October 2006
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WOMMA is enriching the word of mouth marketing world this week with three exciting, hot-off-the-press announcements. Don't miss our:
--> Word of Mouth Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11, 2006. This is the place to be for all the latest numbers, measures, and metrics in WOM.
Register
--> Ethics Assessment Tool, which includes 20 simple questions to help marketers stop unethical word of mouth campaigns before they start.
Comment
--> Word of Mouth Marketing Summit, Dec. 12-13, featuring these groundbreaking authors:
* Jackie Huba, author, "Citizen Marketers"
* John Moore, author, "Tribal Knowledge"
* Debbie Weil, author, "The Corporate Blogging Book"
* Jon Berry, author, "The Influentials"
* George Silverman, author, "The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing"
* Greg Stielstra, author, "PyroMarketing"
* Rex Briggs, author, "What Sticks"
* Andy Sernovitz, author, "Word of Mouth Marketing"
Learn more
Last month, Mattel Inc. introduced its newest Tickle Me Elmo doll, T.M.X. Elmo, to hordes of Muppet-hungry consumers. The doll, which rolls into a ball during fits of laughter, was "top secret" for months but still managed to attract thousands of preorders from retailers and their customers alike, sight unseen. Mattel can thank its marketing team for that. Shrouding the toy in secrecy -- marketing it with mystery, an "unveiling" date, and suspenseful leaks to retailers and trade press -- generated unprecedented buzz for the company. The campaign proves that it's not always what you say that counts -- sometimes it's what you don't say that's most word-of-mouth-worthy.
Learn more (Washington Post)
Learn more (Marketing Profs)
A recent promotion for its new book club is evidence that, as it continues to search for sales outside the coffee category, Starbucks is relying on word of mouth to create success. The campaign involves a sponsored page for Mitch Albom's new book, "For One More Day," on social networking site Gather.com. The page features a post from Albom and invites readers to post comments in a virtual book club discussion. The effort positions Starbucks as a hub for conversations about books and is a good reminder that social networking isn't just a teen phenomenon; it's for adults, too.
Learn more (Starbucks)
Learn more (MediaPost)
Business.com has launched a sister site -- Work.com -- to empower small business owners, giving them the tools for creating buzz for their companies. The site features a collection of how-to articles written by subject-matter experts who offer tips and tools for doing business better. What makes the site unique, however, is not that it's community-based, but that it invites users to become writers by submitting their own how-to guides. Users can rate one another's guides, and those with the best reviews and tips rise to the top as favorites. The model has potential to generate positive word of mouth not only for Work.com, but also for contributors who provide a valuable BtoB service to their peers and customers.
Learn more (Work.com)
Learn more (Buzzoodle)
Learn more (CNET News)
MEC Interaction Helps Sears Generate Word of Mouth
Learn more (iMedia Connection)
GUESS Watches Discovers Viral Marketing
Learn more (BizReport)
WOMMA is revolutionizing the typical conference experience by allowing attendees to build their own conference sessions -- known as YouSessions. The closing day of WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit will feature six exciting YouSessions suggested, developed, and voted on by attendees, who will also star as exclusive YouSession speakers. That's right, WOMMA is practicing what we preach and handing the reigns over to you. So send us your best ideas and stand by to vote on and participate in these groundbreaking panels. This is your chance to speak up and be heard!
Learn more and suggest a YouSession idea
Inspired by Wikipedia's model of community-created information, Stanford University has launched its own wiki for students. Stanford Wiki features information on professors, dining halls, dorms, local businesses, and even financial aid. It is open for public view, but only users with a Stanford email address may edit entries. The new site, which could easily be used to reach new students or to share information with alumni, is a potential boon to the university because it provides free marketing for the school directly from its most avid fans: those who attend it.
Learn more:
MicroPersuasion
Stanford Daily
Stanford Wiki
Broadway.com, an online ticket vendor for theatergoers in New York and London, has announced a new addition to its website: a group of 12 real consumers-turned-theater-reviewers known collectively as the Word of Mouth panel. Panel members, who range in age from 6 to 73, will attend shows throughout the 2006-07 Broadway season and share their "honest reactions" with fellow theater fans via written reviews. The panel is a creative way to engage consumers while stimulating ticket sales with word of mouth about new shows.
Learn more:
Broadway.com
With the introduction of sponsored communities to its hosted blogging site, LiveJournal is making it easier for brands to start conversations with consumers. Similar to services already offered by MySpace and Facebook, the new communities are created and maintained by companies who want to post information about a product or service within them, which consumers can discuss via blog-like journal entries. While controversial for introducing sponsorships in an otherwise ad-free environment, the feature is a way for companies to honestly and openly engage with their customers online.
Learn more:
ClickZ
AdJab
Truman Capote Teaches Dave Feldman About WOM
Turning Students into Brand Ambassadors
Learn more:
Adotas
Media Life
Traditional advertising is a thing of the past; the future is all about customer-driven marketing. That was the message early this month at the 96th annual conference of the Association of National Advertisers. Presenters from brands such as Procter & Gamble, Yahoo!, and Sony suggested that advertisers should abandon top-down marketing strategies in favor of more organic, grassroots campaigns and conversations. "I call it participation marketing," said Cammie Dunaway, chief marketing officer at Yahoo! "Allow [consumers] to help you shape the brand experience. Content is no longer something you push out. Content is an invitation to engage with your brand."
Learn more (New York Times)
Learn more (MediaPost)
American Express has announced a new website, PartnersInPreservation.com, to involve citizens from the San Francisco Bay area in the renovation and beautification of local historic sites. In partnership with WOMMA member Electric Artists, the company is asking Bay Area residents to vote for their favorite of 25 sites, either online or in person at designated voting kiosks. The community votes will determine how $1 million in preservation grants from American Express are spent. The engagement is an innovative example of how brands can build relationships with their customers by creating word-of-mouth-worthy messages especially for and within local communities.
Learn more
TV Guide has relaunched its website with an eye on community-building. The new site features media-rich content, including video and several community areas -- such as expert and audience blogs, discussion groups, and forums -- designed to fuel conversation and participation among TV viewers. The redesigned site follows the magazine's launch of 65 separate blogs earlier this year, a sign that in television marketing, word of mouth is quickly becoming king.
Learn more
Cable TV network Bravo attributes its success not to expensive marketing plans, but rather to simple, organic word of mouth. So says president Lauren Zalaznick. She tells Broadcasting & Cable magazine in a recent article that her network's transformation from an obscure arts channel into a growing cable contender is due largely to its ability to generate buzz with provocative content and interactive blogs. "We've become a talked-about 'watercooler' network," says Francis Berwick, executive vice president of programming and production, "and that is incredibly gratifying."
Learn more
Mark Schupp on Why Viral Marketing is "Cutting Edge"
PR Newswire Includes Blogs in Media Monitoring Service
Learn more (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Learn more (PR Newswire)
Netflix announced last week a $1 million incentive for customers who suggest ways to improve its movie recommendation system. The prize is part of a contest to help the company increase its competitive edge with more accurate technology for decoding consumer tastes. The winner will be the entrant whose idea helps advance the company's current software so that their recommendations are at least 10% more accurate.
Successful word of mouth marketers know the most useful customer feedback -- the kind that happens naturally -- can't be bought. There's no denying, though, that $1 million is a surefire way to generate buzz. And with some luck, it might end up improving service, too.
Learn more (Boston Herald)
Learn more (Netflix)
MySpace is teaming up with filmmakers to build buzz around new movie releases -- before, not after, they hit theaters. Inspired, perhaps, by this summer's "Snakes on a Plane," which attracted a devout following in the blogosphere months prior to its release, MySpace has launched "The Black Carpet" to encourage word of mouth about upcoming releases among movie fans. The opt-in group will enable MySpace members to preview screenings of films in their area, empowering word of mouth online and offline by helping consumers who like to speculate about new movies actually see them.
Learn more (MySpace)
Learn more (AdWeek)
Verizon Communications has announced plans to launch a blog by year's end to create an "all issues on the table" dialogue with its customers. The blog will be staffed with a 24-hour response team, according to Verizon's senior vice president of marketing and brand management, Jerri DeVard. At last month's MIXX Conference in New York, DeVard said that her company had been "asleep at the wheel a bit" with regards to online marketing and social networking. She added that personalization and experimentation will continue to drive Verizon's marketing efforts going forward.
Learn more (MediaPost)
Learn more (Business Blog Consulting)
Learn more (Marketing Profs: Daily Fix)
QVC has announced a winner in its inaugural Qforce contest, which was conceived of early this year when the company decided employees could create word of mouth for its brand just as well as consumers could. More than 725 employees entered the contest, charged with building buzz around their employer by gaining media coverage while wearing a Qforce t-shirt. The winning brand ambassador was Bern Gallagher, who created a belly-flop contest to raise funds for Cure Autism Now that was promoted in local and national media, as well as through viral video outlets. The Qforce contest is a reminder that everyone -- not just customers -- is capable of talking up your brand.
Learn more (Yahoo!)
Learn more (QVC)
GolinHarris Debates the Future of Communications via Blog
NextFiftyYears.com
Amy Auerbach Asks, 'Can Viral Marketing Survive?'
MediaPost
In a recent article, The Wall Street Journal made a unique departure from the standard small business how-to -- things like how to buy advertising and how to finance growth -- and printed tips for generating buzz.
Simple suggestions, from sources such as WOMMA members Ed Keller of Keller Fay Group, Steve Rubel of Edelman and Mark Hughes of Buzzmarketing, include:
* Starting a company blog and syndicating it online via an RSS feed
* Joining online discussion groups
* Registering with the local portions of popular search engines
* Creating and distributing your own media, including newsletters and podcasts
* Building ambassador and loyalty programs to foster word of mouth among consumers offline
* Partnering with non-competing vendors in order to build local, word-of-mouth-worthy relationships
Learn more:
Wall Street Journal
NBC's new online media affiliate, the National Broadband Company (NBBC), is trying to harness word of mouth -- and is failing, according to bloggers, who have been chiding the company for trying to limit and control customer distribution of content. "If we really want to compete with big aggregators like Yahoo! and Google, we need our video in as many places as possible," Randy Falco, president of NBC Universal, told The New York Times. But because NBBC forbids consumers from reposting their videos on their blogs, and will not accept user-generated content, bloggers such as Jeff Jarvis and Teresa Valdez Klein suggest the venture will likely fall flat. After all, you can't benefit from word of mouth without first enabling conversations.
Learn more:
Blog Business Summit
BuzzMachine
Cell phones can create word of mouth -- after all, they can take pictures, play music and even capture video -- so why shouldn't they also be able to track it? Well, now they can thanks to new technology that can translate viral marketing tools for use on cell phones. Via a new type of digitized system, cell phones will be able to collect detailed information on data transmission -- including the time and reach of distribution -- and convert it into numerical figures for analysis. The resulting stats will no doubt prove useful for word of mouth marketers, who will be able to harness the information to create more effective -- and more mobile -- WOM campaigns.
Learn more:
Japan Corporate News Network
To be successful, word of mouth marketers must adopt a show-and-tell approach to customer evangelism, says Don Peppers, founding partner of Peppers & Rogers Group. In a recent edition of 1to1 Weekly, he speaks with Sigma Marketing's Martha Bush, who argues that it's not enough for customers to tell their friends and family about a product -- to be truly effective, they must also be able to show that they've used it. "When it comes to using word of mouth your most valuable customers need to have experience with the product," Bush tells Peppers. "It's hard to say a customer can be an evangelist without actual experience."
Learn more:
1to1 Weekly
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