Corona has worked with CML for several years and this is the third year in which Corona has conducted the research to inform the State of Our Cities and Towns annual report.

Visit the Denver Post to see a recent article by CML referencing the State of Our Cities and Towns report.  To learn more about the Colorado Municipal League, visit their website.

We were pleased to learn that lucky project #1001 was for the Iliff School of Theology. Corona has engaged with Iliff since 2007 when we created an influential Strategic Enrollment Marketing Plan for the institution, as well as a strategic business plan . Since then, Corona has led various research projects for Iliff, looking into new market segments, student enrollment opportunities and testing new curriculum ideas.

Our ongoing relationship with Iliff is a hallmark of Corona’s brand – combining our market research and strategic consulting expertise in the higher education field to provide ongoing data-driven insights that lead to proven results. Learn more about Iliff’s success as well as their 2010 and 2011 awards. Click here to read a testimonial from their VP of Marketing Communications & Strategic Partnerships.

Cheers to project 1001!

This year, all bets are off! There are over 900 participating nonprofits across the state. Corona Insights is pleased to see so many past clients and colleagues on the list: 9Health Fair, Bluff Lake Nature Center, Center for African American Health, Center for Work Education and Employment, Clinica Tepeyac, Colorado Youth at Risk, Denver Children’s Advocacy Center, Denver Public Schools Foundation, Family Tree, Metro Volunteers, Mile High United Way, Nurse-Family Partnerships, Qualistar Colorado, Rebuilding Together Metro Denver, Rocky Mountain PBS, The Children’s Museum of Denver, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, and Warren Village… just to name a few!

Check out the Colorado Gives Day website to find your favorite nonprofit. Or, discover a new one to support! You have from midnight to midnight to contribute.

Sort of.

On Monday, the Denver Post featured Corona’s  founder and Principal, Kevin Raines,  and his cross-country run. No, Kevin hasn’t been on sabbatical hoofing it across America. He’s been tracking his daily mileage online.

Kevin’s virtual run from Virgina to Oregon is made possible through the National Runners Health Study. He calculates  his daily miles (including his 4 mile round-trip walk to and from Corona) with www.mapmyrun.com and logs the mileage at http://exercise.lbl.gov.  Since the article’s publication, about 120 Coloradans have signed up to start their own journey across the country.

Kevin began running in 2009 and recently completed his 20th half-marathon.  Kevin’s cross-country run combines two more of his passions: data and travel.

Corona also uses data to help fellow runners and race organizers answer their most important questions through our Runner Survey and Rating System services.  To date, we’ve conducted 100 post-race surveys and community benefit analyses in 34 states.

Now, read the article before reading the rest of my thoughts…

Done?  Next, regardless of the topic, the way this “research” is written is engaging.  It gives the explanation peppered with short stories (meaning a sentence or two) that bring the research to life.  Finally (though actually the first thing I thought when I read this), some research may have answered this question with an answer like “they’re pretty” or “they read about them in children’s books”.  But that isn’t at all what you get here. You get the underlying emotional connections girls make with these animals.  That’s the kind of insight all research should strive to achieve.

While infographics are often creative masterpieces, the real power of infographics of course is to convey the impact of the data, not just the data itself.  I think too that there is a sense of discovery in a beautifully designed graphic – the more you look, the more you see and absorb.

So, how to get started?  Here are a few free websites that can create something other than a bar or pie chart:

• Many Eyes From traditional graphs to geographical maps, treemaps, and several more options.
• GapMinder While you can’t upload your own data, you can create animated graphics that show change over time based on world demographics.  (Here is an example…be sure to click play)
• Tableau A more complete solution (and in this case, not free, though there is a free trial) that allows more customization of your graphics.

Of course, step 1 is to determine how your audience will best absorb the information and gauge the appropriateness of the medium.  As you get more advanced, consider hiring a professional designer to assist in creating truly unique visuals.

Need some inspiration to get started?  Check out the site Information is Beautiful or one of David McCandless’s books.  Or do a Google Image Search for the term infographic.

What other means have you used to create interesting graphics?  Any exceptional infographics you’ve seen?  Please share in the comments.

(If you recently attended the Content Marketing Conference in Denver, Michael Pranikoff of PRNewswire also spoke to the importance of inforgraphics in crating compelling content.)

Take Porsche for example.  Through a “raft of market research” they learned that potential buyers are viewing Porsche vehicles as unfit for everyday driving and use.

Porsche’s new campaign therefore is focusing on showing their vehicles in everyday situations, as opposed to quick jaunts through twisty mountain roads (though Porsche isn’t totally abandoning their message of driving experience and passion – just that you can have both).

This past Tuesday, the company completed its social media campaign to set the Guinness World Record for most Facebook “likes” to a post in 24 hours—officially making it the most “liked” cookie, as well.  The brand has over 16 million people in its Facebook community, and it also used its website and Twitter page to drive even more people to Facebook during the 24-hour campaign.  The initial goal to make this a legitimate Guinness World Record was 45,000, and the final number for the day came to 114,619.

However, once rapper Lil Wayne and his digital manager became aware of Oreo’s record attempt, the record was quickly broken thanks to the 20 million plus fans in the rapper’s Facebook community.  Lil Wayne’s total “likes” in a 24-hour period: 588,243.

So what’s the key takeaway from this?  Oreo was able to integrate all aspects of its social media to leverage its online fan base enough to set a new Guinness World Record.  But, Lil Wayne has no doubt done a better job engaging his online fans over time—meaning they were much more likely to respond to a Facebook post.  How do you engage your online audience?

But what are the biggest trends that span all of them?  In other words, what is the common denominator?

We looked at many predictions across different categories and found the biggest trends that are most likely impacting you no matter your field.

• Social media (including news and general media)
• Data (accumulating and managing)
• Mobile
• Content

The word cloud below highlights the most common concepts (the larger the word, the more often it was mentioned).

(Click the image to see the full size version.)

Social media and data are nothing new to 2011 and mobile has been a hot topic since the rise of the smart phone.

Content, however, may be one many of us have not thought about while seeking the latest trends (I know I didn’t).  I think the prevalence of “content” in these predictions undermines the importance of content in the other trends – the importance of creating valuable content in social media; the importance of meaningful content for mobile apps in an increasingly competitive landscape; and the true content buried in the data.

By no means is this a representative list of ALL industries.  Do think there are major trends missing?  In what other ways do you believe content is important?  Let us know in the comments!

Sources:

• Top Ten Business Predictions for 2011
• Marketing for 2011: Five Critical Considerations for Success
• Five B2B Trends for 2011
• 11 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2011
• Six Social Media Trends for 2011
• 10 Predictions for the News Media in 2011
• Top Ten Wireless Predictions 2011
• 5 Predictions for Online Data in 2011
• A Dozen Predictions for a New Decade in Market Research (pdf, registration may be required)

To our friends at the HBR, we’d be happy to bring our insights about nonprofits to a future issue…