May 2007
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Have a great WOM BtoB case study that you want to share with your industry peers, but don't have the time to write it up? Let us know. We'll arrange to interview you, and we'll write the case study for you. It's easy: Tell us your story, and we'll spread the word.
WOMMA and member companies Slack Barshinger and Keith Bates and Associates have teamed up to bring the word of mouth marketing industry the first ever WOM BtoB whitepaper -- a collection of case studies to demonstrate BtoB word of mouth in action. This is a great opportunity; step up and showcase your expertise in this high-demand area by submitting your WOM BtoB case study -- or contact WOMMA to set up an interview, and we can do the heavy lifting for you.
Have you done something WOM-worthy in the world of BtoB? We want to hear about it. For more information, or to submit your case study now, email us at editor@womma.org.
When it comes to promoting destinations, word of mouth is key. Just ask online travel brokers like Priceline and Expedia. They've already enriched their websites with user-generated content, including blogs and reviews for and by consumers. And now, WOMMA member company Yahoo! is following suit with a redesigned travel hub intended to generate word of mouth among information-hungry travelers.
The new Yahoo! Travel includes user-generated destination guides and reviews, as well as instant messaging capabilities for travelers that want to share content or discuss travel plans. A new section, "Today's Picks," even makes personalized destination recommendations based on users' past activity.
Each of Yahoo! Travel's upgrades is designed to help travelers share and discover information. Says Jasper Malcolmson, director of Yahoo! Travel: "By tapping into the collective intelligence of other like-minded travelers, there is a greater ability to plan and take truly memorable trips -- no matter how near or far you want to go."
Learn more (Yahoo!)
Learn more (BizReport)
Urban Outfitters prides itself on being a little bit different. Its clothes are unique, its furniture funky, and even its corporate blog -- which debuted last month -- is decidedly un-average. In fact, the new Urban Outfitters blog isn't just unique; like most of the chain's merchandise, it's also a conversation piece.
Urban Outfitters launched its blog in April, and it's been generating buzz across the blogosphere ever since thanks to its radical design and its targeted content. The blog shuns the standard vertical structure of most blogs and is built horizontally, instead, so that users can scroll sideways through 22 separate windows of content. What's in those windows is unique, too, as the blog is organized geographically; the point isn't only to advertise local store promotions and sales, but to connect with customers by sharing cool cultural happenings in each of the store's major urban markets.
Everyone has a blog these days, but Urban Outfitters' is proof that there's still room for innovation online.
Learn more (Urban Outfitters Blog)
Learn more (Brand Flakes for Breakfast Blog)
Learn more (Strategic Public Relations Blog)
Many, many successful products are created in under-cover research labs using top-secret research. More and more, however, popular products are being developed open-source style with consumers at the helm. Among them is the Bevy, an innovative case for Apple's iPod Shuffle that debuted this month and was designed by product development firm Mophie -- or rather, by its customers.
The Bevy retails for $15 and features a protective covering for the Shuffle, an earbud wrap, a keychain and a bottle opener -- all in one compact device. Even more notable than its design, though, is the Bevy's origin: It's the first of three Mophie products created and voted on by consumers at this year's MacWorld Conference & Expo, where the company transformed its booth into a live, collaborative product creation lab.
Not only is the Bevy inventive, it's also a reminder to companies that the best products are sometimes born of buyers' brains.
Learn more (Macsimum News)
Learn more (Fast Company)
Along with "Clean your room" and "Stand up straight," "Eat your vegetables" tops the list of things that mothers most like to tell their children. Now, as part of a new healthy-eating campaign from the Canned Food Alliance (CFA), moms are telling each other to finish their veggies, too.
The CFA is counting on the oldest kind of word of mouth -- conversation -- to promote the nutritional benefits of canned food. To facilitate that conversation, the CFA is helping "alpha moms" in Chicago host in-home "CANdelight Dinner Parties," at which women gather to cook nutritional meals together using canned ingredients.
The organization provides the influential moms with recipes, tools, ingredients and a $50 gift certificate for other party expenses. The result: By rewarding influential consumers with free stuff, the CFA has initiated word of mouth that puts more green on families' plates, as well as in its member companies' pockets.
Learn more (Meal Time)
Learn more (MediaPost)
When USA Today redesigned its website in March, it expected improved metrics. The metrics it got, however, were nothing short of stellar: New registrations at the re-launched USAToday.com are up 380% over pre-launch numbers, the Gannett-owned paper reported last month.
The new USAToday.com -- part of the paper's "Network Journalism" initiative -- is all about community-building and features video, blogs, and reader forums, as well as dynamic content rating, sharing, and recommendation tools. Thanks in large part to those tools, the paper says, the site has experienced dramatic performance gains; its unique visitor rates have increased 21% since February and more than 40,000 user comments have been published alongside news stories on the site since March. The numbers are proof that information is more powerful when consumers can interact with it, create it, and share it with their peers.
Learn more (USA Today)
Learn more (MediaPost)
Traditional car advertisements are a dime a dozen, and that's exactly why Toyota is launching its redesigned Scion xB without them. Instead, the car manufacturer is marketing its box-shaped ride exclusively with nontraditional media buys in order to attract the attention -- and the endorsements -- of the trendy youth market.
Toyota wants to connect with young men, in particular. Instead of TV and print ads, therefore, it's spending its ad budget on an edgy website (www.Want2BSquare.com) that it's promoting via ambiguous movie trailers, billboards, and games -- none of which explicitly tout the Scion. Most people won't get the ads, Toyota says, but urban males ages 18 to 35 will -- and the company is counting on them to give the car "street cred," attracting buyers of all ages and both genders via word of mouth.
Learn more (USA Today)
Stolichnaya Vodka is rediscovering and reasserting its brand in order to build buzz and stimulate vodka sales in the United States. What's more, it's spending its entire internet advertising budget -- several million dollars -- to do it. Stoli isn't spending that money on banner ads, though; instead, it's spending it on an extravagant traveling hotel and spa.
The Stoli Hotel opened this month in Hollywood and will travel with exclusive events this summer to cities such as New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Miami. A temporary 10,000-square-foot outpost that can accommodate up to 1,500 guests, the hotel features flavor-themed guest rooms, a working spa, and a cutting-edge bar.
The idea behind the buzz-worthy hotel, a tour of which is available at www.stolihotel.com, is to reconstruct the Stoli brand -- which has suffered from inconsistency in recent years -- and to connect with customers who will tell the brand's story.
Learn more (MediaPost)
WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit and Research Symposium is taking place this Nov. 13-15 in Las Vegas. With the industry's biggest thinkers and heaviest hitters all in one place, we guarantee that what happens at this conference won't stay in Vegas.
The official event for word of mouth marketing, WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit is a must-attend for all word of mouth marketing professionals. At WOMMA's annual Summit, the word of mouth marketing industry convenes to discuss issues, trends, current events, and more -- and we want you to be there.
>> Save the Date for WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit and Research Symposium in Las Vegas, Nov. 13-15, 2007.
A new trade publication aimed at "serious" bloggers and podcasters who want to improve their craft hit newsstands this month. "Blogger and Podcaster," the magazine being published by Larstan Publishing and produced by Larry Genkin, is set to print 12 times per year, and will also be published free of charge in digital and podcast format.
When it comes to the value of such a publication, the buzz in the blogosphere is divided. Some question whether publishing a print magazine undermines the blog and podcast media that the magazine claims to be promoting, while others insist that a trade publication offers a forum for conversation, as well as validity for an industry that is still struggling to build a perception of professionalism.
Learn more (The Blog Herald)
Learn more (MarketingVOX)
Learn more (Joe Wikert's Publishing 2020 Blog)
Early this month, Digg.com users staged a rebellion. The social bookmarking site, which lets online users rank news stories and blogs, started banning members from posting a processing key that makes it easier for online pirates to bypass anti-copying technology in order to make bootlegged copies of movies. The AACS Licensing Authority, which controls the anti-copying technology, sent a cease and desist declaration to Digg, and the website capitulated, removing all posts that contained the code.
Digg's 1.2 million registered users -- in defiance of the ban -- inundated the site, breaking traffic records and using their Digg savvy to make certain that each of the top 10 stories on the site's front page either included the banned code or attacked Digg's ethics (or both).
In the end, Digg let its users have their way -- in spite of looming legal threats. On the company's blog, Digg founder Kevin Rose posted a brief explanation of why the company banned the code in the first place. He ended by saying, "You've made it clear. You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be."
Learn more (Los Angeles Times)
Learn more (Boing Boing)
Learn more (Digg the Blog)
Gamers all around the net have been buzzing about the viral website that was launched in April to promote the video game Haze, which is set to be released for Sony PS3 later this year. The website in question appears to be a corporate site for Mantel Global Industries, which is where the main character in the Haze game works, and includes financial information from the year 2031, as well as several areas where access is denied -- for now.
Now that they've discovered the site, many gamers are chatting on message boards about the website, the game, and what clues might be lurking within those closed areas. In spite of the buzz, a writer for Xboxic.com wonders about the end value of a site that has little to do with the game and which he describes as obviously created for marketing purposes. Whether or not gamers are beginning to lose interest based on the "obviousness" of these viral sites remains to be seen. Of course, it's worth noting that the Xboxic.com writer's opinions sparked conversation and further spread the word about the site.
Learn more (Computer and Videogamers)
Learn more (PSU)
Learn more (Mantel Global Industries)
We know you're busy, so block out these days now; you're not going to want to miss this. WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit is the official event for word of mouth marketing, and is a must-attend for all professionals engaged in word of mouth marketing. At WOMMA's annual Summit, the word of mouth marketing industry convenes to discuss issues, trends, current events, and more -- and we want you to be there.
>> Save the Date for WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit and Research Symposium, Nov. 13-15, 2007.
Here at WOMMA, we are constantly being asked for examples that demonstrate the power of word of mouth in the BtoB realm. Well, we've been listening, we hear what you're asking for, and we're gearing up to give you just that.
WOMMA and member companies Slack Barshinger and Keith Bates and Associates are teaming up to bring the word of mouth industry the first ever WOM BtoB whitepaper -- a collection of case studies to demonstrate BtoB word of mouth in action. This is a great opportunity to step up and showcase your expertise in this high-demand area by submitting your WOM BtoB case study.
Have you done something WOM-worthy in the world of BtoB? We want to hear about it. For more information, or to submit your case study now, email us at editor@womma.org.
In a recent webcast, Ford Motor Corp. urged employees to act as ready and willing advocates for the auto brand. Ford employees were specifically encouraged to become "a walking advertisement" to friends, family, and the media they encounter. This push is rooted in the idea that employee confidence in the Ford Motor Corp. will translate into increased confidence in the general population. The appeal came on the heels of an internal survey that showed encouraging rises in employee confidence in the company's turnaround efforts.
So long as Ford employees remember to disclose their relationship with the company and only give their honest opinions, this initiative by the automaker has the potential to get tons of Fords biggest fans -- its employees -- to spread the word.
Learn more (Detroit News 4/14/07)
Learn more (Detroit News 3/26/07)
In the days after the Virginia Tech killings, more than 236 groups related to the tragedy were formed on the Facebook messageboard, providing a forum for both those involved and those on the fringes to talk, interact, and discuss the implications. At a time when cell phones were jammed and worried friends and family couldn't get through to students, a group called "I'm ok at VT" popped up, listing the names of those killed and details about the condition of those who had been injured. Outside of Facebook, students also set up the website www.vtincident.com to discuss the shooting.
In honor of the victims, the website www.onedayblogsilence.com was launched to encourage bloggers to observe a day of silence on April 30 as an online tribute. On that day, in place of a blog post, participants posted a graphic that linked back to the website and explained the reason for the day of silence. A Technorati search showed more than 2,500 links back to the One Day Blog Silence URL.
Learn more (Reuters)
Learn more (MarketingVOX)
Learn more (One Day Blog Silence)
Presidential hopeful Susie Flynn has made a splash in all of the appropriate online venues. She has her own website at www.electsusie.com. You can find her on Facebook as well as on MySpace, and she even has six, 30-second TV spots on YouTube. Not a bad effort for someone who can't legally win the election.
Susie Flynn (not her real name) is a ten-year-old girl, and is acting as the figurehead of a campaign for the Children's Defense Fund. With Susie as the voice of the nine million U.S. children without health insurance, the Children's Defense Fund hopes to create buzz and raise awareness so that healthcare is at the top of the agenda come November 2008.
Learn more (The New York Times)
Learn more (MSNBC)
Learn more (Elect Susie Flynn)
MOG TV, which came out of beta at the end of March, represents the next generation of social networking sites created around music recommendations. Instead of simply meeting other people with similar musical tastes -- one of the major perks of these music-based networking sites -- MOG TV recommends music videos for you based on the songs in your music library. It's Pandora.com meets YouTube, with all kinds of music-infused word of mouth possibilities.
MOG TV works using the downloadable MOG-O-MATIC application, which tracks everything users are listening to on their computers or iPods. MOG then automatically posts it to the user's profile page, and anyone in the community can instantly see what they're listening to. With that information, MOG is able to connect the users who are most musically compatible, and users can start conversations and get and spread recommendations.
Learn more (Reveries Magazine)
Learn more (PR Newswire)
Learn more (MOG TV)
To generate buzz about its "packable, portable, and playable" travel golf collection, Puma orchestrated the very public release of 2,000 golf-ball-shaped helium balloons with actual Puma band golf accessories attached.The balloons were set afloat down a busy shopping district in Antwerp, where they bobbed through the crowd, demonstrating Puma's "Travel Light" tagline. Attached to the merchandise-laden balloons were labels describing the entire travel golf collection and directing folks to the Puma website to learn more. And, of course, folks who grabbed the free merchandise were free to use it and spread the word themselves.
Learn more (Adrants)
Learn more (YouTube)
In September 2006, Heineken and Qi-ideas hosted a live, web concert event featuring the Dutch band Johan and using Skype technology to do something that hadn't been done before: Skypecasting. Skypecasting allows up to 100 users to be in direct contact at one time, and unlike podcasting and webcasting, two-way interaction is part of the deal, which means the band could hear the listeners' applause and questions, just as listeners could hear the band play. As sponsor of the exclusive concert experience, Heineken was able to put its brand front and center at a unique and WOM-worthy musician/fan intersection.
Learn more (ADVERBLOG)
Learn more (CScout)
Learn more (eMarketingBlog)
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