In addition to product placement, strategic PR firms are often called on for crisis management, investor relations and reputation management.

Public opinion pollling and consumer attitudes and beliefs are important to obtain benchmark data regarding the views of key target audiences.  To plan, develop or refine a public relations, public affairs or marketing communications program, often calls upon research services. 

Center for  Public Opinion Research (aka Roper Center for Public Opinion Research) (www.ropercenter.uconn.edu) specializes in data from surveys of mostly U.S. public opinion, and Survey Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois (www.srl.uic.edu) are a few good sites.  Research Alert, available from E.P.M. Communications (www.epmcom.com) provides covers topics such as spending habits of the affluent and super-affluent; what kids do during TV commercials; most talked-about brands, etc.  EPM also publishes newsletters focused on licensing, entertainment, youth marketing, women, blacks, Hispanics and Asian-American markets.

Online polling services includes several quick, do-it-yourself on-line polls: e-surveys from www.guidestarco.com, esearch firm www.esearch.com, and Satmetrix's online tools that identify top customer priorities (www.informative.com).

Free services include: www.surveymonkey.com, and www.zoomerang.com. Overall, these services are easy to set up but have drawbacks as well. There is limited or no control over sample design and selection and there's some difficulty in identity validation.

Other public opinion research includes attitude research. It consists of measuring and interpreting the full range of views, sentiments, feelings, opinions and beliefs which market segments may hold. Attitude research measures verbal expressions (what people say) with what they know and think (their cognitive predispositions), with what they're inclined to do or act (their motivational or drive tendencies.) 

Word of mouth advertising is different than public opinion research and polling, but no discussion is complete without mentioning it.  Curiously, Boston seems to be the hub of buzz and word of mouth advertising with the likes of BzzAgent, Cymfony Inc., ChatThreads Corp. and Communispace Corp. receiving notice.