Day 1: WOM Is it Marketing or Customer Experience
John Moore - Brand Autopsy
Which came first marketing that is worthy of WOM or WOM that became marketing?
WOM Creationists - Believe in creating WOM via events. Burger King, GoDaddy
WOM Evolutionists - Evolves out of great service. In-N-Out, Geek Squad, Jones (Ed note: I have not heard good WOM about Geek Squad)
Both beliefs work, which approach works best. But...WOM Creationists are built to blip, quick sales peak and can disappear as fast as it arrives. WOM Evolution is built to last.
Talking about what a business does not what they did. Burger King is getting great WOM, but nobody is talking about the product, they're talking about the King.
What gets measured begins to get manufactured. During sweeps all the major networks create events to build ratings.
Spend marketing dollars to make the product more remarkable, not to make the WOM activity more remarkable. (see Bezos quote). Case study the Pontiac G6. Big event, a little bit of WOM, but no sales.
WOM is more than a marketing issue, it's a business issue. Successful business are building the WOM within their overall strategy, rather than creating a two-week marketing campaign. John is really hyping Dogfish beers (must be John's client).
Gary Stein - BuzzMetrics
Anytime you have an opportunity, make recommendations and look at the reaction, look at the outcome. Interactive marketing is redundant, all marketing should be interactive.
The strained relationship between the manufacturer and the channel is building momentum for WOM. Consumer products live and die by the planogram. If your product is at foot level you're dead. Manufacturers can no longer rely upon the channel to sell their product. Customers need to ask for the brand.
The cost of Super Bowl ads is remaining the same, or slightly increasing, but viewer-ship is declining.
The spark is to invite people in. Mini ads are always surprising. ilovebees.com Games are very good at this. The easter egg suddenly makes a game or application relevant again.
Rules to WOM by:
- WOM campaigns are interactive
- Interactive campaigns require relationships to be formed
- Relationships are always controlled by the person who is less in love
- The consumer is generally less in love than the marketer
During Questions:
John: What the hell is Coke doing with Tab? Why is it even alive? Too many corporations keep brands alive.
