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Analytics According to Captain Kirk Via Sitelogic August 29, 2008

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I found this really goos posting from a company Called SiteLogic they have a very clever blog thats worth a look at .

Anyway, I found this cool post by Matt Bailey the company president ,and as a trek fan, it seems to be the perfect TGIF Holiday weekend post

“In my seminars, I enjoy teaching analytics because the fun is in finding effective and memorable methods to help people understand the concepts. One of my favorites is an analysis of the Red-Shirt Phenomenon in Star Trek.
Captain James T. Kirk
What? You don’t know about the Red Shirt Phenomenon? Well, as any die-hard trekkie knows, if you are wearing a red shirt and beam to the planet with Captain Kirk – you’re gonna die. That’s the common thinking, but I decided to put this to the test. After all, I hadn’t seen any definitive proof; it’s just what people said. (Remind you of your current web analytics strategy?) So, let’s set our phasers on ’stun’ and see what we find . . .

The basic stats:
The Enterprise has a crew of 430 (startrek.com) in its five-year mission. (Now, I know that the show was only on the air for 3 years, but bear with me. 80 episodes were produced, which gives us the data to build from.) 59 crewmembers were killed during the mission, which comes out to 13.7% of the crew. So, that will be our overall conversion rate, 13.7%.

Data Segmentation:
However, we need to segment the overall mortality (conversion) rate in order to gain the specific information that we need:

So, the basic segmentation of factors allows us to confirm that red-shirted crewmembers died more than any other crewmembers on the original Star Trek series.
stare trek - red shirts down

However, that’s only just simple stats reporting – ready for some analysis?

In-depth Analysis:
Analysis involves asking questions about the data. Analysis attempts to bring reason and cause to the reported data in order to find why something is happening. With that data, one can improve the situation based on the intelligence gained from the analysis.

Q: What causes a red-shirted crewman to die?

There were also many fights during the mission; on the Enterprise, on planets, and various space stations. The fights were also divided between alien races or crazed crewmen (usually wearing red shirts).

Q: what was the rate of red-shirt casualties?

It was found that red-shirted crewmembers tended to die in groups. In 17 red-shirt fatality episodes, 8 were multiple incidents, 9 were single incidents. In a little less than 50% of the fatal red-shirt situations, multiple crewmen were vaporized.

Q: What factors could increase/decrease the survival rate of red-shirted crewmen?
Besides not getting involved in fights, which usually proved fatal, the crewmen could avoid beaming down to the planet’s surface, which is inherent to their end. However, that could result in a court-martial for failure to obey orders.

Besides not beaming down, another factor that showed to increase the survival rate of the red-shirts was the nature of the relationship between the alien life and captain Kirk. When Captain Kirk meets an alien woman and “makes contact” the survival rate of the red-shirted crewmen increases by 84%. In fact, out of Captain Kirks’ 24 “relationships” there were only three instances of red-shirt vaporization.
star trek - alien woman

The caveat to this is when Captain Kirk not only meets the local alien women, but also starts a fight among alien locals. The combination of these events has led to the elimination of 4 crewmembers (3 red-shirts).

Here are the statistics:
Red Shirt Death episodes = 18
Episodes with fights = 55
Probability of a fight breaking out = 70%
Kirk “conquest” episodes = 24
Kirk “conquest” + fights = 16
Kirk “conquest” + red shirt casualty= 4
Red shirt death + fight + Kirk “conquest” = 3

And the data trends;
Probability of a red-shirt casualty= 53%
14% of fights ended in a fatality (with a 72% chance the fatality wore a red shirt)
Probability of a red-shirt “incident” when Kirk has a “conquest” = 12%

The red-shirt survival rate is slightly higher when Kirk meets women than when a fight breaks out. This trend necessitates the question: How often did Captain Kirk “meet” women? In 30% of the missions.
star trek - mudd’s women
As the data shows, Captain Kirk “making contact” with alien women has an impact on the crew’s survival. The red-shirt death rate is higher when a fight breaks out than when Kirk meets a woman and a fight breaks out. Yet the analysis shows that meeting Kirk meeting women only happens in 30% of the missions.

Conclusion:
We can reliably improve the survivability of the red-shirted crewmen by only exploring peaceful, female-only planets (android and alien females included).

Reporting the Data:
Now, researching the data can be fun and informative. However, that is only half of the battle. The interesting part comes when you have to communicate not only the data, but your conclusions in an effective, persuasive manner. The best analysis won’t go far if you can’t communicate the conclusions in a manner that people understand.

There are a few options at our disposal. First, the PowerPoint Method.
enterprise powerpoint 1 alt="enterprise powerpoint 2" /> enterprise powerpoint 3 enterprise powerpoint 4 enterprise powerpoint 5 enterprise powerpoint 6

There are a number of things wrong with the typical method of presenting data. For starters, this presentation could bore even the most hardened Starfleet manager (CEO). The typical corporate PowerPoint slide design is obnoxious and does not leave room for information, the charts are redundant, even unnecessary, and it does not do a good job of communicating the information or the analysis.

In most cases, PowerPoint is NOT the recommended tool for communicating analytics data. It is not the right tool for the job. Communicating analytics data involves providing conclusions based on facts, tests, comparisons, and research. In order to display the necessary data, a better method must be used, and not one that forces redundant bullet point and “snazzy” charts.

Visualizing the Data:
There are some necessary elements required in developing a chart for this type data:

  1. A list of the specific episodes
  2. Events that happened in each episode
  3. The number of events that happened in each episode
  4. An easy way to identify data, then compare and contrast actions in all episodes

By seeing all of the available data in one chart, associations, patterns and conclusions can be drawn simply by comparing the relationships as they are presented. This is something that I learned from Edward Tufte – 1. More information is needed to simplify data presentation. 2. Unless all of the data is presented, there is no data integrity.

Information is Primary to Design
This is critical in developing a chart of information – the information is primary. List the necessary data elements first. Then, develop the design around the information, and not the other way around. Otherwise, a beautiful chart will lack the critical information necessary to support your conclusions. The graphing software that I found extremely effective for communicating the episode data for this Star Trek analysis is Microsoft’s Office 2007, and in Apple’s OS X graphics software.

episode graph
click for full-size version

I like this chart – eliminating the need for a legend is critical to allowing the information to flow. The data is the same color or object as the information we are trying to convey. Because there is no suitable color for Captain Kirk’s affairs, we substituted a very flattering picture. Fights are represented by tiny phasers, which are not the best representation because of the size, but can easily be determined by the process of elimination. This chart allows conclusions and observations that simple charts, numbers, and explanations may never bring to the surface. It allows for easy comparison, both to other shirt colors, and in relation to other episodes. It also looks as though Kirk was a very busy man.

In the first year of the series, red-shirt casualties were lower than other color-shirted crewmembers. The second and especially the third seasons were especially brutal. In the third season, only red-shirted crewmembers died; maybe because the other colors enacted better safety protocols, or maybe because they avoided the bridge when a new planet came into view, for fear of beaming down with Cpt. Kirk.

Summary:
Of the elements that helped to provide this analysis, segmentation was key. Segmentation of groups allows for comparisons. Comparisons allow you to spot trends that by be different from the rest. Asking questions of the data allows you to dig into specific trends and spot additional factors that have affects the original analysis. Unless we dug into Kirk’s personal life, we may never have spotted the contrast of Kirk’s attraction to alien females as it related to saving red-shirt crewmen’s lives.
vina of orion

Remember, when you have to account for lost crewmembers, your report needs to account for the how, the why, and the ability to draw specific conclusions as to how to affect the trends in the future. Depending upon your approach, you could either doom the project, and future red-shirted crewmen, or you could be visiting planets full of peaceful alien women.

Addendum:
I found this motivational poster, that could well be hanging in a cubicle at Starfleet headquarters . . . (courtesy of StarTrek Motivational Posters).”
Expendability - motivational poster

Added 1/4/2008: This just seemed too perfect and had to be added:The Sexy Women of StarTrek

Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.

Shelly Palmer 8/28/2008 August 28, 2008

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Marketing Vox Industry Buzz & Snippets: 8/28/08 August 28, 2008

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Agencies and Marketing Execs:

Biz Buzz:

Legal, Government and Regulation:

Music:

Mobile:

Publishing:

Search:

Social Networks:

User Experience:

Marketing Vox is a great source for industry news and newsletters subscribe by clicking HERE

Google ends its policy of trademark protection in the UK. August 28, 2008

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Competition between advertisers has always been intense but a change being implemented by Google will give companies the chance to hijack each other’s brands online.

From Monday, it will become possible for J Sainsbury to place an advertisement that appears anytime someone in Britain types Tesco as a search term, as Google ends its policy of trademark protection in the UK.

The move is already unsettling some big-name advertisers, with Tesco pledging to take the “moral high ground” and not bid against rival brands on Google, in the hope that it will not face aggressive competition.

Other brand owners are more unhappy still, with Ian McCaig, the chief executive of lastminute.com telling Channel 4 News that he was considering legal action. “We believe that Google’s policy change is a big problem and we object to it. We are investigating with vigour the legal position and if that investigation concludes positively then we will pursue a legal case, no question.”

Google is the most-visited site on the internet, accounting for more than a third of UK traffic. Consumers increasingly use the search engine to find even the most familiar brands – making any change to its policy critical.

David Kyffin, managing director of direct/digital at WPP’s Group M, said many clients were concerned about the change. “They would like to see more competition to Google in the UK but Google is so dominant that it is not possible to buy enough adverts on Yahoo! or MSN to reach as big an audience.” Google’s only concession to brand owners is to ban attack advertising and to ensure that nobody misuses a competitor’s trademark.

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Yahoo selects two new board members from Icahn's list August 28, 2008

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Yahoo announced Thursday it has appointed two new directors from a dissident slate put together by Carl Icahn during his attempt to take control of the Internet giant through an aborted proxy battle.

Yahoo said it selected Frank Biondi, former chief executive of Viacom and Universal Studios, and John Chapple, former chief executive of Nextel Partners, for their extensive experience in the media and telecommunication industries.

Yahoo agreed to make the appointments in exchange for Icahn dropping his proxy challenge. Icahn himself was appointed to the board immediately following the annual meeting on Aug. 1. He replaced Robert Kotick, who resigned.

Icahn tried but failed to get Yahoo to replace other board members in order to increase his leverage and try to sell the company to Microsoft. Instead, Yahoo agreed to expand the board from nine to 11 people.

Biondi and Chapple are potential, but not certain, allies for Icahn. Biondi was Icahn’s candidate to replace Richard Parsons as chief executive of Time Warner during Icahn’s unsuccessful proxy fight with the media giant in 2006. At the time, Icahn said he had only met Biondi once before.

Biondi is currently a senior managing director of WaterView Advisors, a private equity firm, and Chapple is president of Hawkeye Investments.

Ryan Jacob, chief investment officer of Jacob Asset Management, said Icahn’s best bet may be to wait until next year, when the board is up for re-election again.

“A year from now we will be talking about how much less share in search they have,” said Jacob, who still owns Yahoo but feels burned by the way its management bungled the bid from Microsoft.

Jacob said he would not be surprised if Yahoo’s stock drops to the mid-teens if the company fails to make its financial targets. At that point, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is likely to bid again. “In his heart of hearts, he knows it makes strategic sense to bite the bullet,” Jacob said.

Nick Lawson set to take WPP chief executive role August 28, 2008

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LONDON – Nick Lawson, MediaCom UK’s chief executive, is set to be made the WPP agency’s chief executive across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

David Kyffin, Group M’s managing director of direct/digital, is also in discussions to take on a newly created – but as yet untitled – role as global direct and digital chief for MediaCom.

It is thought that Jane Ratcliffe, the managing director of Mediacom UK, is likely to replace Nick Lawson in the UK chief executive role.
The move follows the official confirmation last week of Nick Theakstone as the chief executive of Group M UK.

Theakstone, previously the chief operating officer, replaced Steve Allan, who moved in April to become the chairman and chief executive of MediaCom Worldwide.

It is understood that Lawson will focus on developing and strengthening MediaCom’s presence in European markets, beyond its sizeable UK and German operations.

The network does employ regional chiefs for its Asia-Pacific, US and Latin American operations, but there is no incumbent in the EMEA role.

Alexander Schmidt-Vogel moved to the newly-created role of global chief executive of Group M’s worldwide operations in May.

He previously occupied the role of chairman and was chief executive of MediaCom Europe from 1996 to 2002.

T-MOBILE’s G1 Will Be First Google Android Phone: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer August 27, 2008 August 28, 2008

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If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube.

Watch Shelly’s commentary on T-MOBILE releasing the G1, GOOGLE’s (NASD: GOOG) first Android phone.

APPLE’s(NASD: AAPL) 3G iPhone has now outsold its predecessor. Despite 3G issues and a class action lawsuit looming, Apple has managed to sell 6 million 3G iPhones worldwide in just seven weeks. Comparatively, it took the first generation iPhone nearly a year to sell 6 million units.

Hollywood Studios are joining together to launch “OPEN MARKET”, an initiative aimed at saving DRM. First proposed by SONY PICTURES, Open Market, which will set policy rules and software and service platforms that will allow interoperability for digital downloads, will be supported by FOX (NYSE: NEWS), PARAMOUNT, UNIVERSAL and TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX). On the retail side Open Market will be supported by AMAZON (NASD: AMZN), TARGET (NYSE: TGT), WALMART (NYSE: WMT), COMCAST (NYSE: CMCSK), MOVIELINK and CINEMANOW. Open Market will rely on a neutral third party to manage device registrations and movie purchases/rentals to ensure interoperability.

According to Mark Zuckerburg’s status, FACEBOOK now has 100 million users. While MYSPACE (NYSE: NEWS) supposedly hit 100 million two years ago, the number was marred by inactive accounts. Through steady but rapid growth, Facebook has been able to amass a loyal and active user network, which they hope to monetize.

Research group BANGO believes that by the end of the month the U.S. will surpass the U.K. in mobile web usage. In July, the U.K. held 19.4% of the worldwide mobile web market, with the U.S. comprising 18.9 %. However, in recent weeks, partially due to the success of the 3G iPhone, web usage in the U.S. has skyrocketed to comprise approximately 23% of the worldwide mobile web usage.

Today on MarketingVox August 27, 2008

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MarketingVox Industry Buzz & Snippets 8/26/08

Ad Networks and Analytics:

Agencies and Marketing Execs:

Biz Buzz:

E-commerce:

Gaming:

Legal, Government and Regulation:

Mobile:

Overseas:

Publishing:

Search:

User Experience:

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Show Me The Money: Facebook Tests Engagement Ads August 22, 2008

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In what it calls the latest “evolution” of its ad model, Facebook is testing a new set of ads aimed at boosting click-throughs and further tapping into the social graph on behalf of marketers.

The first three types of Engagement Ads now in trial let users post comments, become a “fan” of a brand’s Facebook Page and send virtual gifts. Within the units, people can also read friends’ comments, and see who else is a brand fan or who shared virtual items.

All three flavors of Engagement Ads will appear in the new home page placement alongside the News Feed on the right. They will also show up in members’ News Feeds as people interact with the ads.

The new Engagement Ads build on Facebook’s Social Ads, which typically appear in the News Feed and allow marketers to run ads tied to users’ actions within the network. This includes actions that people take on branded applications running in Facebook.

Within Social Ads, Facebook is also rolling out a new program that would allow marketers to pay to expand the number of friends who learn about a user’s interaction with an application. Currently, Facebook uses an algorithm to figure out who among a user’s friends would be most interested in learning about a given activity.

Under the new plan, marketers would have the option of sending a sponsored notification (marked as such) to all of a members’ friends. So if someone used a Fandango app to buy tickets to see “Pineapple Express,” Fandango and Sony Pictures could pay to tell all of their friends on Facebook about it.

The social network triggered a privacy backlash last year when it launched its Beacon ad program, which notified members about their friends’ e-commerce activity outside Facebook. The company revised Beacon to require members’ opt-in consent, but the program was the subject of a class action filed only last week.

In a briefing Thursday on the new ad initiatives, Tim Kendall, Facebook’s director of monetization, said the new Social Ads program would avoid the same privacy problems as Beacon because it only relates to users’ activities within Facebook.


READ THE REST OF THIS MEDIAPOST ONLINE MEDIA DAILY ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE

WPP's First-Half Revenue, Profit Rise 14% August 22, 2008

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U.K. holding company rode emerging markets, but says ‘09 could prove more challenging

Aug 22, 2008

BOSTON Strength in emerging markets helped propel WPP Group to a 14 percent rise in first-half net profit to slightly more than $390 million, the holding company said today.

First-half revenue also rose 14 percent to roughly $6.2 billion. In constant currency terms, the improvement was 8 percent. On a like-for-like basis, the gain was 4.5 percent.

In general, the company’s performance met or exceeded most analysts’ projections.

CLICK HERE FOR WPP’S COMPLETE FIRST-HALF RESULTS
.

Despite the overall positive news and the expectation that 2008 would continue apace with ad spending in the U.S. presidential election a key driver, WPP warned that 2009 could prove far more challenging, especially as growth in China — an important market for the company — could see a post-Olympics slowdown.

“The prospects for 2009 remain less certain, particularly if the United States and Western European economies continue to be impacted by the financial crisis and commodity price increases,” WPP said in a statement. “In addition, the new U.S. President will have to wrestle with twin fiscal and budget deficits in early 2009. And post-Olympics, Chinese growth may slow due to inflationary (particularly food price) concerns and the impact that a weakening U.S. economy has on the rest of the world.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THIS ADWEEK ARTICLE