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WOMMA Opposes Stealth Marketing
Today, a consumer watchdog group named "Commercial Alert" asked the FTC to investigate companies that engage in stealth marketing to teenagers. Although the organization's request confused buzz marketing with deceptive stealth, they address an important issue: Stealth marketing is wrong and the practice is particularly unscrupulous when used to influence teens.
WOMMA has led the fight against stealth marketing and will continue to do so. We call on all responsible companies to join our efforts.
For more information, please see the WOMMA Ethics Code.
http://www.womma.org/ethics.htm
Here are some further thoughts on the subject. Our points are similar to those posted in rebuttal to the AdAge.com article several weeks ago, but bear repeating.
1. Word of mouth/buzz marketing is not stealth marketing.
Word of mouth is listening to the consumer and giving them a voice.
Stealth is tricking people.
Honest marketers oppose all forms of stealth and deception. We never pay people to say things, or ask people to misrepresent who they are or who they are working for.
2. Disclosure is good. We demand disclosure.
We want consumers to talk, openly and honestly. That's the point of word of mouth marketing. We insist that any relationship between consumers and marketers be clearly disclosed from the beginning. We also think that disclosure makes messages more powerful, because it makes them more trustworthy. (No other type of marketing demands this level of honesty.)
3. Confusing stealth with WOM hurts all marketers.
Inaccurate and misleading headlines like this hurt us all by scaring away legitimate marketers and leaving the field open for shady operators. We need to work together in the fight for higher standards, pointing out the bad actors, while supporting the early efforts of honest marketers.
If we fail to do so, we will repeat the unhappy history of email. Reporters started referring to all email marketers as "spammers," lumping Target, J. Crew and other respected brands with email newsletters in with the pornographers. What happened? Everyone stopped talking about honest ways to use email. Few companies fought for anti-spam laws. And the spammers ran free, unopposed.
4. Word of mouth protects consumers by giving them a voice.
The kind of marketing we do gives a powerful platform to consumers - and forces marketers to respect them. We empower consumers by engaging with them in blogs, message boards, communities, and in the real world. We give people the power to voice their dissatisfaction and expose dishonesty. We're the marketers who have learned to listen. This is the opposite of deception.
5. Word of mouth makes all marketing more honest.
All marketers should be held to the higher standard we are working together to establish. Word of mouth only works when consumers trust and respect us. We're the feedback loop. When all marketers learn to respect consumers' word of mouth, all marketing will be more honest.
6. WOMMA and it's members oppose all forms of deception.
That's why WOMMA was founded, why we published an unmatched ethics code, and why more that 200 companies have joined to support it. We still have work to do, but we're off to a good start. In fact, two recent reports by respected analysts at Forrester Research cite the WOMMA Code of Ethics and our members' commitment to transparency as models for the industry to follow.
7. WOMMA's Ethics Code: Honesty is what we live by.
The WOMMA Ethics Code is all about "The Honesty ROI." Three simple concepts: Honesty of Relationship: You say who you're working for; Honesty of Opinion: You say what you really believe; and Honesty of Identity: You don't lie about who you are.
WOMMA was the first and only organization to demand ethics in word of mouth. Read the WOMMA Ethics Code for yourself at http://www.womma.org/ethics.htm.
8. Word of mouth marketing is mainstream.
WOM isn't a fringe marketing practice. It's being adopted by most enlightened mainstream marketers. That's why more that 200 companies have joined WOMMA, most brands are blogging, and CMO Magazine reports that 43% of marketers are adopting WOM in the next 6 months.