Global Online Intelligence Leader, Brandtology launches a new arm, Brandtology Academy to provide Social Media Analytics Courses for industry professionals.

30 AUGUST 2010 – Global online intelligence service provider, Brandtology, has launched a new initiative – Brandtology Academy which seeks to encourage retraining, education and ongoing research in the field of social media analytics. In order to raise the calibre of social media professionals, Brandtology Academy has launched Asia Pacific’s first certified Social Media Analytics Course to train a community of industry professionals and interest groups in this area.

From September 2010, Brandtology Academy will be offering a series of talks and workshops on Social Media Analytics. Through numerous case studies and hands-on workshops, participants will be able to understand the applications of Social Media in areas such as digital strategy, sales, marketing, PR, media planning, customer service and product development. The courses are targeted at industry professionals seeking a structured methodology to understanding the latest social media trends and leveraging its wide-ranging effects in their daily work. Moreover, the course also affords an invaluable chance to network with other like-minded professionals and facilitate knowledge sharing about this dynamic field.

Commenting on the new Brandtology Academy, Eddie Chau, CEO of Brandtology said: “The phenomenal speed at which Social Media is developing has resulted in many experienced industry professionals grappling to understand and leverage it in the best manner. The opportunities in Social Media are boundless and can be applied in every functional area. Hence, there is now an acute need to grasp a firm understanding in order to integrate it in traditional business process to stay ahead of the pack.”

Within the various courses offered by Brandtology, participants would be able to learn about the Social Media landscape in the Asia Pacific Region, with focus on the unique characteristics of each market. For instance, although Twitter is wildly popular in most countries, it is banned in China, which has its own version called Sina Weibo, while Taiwanese prefer a micro-blog with a timeline by the name of Plurk. More importantly, the courses would also touch on the measurement and evaluation of Social Media Success, and the use of data analysis tools and services for identifying what creates viral effects online, as well as determining top influencers and key engagement channels.

“Data without analysis is meaningless. What’s more important is to be able to go beyond simplistic statistics such as buzz, views and retweets to find out the driving factors of internet word of mouth, and the overarching concerns of netizens about a brand and its products,” Dorothy Poon, Programme Director of Brandtology Academy, opined. “Extracting actionable insights and using social media analytics to create an effective feedback loop is more important than merely finding out what’s being said and not doing anything about it.”

At the end of the course, participants will be required to undergo a rigorous certification process and demonstrate sound understanding of the key concepts taught in the course. The first two runs of the Social Media Analytics courses in September are already fully booked and the third run will commence in October. For enquiries, please email academy@brandtology.com or visit http://www.brandtology.com/academy

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About Brandtology

With more than 140 staff in 12 global locations, Brandtology’s business and brand online intelligence services enable global brands to manage and glean invaluable insights from consumers’ conversations. Using proprietary technology, processes and trained professionals, Brandtology is able to provide a high degree of accuracy and relevancy in multilingual analysis, unlike any other automated monitoring tools. Astute global organisations utilise Brandtology’s intelligence in multiple functional areas such as sales, marketing, PR, media planning, customer service and product development. For more information, please visit www.brandtology.com

About Brandtology Academy
To enable industry professionals to understand and integrate Social Media into their functional roles, Brandtology Academy offers a series of talks and workshops on the use of Social Media Analytics. Through numerous case studies and hands-on workshops, participants will be able to understand the applications of Social Media in areas such as digital strategy, sales, marketing, PR, media planning, customer service and product development. For more information, please visit www.brandtology.com/academy