September 2006
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Consumer-generated media is in the spotlight, thanks to recent headlines surrounding LonelyGirl15, and WOMMA is responding with a call for discussion:
* Read and comment on our position paper at www.womma.org/disclosure.
* Join us Wednesday, Sept. 27, at noon EST for a full telephone briefing on the issues surrounding social media disclosure. Call 1-512-225-3050 and enter code 495675# to participate.
Most consumers believe that content in environments like MySpace or YouTube has been created by non-marketers. WOMMA's goal is to establish actionable guidelines and best practices for marketers working in this media. When complete, these guidelines will provide marketers with industry-accepted terms as to what constitutes sufficient disclosure.
Wikipedia entries on the country's top 100 advertisers are consistently among the top-ranked pages in Google searches of those brands. That's according to Micro Persuasion, which last week performed a simple study that produced remarkable results -- remarkable because even amid the billions of dollars that brands spend annually on search engine marketing and optimization, consumer opinion in the form of customer-created articles rises to the top.
Key findings, according to Edelman's Steve Rubel:
* On average, Wikipedia articles appear at No. 11 out of thousands of search results for the top 100 brands.
* While having more domains with your name reduces the impact of Wikipedia on your search results, having a more unique brand actually increases it.
* Results are similar across all search engines.
Learn more:
Micro Persuasion
Viral video isn't all fun and games. Former Lockheed Martin engineer Michael De Kort is proof. When mainstream media dismissed allegations that his former employer sold the U.S. Coast Guard $24 billion worth of refurbished equipment with significant security flaws, De Kort posted his claims on YouTube, instead, via a 10-minute video that was picked up by major news outlets such as The Washington Post and NPR. Whether you call it citizen journalism or consumer-generated media, it's proof that while WOM is a great way to sell products, it's also an ideal tool for spreading information.
Learn more:
MediaPost
In a twist of irony, an independent film with few words has found its way into 18 film festivals worldwide thanks entirely to WOM. Susan Buice of Framingham, Mass., and her boyfriend, Arin Crumley, created "Four Eyed Monsters" to retell the origin of their relationship, which began in 2002 as an experiment between strangers in which they met and -- for four months -- communicated exclusively through "artistic means," including videos, emails and written notes. They marketed the film via a website, MySpace page, YouTube clips and behind-the-scenes podcasts. Truly innovative, however, was their push to have fans request that their local theaters show the film. Their website chronicles fan requests, which have successfully put the film at theaters in six cities nationwide.
Learn more:
Official website
Boston Globe
Viral video continues to evolve at a viral pace. The latest development is the debut last week of Revver.com. The first service of its kind, Revver matches users' videos with advertisers, who sponsor them. The trackable ads appear at the end of video clips and consumers are rewarded with a percentage of the ad revenue that their respective clips generate. The development -- which is reminiscent of the way in which Google AdWords supported the blogging community with access to easy money -- is an interesting one that's sure to drive the viral video market forward with added incentives for creative user-generated content and for full disclosure by those sponsoring it.
Learn more:
http://www.revver.com
http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2006/09/14/revver_entices_youtube_video_creators_with_cash/
Thanks to the recent rise of local search sites like Yelp, CitySearch, Angie's List and Yahoo! Local, customer referrals are becoming more thorough, more honest and more accessible. A September feature by the San Francisco Chronicle, however, reveals that they aren't necessarily becoming more favorable. Enabling customers to review their local businesses online means giving them a forum in which to both praise and punish small businesses. The result, one business owner tells the Chronicle, is that businesses "have to be A+ on the ball all the time."
Learn more:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/03/BUG45KT0RH1.DTL
Viral videos are exploding onto computer screens nationwide, bringing with them a host of ethical questions and conundrums of which WOM marketers have long been aware -- and which the government is now acknowledging. The Federal Trade Commission has announced plans to host a seminar on WOM marketing practices, titled "Protecting Consumers in the Next Tech-ade." Taking place Nov. 6, the goal is to open a dialogue between business, government and technology on emerging viral marketing techniques, as well as the proper role of advertising in social networks and user-generated media.
WOMMA is excited to see ethics and consumer protection pushed to the top of the agenda. As WOM and consumer participation continue to revolutionize how people communicate, we continue to push for the utmost care in making consumer protection our first priority.
Learn more:
http://www.ftc.gov/techade
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=111788
WOM tops the list of marketing practices at the country's fastest growing private companies, according to a new Inc. 500 survey. The magazine asked CEOs on its list how they advertise or market their products and services and found that, above all other methods, WOM is king.
The rest of the list:
* Email marketing (58%)
* Web-based keyword purchases (51%)
* Print magazines (50%)
* Direct mail (46%)
* Web banner ads (35%)
* Print newspapers (24%)
* Television (9%)
* Billboards (6%)
Learn more:
http://www.inc.com/resources/inc500/2006/
This summer, courtesy of a unique movie promotion, MySpace users saw their names on the big screen by enabling WOM on the small screen. The first 10,000 people to add Mooby's Presents Clerks II as a friend in their MySpace profile had their names listed in the end credits of "Clerks II." The promotion was so successful that filmmakers extended it, promising to list in the end credits of the DVD the names of anyone who had linked to "Clerks II" prior to the film's July 21 opening. The innovative promotion gave users a reason to link to "Clerks II," but more than that, it gave them cause to tell their friends about the movie.
Learn more
"Advertising Age" columnist Bob Garfield is practicing what he preaches. In his 2005 article, "Inside the New World of Listenomics," Garfield analyzed the ways in which open-source technology and consumer-generated media are changing how companies build their brands. Now, Garfield is turning his open-source treatise into a book -- and he's writing it via his blog, with readers' help. In so doing, Garfield's not only getting help with his writing, he's also generating WOM about his book.
Learn more
Two "Entertainment Weekly" writers consulted experts at CollegeHumor, YouTube, Google Video, AOL Video and MySpace this summer to find out what makes a viral video sensation. The keys to viral success, according to the amateur filmmakers, include:
* Comedy: The most successful consumer-created videos are funny and spontaneous.
* Hooks: Viewers must be drawn in within the first 10 to 15 seconds of video.
* Music: Sound adds to a video's entertainment value.
* Length: Short is always better.
* Relevance: Most viral sensations target a niche audience and include nostalgic or pop culture references.
Learn more
As Facebook.com now knows, WOM goes both ways. On Sept. 5, Facebook debuted a new feature on its popular social networking Web site: an RSS news feed that alerts members of changes to their friends' profiles. In response, scores of Facebook members have risen in protest, claiming the feeds publicize potentially embarrassing episodes in their lives. And while the information in the feeds was already public, according to Facebook, that hasn't stopped members from signing petitions and creating forums within and outside of Facebook in which to object.
Users' unexpected reaction is a reminder that WOM has a mind of its own; when you give your customers a voice, you must be ready to hear what they have to say.
Media Post
Facebook.com
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