WOMMA Responds to AdAge.com Anti-Buzz Headline
AdAge.com Tuesday ran a headline ("Is Buzz Marketing Illegal?") that got the world talking about word of mouth marketing.
Unfortunately, the headline gave a false impression that word of mouth was illegal. It also equated all word of mouth with sleazy stealth marketing, something which anyone in the field knows is not the case.
Interestingly enough, the print version had a completely different -- and much less inflammatory -- tone. "Stealth marketers flirt with law; FTC official: Disclosing commercial ties crucial to avoiding violations."
But it was the online headline, of course, which was picked up widely across the web and on blogs. We feel compelled to respond quickly.
Word of Mouth = Honesty and Openness
We maintain that word of mouth is all about honesty and openness, not deception or stealth. One of the first things WOMMA did was create an Ethics Code that calls on anyone doing word of mouth to be honest. It outlines The Honesty ROI:
- Honesty of Relationship: You say who you're working for
- Honesty of Opinion: You say what you really believe
- Honesty of Identity: You don't lie about who you are
The Code also addresses the stealth marketing issue raised in the AdAge story: "We encourage word of mouth advocates to disclose their relationship with marketers in their communications with other consumers."
Ethics Position is Clear and Unequivocal
Why did we respond so quickly and so vocally? Because word of mouth marketing is a new profession and we want our ethical position to be clear and unequivocal. The time to establish ethical standards is when a profession is young -- not years later after unscrupulous practitioners have had a chance to run free.
That was a mistake the email marketing world made by not staking out the ethical high ground early. Derogatory stories that equated all email marketing with SPAM scared ethical marketers out of the space and left it to the spammers.
We cannot allow that pattern to repeat itself in word of mouth.
We all know and firmly believe that the future of marketing is word of mouth; in an open and transparent a world, only open, honest and transparent marketing -- word of mouth -- can succeed in the long run.
More info:
WOMMA Ads Blog: More Thoughts and Discussion
http://ads.womma.org/2005/10/more_thoughts_o.html
WOMMA Ethics Code
http://www.womma.org/ethics.htm
AdAge.com article: "Is Buzz Marketing Illegal?"
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=46234
Oct. 5 update: AdAge.com posts WOMMA rebuttal
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=46342
