Animal, Vegetable, Buzz: Defining WOMM in Your Organization
On his blog, Rohit Bhargava outlines "The 3 Philosophies of Word of Mouth Marketing," which are the three major categories WOMM falls into when being defined within an organization. According to Rohit, WOMM is being categorized most frequently as a channel -- because that makes it easier to explain WOM to people used to dealing in traditional marketing terms. WOMM as an outcome, alternatively, puts WOM at the core of all of a company's marketing programs, and implies an understanding that other forms of advertising will impact the shape and feel of the WOM spread. Of course, there's also the perception that WOMM is all about making things "go viral," which is just one slice of the whole WOM pie.