Skip to Content | Skip to Navigation

WOM Wednesday Teleconference Recap -- Inside the Launch of Nintendo's Wii

On Wednesday, Feb. 21, WOMMA put Nintendo's next-generation gaming system -- the much-talked-about Wii -- front and center during an hour-long teleconference about using word of mouth to launch a new brand. Speakers Perrin Kaplan of Nintendo of America and Stephen Jones of GolinHarris shared strategies from the Wii launch to help listeners understand how word of mouth marketing helped them fundamentally revolutionize a stagnant video game marketplace.
Together, Kaplan and Jones related how Nintendo used a combination of word of mouth marketing techniques -- including buzz marketing, social networking, consumer-generated media, and brand ambassadors -- to take its brand from last place to first, ahead of its largest competitors.

Featured Speakers:

  • Stephen Jones, EVP, GolinHarris
  • Perrin Kaplan, VP, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Nintendo of America

Recommended reading:

  • "The Innovator's Dilemma," by Clayton M. Christensen

Key points:

  • Fundamental to success is a product that's at once innovative and accessible
  • Brands should move beyond word of mouth marketing and toward "word of experience" marketing, giving consumers the chance to not only talk about products, but also to use them
  • To be truly successful, marketers should integrate their individual word of mouth efforts into a larger, more informed word of mouth campaign
  • Marketers can give their campaigns legs and longevity by insisting on sustainable buzz and actionable ROI
  • The best kind of word of mouth is the kind that seizes upon consumer enthusiasm to create unimagined campaigns and unanticipated opportunities

Download slides presented during the call here (2.26 MB PDF)

Did you miss this valuable teleconference?
Members can download the audio for free now in the WOMMA Member Center!