Paul Rand, Ketchum's Global Chief Development and Innovation Officer explained WOMMA's vision by using the line from the movie As Good as it Gets when the character played by Jack Nicholson explains to the character played by Helen Hunt that she makes him want to be a better man: You make us want to be better companies and better brands.

Paul, explained that the vision of WOMMA as being all about empowering the consumer, putting an end to invasive advertising and having a two way dialog with consumers that is listened to regardless of whether we like what they say. He explained that because of technology the days when marketers could put out a bad product or service and sell it before people discovered that it was bad are gone. In todays world for marketers, "there is nowhere to run or nowhere to hide."

He spoke of trust and transparency being the essential  ingredients for marketers and pointed out that the essence of the WOMMA code comes down to the Honesty ROI:

Honesty of Relationship: You say who you are speaking for.

Honesty of Opinion: You say what you believe.

Honesty of Identity: You never hide your identity.

Sounds simple enough but Paul went on to discuss what crosses the line. He listed stealth marketing, shilling, and infiltration. Of course the definitions of exactly where the line is crossed are not always so clear. This is an ongoing ethical discussion and an important one to WOMMA. As Paul notes, social trust is undercut when it is discovered that people are treating each other as advertising pawns.

posted by Marianne Richmond Resonance Partnership Media Slaves...Life in Permanent Beta

Tags: WOMMA, WONBAT2, Paul Rand, Ketchum, WOMMA ethics

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