural or academic elites but, rather, words are defined from the bottom up, that is, by the people themselves — and this is true whether in the East End of London, or south-central LA, the projects in Brooklyn, the slums of Kingston, the call centers of Mumbai, the streets of Singapore, the text messages out of Shanghai, or the fashion districts of Sydney.”

GLM employs its NarrativeTracker technologies for global Internet and social media analysis. NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 75,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources.

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See the Photo Essay from the Toronto Star

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BBC Magazine: The rich: Exactly what does that mean?

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.2011, l’année Steve Jobs?

(Time Person of the Year?)

Nunberg also selects ‘occupy’ as the 2011 Word of the Year

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The Top Words of 2011

Rank / Word / Comments

1. Occupy – ‘Occupy’ has risen to pre-eminence through Occupy Movement, the occupation of Iraq, and the so-called ‘Occupied Territories’.   (Also named by NPR and Time.)

2. Deficit – Growing and possibly intractable problem for the economies of the developed world.

3. Fracking – Hydraulic fracturing is a controversial method for extracting fossil fuels from hitherto unreachable deposits.

4. Drone – The ever increasing number of remotely piloted aircraft used for reconnaissance and attack purposes.

5. Non-veg – A meal served with meat, originally from India, now catching on worldwide.

6. Kummerspeck – From the German seeing wider acceptance in the English, excess weight gained from emotional overeating (grief bacon).

See the Photo Essay from The Stylist (UK)

7. Haboob – A name imported from the Arabic for massive sandstorms in the American Southwest.

8. 3Q – Near universal term for ‘thank you’ now earning additional status after being banned from official Chinese dictionaries. Another example of the ever- increasing mixing of numbers and letters to form words.

9. Trustafarians – Well-to-do youth (trust-funders) living a faux-Bohemian life style, now associated with the London Riots.

10. (The Other) 99 – Referring to the majority of those living in Western Democracies who are left out of the dramatic rise in earnings associated with “the Top 1%”.

The Top Phrases of 2011

Rank / Phrase / Comment

1. Arab Spring – The series of uprisings, social protests, and rebellions occurring among many nations of the Arab World beginning this spring.

2. Royal Wedding – The wedding of the former Kate Middleton and heir-to-the-British-Throne, Prince William that captivated millions around the world.

3. Anger and Rage – Characterizations of the global electorate by the pundits, though closer analyses has revealed more frustration than anger and more disappointment than rage.

4. Climate Change – No. 1 phrase for the first decade of the 21st century; still resonates into its second decade.

5. The Great Recession – Though officially over, the media term most frequently used to describe the on-going global economic restructuring.

6. Tahrir Square – The scene of the ‘25th of January’ demonstrations in Cairo against Hosni Mubarak.

7. Linear No Threshold (LNT) – The methodology to calculate risk from exposure to radioactive elements from the Fukushima Daiiachi disaster.

8. Bunga Bunga – Re-emerged in the language through ‘bunga-bunga’ parties hosted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

9. ‘How’s that working out for you?’ – The New York Times credits Sarah Palin, but it predates her use of the phrase by several decades.

10. “Make no mistake about it!” – President Obama has repeated the phrase thousands of times since his 2008 election.

The Top Names of 2011

Rank / Name / Comments

1. Steve Jobs – The citations for Steve Jobs topped those for No. 2 (Osama bin-Laden and Seal Team 6) by more than 30%.

2. Osama bin-Laden & Seal Team 6 – Who changed the world more? Al-Qaeda or Steve Jobs?

3. Fukushima – The epicenter of the Japanese Triple Disaster (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown).

4. Mohamed Bouazizi – the Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself afire and became the symbol of Tunisian resistance – and the Arab Spring.

5. Chinese Paramount Leader Hu Jintao – The Rise of the Tiger being a primary cause of the Global Economic Restructuring.

6. Kate Middleton – She captivated the world with her elegance and style and continues to do so as the Duchess of Cambridge.

7. Muammar Gaddafi – Libyan strongman toppled in the recent insurrection.

8. President Obama – Hope and Change retreat further into the history books; the game plan is now for survival.

9. PIIGS – The nations of Portugal, Ireland, Italy Greece and Spain taken together for their untenable deficits possibly affecting the economic health of the Eurozone.

10. Yaroslavl Lokomotiv – The ill-fated elite Russian hockey team that was virtually wiped out in the crash of a three-engine Yak-42.

Top Words of the Decade

The Top Words of the Decade  Global Warming, 9/11, and Obama outdistanced Bailout, Evacuee, and Derivative; Google, Surge, Chinglish, and Tsunami followed. Climate Change was top phrase; Heroes was the top name.

Previous Words of the Year include:

2010:
Top Words: No. 1 Spillcam, No. 2 Vuvuzela, No. 3 The Narrative
Top Phrases: No. 1 Anger and Rage, No. 2 Climate Change, No. 3 The Great Recession
Top Names: No. 1 Hu Jintao, paramount leader of China, No. 2 iPad, No. 3 Barack Obama

2009:
Top Words: No. 1 Twitter, No. 2 Obama-, No. 3 H1N1
Top Phrases: No. 1 King of Pop, No. 2 Obama-mania, No. 3 Climate Change
Top Names: No. 1 Obama, No. 2 Michael Jackson, No. 3 Mobama

2008:
Top Words: No. 1 Change, No. 2 Bailout, No. 3 Obama-mania
Top Phrases: No. 1 Financial Tsunami, No. 2 Global Warming, No. 3 “Yes, We Can!”
Top Names: No. 1 Barack Obama, No. 2 George W. Bush, No.3 Michael Phelps

2007:

Top Words: No. 1 Hybrid (representing all things green), No. 2: Surge
Top Phrase: Climate Change
Top Name: Al Gore

2006:
Top Word: Sustainable
Top Phrase: Stay the Course
Top Name: Dafur

2005:
Top Words: No. 1, Refugee No. 2: Tsunami No. 3: Katrina
Top Phrase: Outside the Mainstream
Top Name: (acts of ) God

2004:
Top Word: Incivility (for inCivil War)
Top Phrase: Red States/Blue States No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Dubya/Rove

2003:
Top Word: Embedded
Top Phrase: Shock and Awe, No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Saddam Hussein, No. 2 Dubya

2002:

Top Word: Misunderestimate

Top Phrase: Threat Fatigue
Top Name: W (Dubya)

2001:
Top Word: Ground Zero
Top Phrase: ‘Lets Roll’
Top Name: The Heros

2000:
Top Word: Chad
Top Phrase: Dot.com
Top Name: W (Dubya)

About The Global Language Monitor

Austin-Texas-based Global Language Monitor analyzes and catalogues the latest trends in word usage and word choices and their impact on the various aspects of culture, with a particular emphasis upon Global English.

For more information, call 1.512.815.8836, email info@LanguageMonitor.com, or visit www.LanguageMonitor.com.

Subway, Red Bull and Sony among Top “Ambush Marketers” of London 2012 Olympics

Non-sponsors Ranking High on Brand Affiliation Index for London 2012

Austin, Texas, October 10, 2011.   Subway, Red Bull and Sony are among the Top “Ambush Marketers”  for the London 2012 Olympics.

The Ambush Marketing Rankings for London 2012 were released earlier today by The Global Language Monitor (GLM), the Internet and Media Trend Tracking Company.   In the rankings, GLM measures the strength of the brand affiliation for each official Olympic sponsor as well as those of their primary competitors.

Remember that once you download the London 2012 Ambush Marketing Update, you are entitled to one free hour of consultation from the Ambush Marketing experts from the Global Language Monitor, which has been tracking Branded Affiliations at the Olympics for the last three Olympiads.

For these rankings GLM measured the strength of the brand affiliation for each official Olympic sponsor against those of their primary non-affiliated competitors. Though ‘ambush marketing’ is well understood to mean an organization knowingly exploiting a brand affiliation with the Games without the benefit of official sponsorship.

All perceived Olympic affiliations according to their presence in the global media, and statistically linked to the London Games, qualify for GLM’s Ambush Marketing rankings.

The GLM Brand Affiliation Index for this analysis, ranged from a high of 524.45 to a low of 1.49.  The higher the score, the closer the brand affiliation with an event.

GLM has been tracking ambush marketing at the Olympics since the Beijing Games in 2008.  For London 2012, GLM began the three tiers of official sponsors since the third quarter of 2011.  These results are based on a study concluded on May 1,  2012.

With its Branded Individual Index (BII) GLM also tracks the brand equity of the athletes before and during the Games.

The official Olympic sponsors are divided into three tiers:  Worldwide Partners, Official Partners, and Official Supporters. GLM tracks over fifty non-affiliated companies that are direct competitors with the Official Olympic sponsors.

Remember that once you download the London 2012 Ambush Marketing Update, you are entitled to one free hour of consultation from the Ambush Marketing experts from the Global Language Monitor, which has been tracking Branded Affiliations at the Olympics for the last three Olympiads.

Remember that once you download the London 2012 Ambush Marketing Update, you are entitled to one free hour of consultation from the Ambush Marketing experts from the Global Language Monitor, which has been tracking Branded Affiliations at the Olympics for the last three Olympiads.

Among Worldwide Partners, Samsung, McDonald’s, Visa, Dow and P&G scored the highest on GLM’s Brand Affiliation Index (BAI) for London 2012.

Ambush Marketers can, and often do, out-perform official sponsors.  “The term ambush marketing is well understood to mean that an organization knowingly exploits a brand affiliation with the Games — without the benefit of official sponsorship.  However, all perceived Olympic sponsors according to their presence in the global media, and statistically linked to the London Games, qualify for the Ambush Index. GLM measures whatever perceived relationship exists between their organizations and London 2012”, “said Paul JJ Payack, president of the Austin, Texas based Global Language Monitor.  ”In some cases the brand affiliation is due to successful current or past affiliations, such as that of Lenovo and the Games.  Other times, it is because of clever (and legal) marketing efforts that exploit a company’s association with individual Olympians or sports in general, such as Subway ads with an Olympian who has come to symbolize the games themselves, or Red Bull securing naming rights to the Cycling venue.”

Among Worldwide Partners, the companies with the highest Brand Affiliation Index for London 2012 follow:

Leaders:  Highest Brand Affiliation Index

As you can see, Samsung, McDonald’s and the others are tightly tied to the upcoming games.

Not all organizations are faring as well in the BAI.  Here a few of the laggards in having their identities tied to London 2012.

Laggards:  Lowest Brand Affiliation Index

Among some Worldwide Partners, non-sponsor Sony scores a far higher BAI than the Official Worldwide Partner, Panasonic.  The same is true for Lenovo and Acer as well as Subway and McDonalds.

Non-sponsors with Higher BAI than Official Sponsors

Finally, the scores of all organizations are indexed against each other, to better understand the relative Brand Equity rankings of Sponsor vs. Non-sponsor.

So non-sponsor Nike has 13X more brand equity associated with London 2012 than the Official Partner, Adidas, while the Official Partner BA’s three main competitors combined have only a fraction of the associated brand equity associated compared to BA (.33 combined).

The Olympics are still ten months off, enough time for the laggards to improve their performance.

The Rankings will be released monthly up to and following London 2012.  Complete information on the monthly Ambush Marketing Rankings for London 2012 Olympics can be delivered as a subscription.  For Subscription information call 1.512.815.8836 or email pjjp@post.harvard.edu.

About Global Language Monitor

Founded in Silicon Valley, GLM collectively documents, analyzes and tracks trends worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language. GLM employs proprietary ‘algorithmic methodologies’ such as the NarrativeTracker for global Internet and social media analysis.  NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture of what the public is saying about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 75,000 print and electronic global media  media, as well as new social media sources.

Austin-based Global Language Monitor is the pioneer in web-based media analytics.

For more information, go to www.LanguageMonitor.com, call 1.512.815.8836, or email pjjp@post.harvard.edu.

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Eighth Annual Analysis of the Top Words from Television by the Global Language Monitor

Austin, Texas, September 20, 2011. The Global Language Monitor today announced that the ‘Royal Wedding’ of Kate Middleton and Prince William is the Top Television Word (or phrase) of the 2011 season. ‘Royal Wedding’ topped Charlie Sheen’s self-descriptive ‘Winner’ for the Top Spot. ‘Arab Spring’, ‘X-Factor’, and ‘Oprah’ rounded out the Top Five. ‘Fukashima,’ ’9/11′, ‘Obama-vision’, ’Chicago-style pols’ and ‘Zombies’ completed the Top Ten. Surprisingly the drama surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden by Navy Seal Team 6 did not break into the No. 10.

“This apparently is shaping up to be the Year of Kate (Middleton). She has come to dominate the small screen through her engagement, her fashion choices and most of all her Royal Wedding,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor. “Aside from the princess, this is the first time that ‘news’ has dominated the Top TeleWords of any given year. There are those who maintain that the pace of events is accelerating — and it does appear that social media is playing an ever-expanding role in that process.”

The awards are annually announced at the beginning of the fall television season in the US, traditionally opened with the 63rd Annual Emmy Awards. (Sunday, September 18th, 8:00 p.m. ET). This is the eighth annual analysis by the Austin-based Global Language Monitor.

The Top Telewords of the 2011 season with commentary follow:

1. Royal Wedding (Kate) — Kate reigns once more, this time on the small screen.

2. Winner (Charlie Sheen) – Winner, Tiger blood, goddesses … Fukashima was not the only meltdown on the world stage this year.

3. Arab Spring — The rolling unrest in the Middle East to some extent fueled by social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

4. X-factor — In algebra, X is the unknown quantity or variable. In TV lingo it stands for Simon Cowell’s empire of dozens of X-factor shows around the globe.

5. Oprah – A name without precedent (or predecessor) rising to prominence because of Winfrey’s season-long farewell tour.

6. Fukashima – The epicenter for the Japanese Triple Disaster (tsunami, earthquake and nuclear meltdown).

7. 9/11 – The recent 10th year commemoration reminds that it is one of the handful of historical events whose date will actually ‘live in infamy’.

8. Obama-vision – The president’s appearances have turned increasingly more prosaic in the third year of his presidency.

9. Chicago-style politics (The Good Wife) – Rahm Emanuel vies with the Good Wife for the better rendition of a Chicago Pol’s life.

10. Zombies (The Walking Dead) – Continue to infect the world through dozens of shows on the small screen.

The Top Telewords of previous years:

2010 – SpillCam from the Gulf Oil Spill, followed by Guido (Jersey Shore) and Reality (TV)

2009 – ObamaVision — All Obama, all the time, everywhere, followed by Financial Meltdown and the death of Michael Jackson.

2008: Beijing (from the Olympics), ObamaSpeak, followed by ‘facts are stubborn things’, ‘it is what it is,’ and Phelpsian.

2007: “Surge” from the Iraq War political and military strategy, “That’s Hot®” Paris Hilton’s popular expression that is now a registered trademark, and “D’oh!” from The Simpsons and The Simpsons Movie.

2006: ‘Truthiness’ and ‘Wikiality’ from the Colbert Show followed by ‘Katrina’, ‘Katie,’ and ‘Dr. McDreamy’.

2005: ‘Refugee’ from the coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, followed by ‘Desperation’ from Desperate Housewives and ‘Camp Cupcake’ from the on-going Martha Stewart follies.

2004: “You’re Fired!” edged “Mess O’ Potamia” followed by “Girlie Men,” “God,” and “Wardrobe Malfunction”.

Time Newsfeed:  TV talk: royal wedding

According to the Global Language Monitor, royal wedding was the “top TV word” of the year. The second-place finisher was winner (courtesy of Charlie Sheen’s uber-public meltdown), and the third was Arab Spring, referring to the uprisings and revolutions that have taken place throughout the Arab world in recent months. At least something substantive made it onto the podium (particularly given that the fourth place finisher was X-Factor, as in the Simon Cowell show, and the fifth was—god love ‘er—Oprah).

Each word counts: The Global Language Monitor also produces an estimate of words in the English language. The number they came up with this year was 1,010,649.7 (the 7/10 of a word presumably counting a phrase a drunk person almost coined). Incidentally, according to their estimate, the number of words in our language is roughly 14% the amount of dollars Warren Buffett paid in federal taxes last year. Mega-rich, indeed.
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/09/21/wednesday-words-the-buffett-tax-moustache-vocab-and-more/#ixzz1YchByMgg

A handful of clever marketers are ahead of official Olympic sponsors

By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine,

Sometimes perception is better than reality, and so it is for the brands that have managed to associate themselves with the Olympic Games without paying the exorbitant rights fees that come with official sponsorship.

They’re commonly referred to as “ambush marketers”, and though the London Games are still nearly a year away, some ambush marketers are making more of an impression on Olympic fans than the official sponsors.

That’s according to the first ambush marketing rankings for the London 2012 Olympic Games, released by The Global Language Monitor (GLM), which measures the strength of the brand affiliation between each of the worldwide partners, official partners, and official sponsors and the London Games and then compares it to competing companies that are not officially affiliated with the Games

Sony, Subway, DuPont, Barclay Card and Lenovo are the top five companies with the highest unofficial London brand affiliation.

All have a stronger association with the Games than the official sponsors they compete against.

They’ve achieved this by incorporating Olympic imagery into their ads, such as athletes competing in the sports being contested in London.

Though some object to the term “ambush”, it’s clear that their intention is to gain the positive affiliation with the Games without paying the sponsorship fees, which cost in the nine-figure range for top-level sponsorship.

“Few things in top-tier consumer-facing companies occur ‘naturally’ or ‘spontaneously,’ especially when they are engineered to look that way,” says Paul JJ Payack, president of GLM.

“This is why advertisers adept at associating themselves with an event, even though they are not ‘official’ sponsors of that event, can often out-perform official sponsors.”

Subway, for instance, is roughly two times as likely as official Olympics sponsor McDonald’s to be associated with the Games.

That’s mainly because swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Summer Olympian ever, appears in Subway ads.

“Subway is acknowledged as a leader in this regard [ambush marketing] with their close ties to Michael Phelps, who in many minds personifies the Olympic brand and spirit: clean-living, hard-work, pulling himself up by his own bootstraps,” says Payack.

Some sponsors are still reaping the benefits of past sponsorship. Lenovo, for example, ended its sponsorship deal after the 2008 Beijing Games, but the company is three times as likely as the computer vendor that took its place, Acer, to be associated with the Olympics.

The benefit to these ambush marketers is clear.

They get all of the positives of Olympic sponsorship – the feel-good vibes, the legitimacy, the eyeballs – at a much lower expense.

The International Olympic Committee is not happy about this, of course.

During last year’s Vancouver Games, it successfully lobbied the Canadian Parliament to pass a bill restricting the use of certain combinations of words and numbers in advertising, such as snow, winter and games, to prevent non-sponsors from piggybacking on the Games.

Still, clever advertisers always find a way around that.

Red Bull, which consistently ranks near the top of the ambush list, recently bought naming rights to the new velodrome in London that will house the indoor bicycle events, ensuring the brand name will be heard in broadcasts even if its ads will not.

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More: Who really won in Vancouver: Ambushers

Attention:  Any part of article may be used as a quote, or as a story or a segment within a larger story.

No permissions necessary.

By Paul JJ Payack

AUSTIN, Texas.  September 11, 2011.  For the decade, The Global Language Monitor, and its predecessors have been keeping track of the manner in which the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 have changed the way Americans Talk.  We have updated our findings several times since, as the language has evolved with the ensuing events of the decade, most tragic (Iraq, 7/7, Afghanistan, the Global Economic Restructuring), others seemingly beyond surreal  (the Southeast Asian Tsunami, the inundation of New Orleans) a welcome few comforting.

Aftermath  by Paul JJ Payack

We have found subtle yet profound differences in our everyday speech since that day when terrorist attacks unfolded   on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the pending targets in Washington, D.C., widely suspected to be the White House or the Capitol Building.  The changes we have tracked include the way Americans speak in terms of subject matter, vernacular, word choice and tone.

9/11

The first case is the use of 9/11, itself, as a shorthand for the 2001 terrorist attacks.  Using various web metrics, 9/11 outpaces any other name, including the spelled out ‘September 11th” by 7:1 margin. This designation, in itself, is quite interesting. It is true that Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the Pearl Harbor attack as “December 7th, 1941 as a day which will live in infamy”.   But there were no “12/7″ rallying cries thereafter. Neither were the dates immortalized of the original battles of the Korean War, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident which preceded the major escalation of the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the siege of Afghanistan siege, or the invasion of Iraq.  Only the 7/7 attacks on the London  transportation system are recorded in common memory by their date (and primarily in the UK).  .

Ground Zero

The name Ground Zero now evokes a sacred place, where the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers once stood. It is also revered as a burial ground since thousands of bodies literally vaporized in the ensuing collapse with no remains found whatsoever.

Almost universally, it is capitalized as any other proper name, with a few exceptions, most notably the New York Times (and later legitimized in the AP Style Guide).

In fact, the Times continues to insist on referring to Ground Zero in the lower case, calling it, for example, ‘the area known as ground zero’.   Admittedly, ground zero also refers to the epicenter of a nuclear blast.  In the minds of this generation, this is a close as they have ever gotten to such an event (or ever expect to).

Names are officially bestowed in a number of ways, most often by bureaucratic committees following arcane sets of rules, answering to few. In this case, we kindly request those nameless bureaucrats to follow the lead of hundreds of millions around the world who have formally bestowed upon that special place, the formal name: Ground Zero.

Heroes

In mythology, heroes were men and women often of divine ancestry endowed with the gifts of courage and strength.  In reality, everyday heroes of the late 20th and early 21st centuries were sports figures (‘Be like Mike’ and ‘Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio’), comic book and cartoon characters ala

Superman and Spiderman, and all too frequently ‘anti-heroes’ known for the colossal damage they might inflict upon a helpless (and often hapless) world.

Into this tableaux, came the heroes of 9/11, very real men and women, rushing into and up the Towers as everyone else was rushing down and out; rushing the cockpit of Flight 93, with plastic knives and forks and  hot coffee, forcing the startled highjackers to abandon their plans of crashing into the Capitol or White House rather than the previously unheralded soil of Swanksville, PA; and the men and women who quietly stood their posts at the Pentagon, just doing their duty, not knowing if they would be subjected to another horrific, and more deadly, attack at any moment.

Jericho Sounding by Paul JJ Payack

In the post-9/11 world, the term has now come to apply to any who place their lives in danger to foster the common good, especially ‘first-responders’ such as: firefighters, EMTs, and police, who quietly place their lives on the line every day.

Another historic change is the treatment of American soldiers with the respect they have been unaccustomed to since the days of the Vietnam War.  The public has evidently been able to separate the politics of the wars from the all-too-human participants.

-stan

The suffix in Persian and related languages that means, literally, ‘land of,’ hence, Afghanistan or Land of the Afghans, or Kurdistan (or Kurdish Territories), or even this relatively new moniker: Londonistan.  Talibanistan, referring to Afghanistan and the ‘tribal lands’ in Pakistan.  The suffix has been appropriated in various, often humorous, ways such as the famous New Yorker cover that referred to the various ‘-stans’ one encounters in post-Modern life.

The Demarcation of Time

The date 9/11 now has a special place as a time marker or time stamp; we now  frequently delineate time periods as either pre-9/11 or post 9/11.

The unCivil (or inCivil) War

Since 9/11, the political discourse of American politics has, arguably, descended to its lowest level since the Civil-War era when Lincoln was typically depicted as a know-nothing, Bible-spouting Baboon. Even speech of the Watergate era was spared the hyperbole commonly heard today, as respect for the institution of the presidency remained high, even though the President was widely disdained.

Today, political opponents are routinely called ‘liars,’ are typically compared to Hitler, Nazis and Fascists by those who evidently know little of either history or political theory.

When tragedies do occur (the inundation of New Orleans, the Gulf Oil Spill, the Global Economic Restructuring), no opportunities are overlooked to demonize the sitting president by the ‘loyal’ opposition.  And the vitriol has steadily increased throughout the decade as measured by various longitudinal indices of GLM.  In fact, much of the frustration with President Obama now associated with liberals and progressives has been trending upward since his inauguration, though it was overlooked by the conventional media and polling organizations because traditional polling and information gathering often finds itself at a disadvantage when compared to Internet and social-media based trend-tracking organizations.

It is very difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of this debasement of political speech and rhetoric, but it has been suggested that in the face of a nearly invisible, constantly morphing, enemy, we have turned the attack inward, upon ourselves, and our institutions.

Apocalyptic-type Terminology

In an exclusive of the worldwide media, GLM has also found a decided rise in apocalyptic-type terminology in the description of tragedies but even with events of inconvenience (such as Washington’s Snowmageddon of last winter or the recent Carpocalypse  in Los Angeles).  After all it does snow in Washington, D.C. every winter and freeways are frequently closed the world over for repairs.

Vanquished & Vanished by Paul JJ Payack

This trend town alarming references include:   Biblical, Hiroshima-type references, Catastrophe, Holocaust, Apocalypse, decimation, and End-of-the-World scenarios.  These alarmist references are recorded across the full spectrum of print and electronic media.  It appears as if the world is stunned the string of early 21^st catastrophes.  (By the way, the world still has to deal with the so-called end of the Mayan calendar extinction event that is scheduled to occur on December 22^nd of next year.)

The global media appear mesmerized by the constant bombardment of television images of apparently rampaging, out-of-control elements, such as

the truly catastrophic  combination of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in Japan, where authorities encounter vast difficulties in keeping  their own people fed, sheltered, evacuated, and, even, from dying on the street.

During the inundation of New Orleans, the Sunday Times (London) stated, “Devastation that could send an area the size of England back to the Stone Age”.  The story continues, “AMERICA comes to an end in Montgomery, Alabama … it has been replaced by a dangerous and paranoid post-apocalyptic landscape, short of all the things fuel, phones, water and electricity needed to keep the 21st century switched on. By the time you reach Waveland, Mississippi, the coastal town of 6,800 where corpses lie amid a scene of Biblical devastation, any semblance of modern society has gone. “

Everyday language changes with 9/11

Some ten years on, we now speak of terror levels (since obsoleted), duct tape, Homeland Security, Full-body scanners, shoe-bombs and shoe-bombers, the Freedom Tower (since renamed), Shanksville, the Ground Zero Mosque, Imans, drones, high-value targets, Ramadan, Burquas, face veils, Sharia Law, and scores of other 9/11-related terms that now inhabit the English Linguasphere.