July 2007
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Many organizations depend on the influencer model as one of many word of mouth tactics and strategies shaping their marketing efforts. In response to recent discussions within the industry about the influencer model specifically, WOMMA is providing a variety of platforms for our members to weigh in, including:
* A session dedicated to discussion of the influencer model on our Word of Mouth Marketing Summit agenda.
* A special section in our upcoming research collection, "Measuring Word of Mouth, Vol. 3," focused on the influencer model.
--> On Tuesday, August 7, 2007, at 3:00 p.m. EST, WOMMA will host a conference call to open a dialogue about the influencer model among our members, as well as to discuss WOMMA's role in fostering open discussion about issues that affect the industry.
This is your chance to dial in, listen to what your industry peers have to say, and voice your own opinions.
>> To take part in the call, please contact us at membership@womma.org.
Last week, Wal-Mart announced the launch of customer ratings and reviews on walmart.com. The reviews will be available for all products offered on the company's website and will provide consumers a forum for sharing their opinions about a wide variety of consumer packaged goods -- from batteries and dental floss to lip balm and shampoo. Not only will consumers be able to use the peer reviews to make purchase decisions, Wal-Mart and product manufacturers will also be able to use them to gain valuable information about their customers.
"Ratings and reviews are the No. 1 customer-requested feature online at walmart.com," said Cathy Halligan, Wal-Mart's CMO. And now that the functionality is up and running, it's up to Wal-Mart's 130 million customers -- 75% of whom are online -- to speak up and be heard. According to Jupiter Research, 48% of consumers researching or buying products online describe reviews as "very useful" or "useful," and 52% of consumers have either written a review or have contributed feedback.
Walmart.com began testing its ratings and reviews functionality back in June, and by the time they launched publicly last week, nearly 15% of the company's products featured reviews. Internet users can submit their own reviews by viewing a product page, and walmart.com shoppers will now receive emails inviting them to review products they've ordered and received.
Learn more: (CNN Money)
Learn more: (WebProNews)
Learn more: (Progressive Grocer)
When Business 2.0 fan Colin Carmichael learned that the magazine was under intense scrutiny by Time Inc., which is considering scrapping the title, he decided to do something. Carmichael started a Facebook group called, "I read Business 2.0 -- and I want to keep reading!" The Facebook group caught the eyes of many industry leaders, including Craig Newmark of Craigslist; Ned Desmond, president of Time Inc. Interactive; Matt Cohler, VP-strategy at Facebook; and Josh Quittner, Editor in Chief of Business 2.0, just to name a few. Within a day of the group's inception, more than 160 members had signed up.
Carmichael's effort begs the question of whether or not fan enthusiasm is enough. Will the Facebook group and its legions of heavy-hitting members be enough to stop the magazine from walking the plank? The hard numbers -- Business 2.0's ad pages declined 34.1% in the first half of the year -- are not encouraging, but members of the Facebook group hope their Business 2.0 love will turn things around.
In a recent AdAge article, Carmichael is quoted saying, "I don't know if Time Inc. might be swayed. It's merely a P&L question for them. What might be more interesting is if current or potential advertisers take notice of the audience." Some, such as Business 2.0 Editor Josh Quittner, wonder how adept the internet and new media -- often perceived as competition for print media -- will prove in saving a magazine.
Learn more (New York Times)
Learn more (Advertising Age)
Learn more (Fast Company Blog)
Virgin Mobile USA has partnered with charitable organizations YouthNoise and StandUp for Kids in an effort, dubbed RE*Generation, to raise awareness about youth homelessness. Part of the effort involved a 46-part novella that depicted some of the hardships endured by homeless youth and that was sent to opt-in teens via daily text messages.
Virgin Mobile, which reportedly contributes 5% of its annual profits to the RE*Generation campaign, also instituted the TXT2CLOTHE program. Mobile phone users can text the word "KARMA" to the number 68405, which will trigger the donation of one piece of clothing -- procured through partnerships with American Eagle Outfitters and Levi Strauss Signature -- to a homeless teen. The effort exceeded its original goal of 68,405 items of clothing -- a number that represents the number of calls received by the National Runaway Switchboard in the top 10 cities in 2005. A new goal of 112,007 has been instituted.
The RE*Generation effort also successfully appealed to Congress to have November declared "National Homeless Youth Awareness Month," an effort that included a speech from spokesperson Jewel, who experienced homelessness as a teen in San Diego, Calif., before becoming a successful singer and songwriter.
Learn more (Press Release)
Lear more (AdRants)
Learn more (Youth Noise)
So what did Heinz do when ketchup-loving consumers presented it with CGM videos that used the condiment in strange and bizarre ways, doing things the brand's ad agency would never get away with? In spite of the fact that consumers are having their way with its brand, Heinz is rolling with it and continuing with its CGM commercial contest like it's business as usual. Whether or not Heinz finds that loosening its control of its brand was cringe-worthy or worthwhile notwithstanding, the company is certainly finding out how much people have to say about ketchup.
Heinz's "Top This! TV Challenge" appealed to users to create 30-second commercial spots. The deadline for submitting is Aug. 6, which might be a good thing, as Heinz's amorous fans are running out of appetizing things to do with ketchup. Recent submissions include video of people spreading ketchup on their skin like lotion, brushing their teeth and shaving with ketchup, and using ketchup as acne cream.
Heinz used the labels on ketchup bottles as well as the more mobile ketchup packets emblazoned with contest taglines to do its talking promoting the contest, which generated more than 1,200 valid submissions thus far -- a roster that includes the not-so-appetizing entries. Once the deadline has passed, Heinz will launch labels that encourage ketchup-users to visit TopThisTV.com to vote for their favorite submissions. Winning ads will be televised nationally.
Learn more (MediaPost)
Learn more (Reveries.com)
Learn more (TopThisTV.com)
By Lois Kelly
"Stop on that slide. Go back to the first point. That's the big issue," said a CEO during a recent talk I was giving about conversational marketing to a group of C-level executives from major companies like Disney, Motorola, and AT&T.
The slide was about obstacles to adopting conversational marketing and the first point was this: CEOs have a "command and control" mindset, but there is a lack of control in our talk world. Customers control our brands, and customers dictate how they want to engage with us and talk about our products and services. This CEO mindset gets in the way of how customers want to get to know their companies. Big time.
The room was quiet for a few minutes.
"Okay, okay, I get what you're saying," said another executive. "But I'm NOT going to abandon control. That would be irresponsible, and maybe even dangerous. How do we let go of some control and evolve into conversational and word of mouth marketing?"
The other executives fiercely agreed. Show us how to wade into this new talk business world with some degree of control, or at least proactiveness. And show us the business value. The last thing we need is another marketing fad that sounds like dot-com mania all over again, said the executives.
So to continue that conversation, here are five ideas from our conversation that day -- the very same ideas that helped turn around some very skeptical CEOs.
#1. Make meaning, not buzz
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"Talk" marketing isn't about superficial buzz that sizzles fast and fades fast. The goal is to help people make sense of information through conversations. The more meaningful the conversations, the faster people are able to connect to your organization, product, or service. This shortens sales cycles and helps employees buy into change more quickly. For companies selling a considered product or service -- which includes most business-to-business companies, professional service firms, and pharmaceutical, health care, and educational organizations -- the goal is making meaning, not making buzz.
#2. Listening leads to innovation
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Conversations are at least 50% listening -- and perhaps much more. Marketing's purpose today isn't just pushing out information and producing things; it's listening and bringing ideas back into a company. Ideas that can spark innovation, influence product development, and pinpoint ways to get access to and attention from decision makers. Listening is a new strategy, and it happens through conversations, whether those conversations are face-to-face or in online communities and social networks.
#3. Points of view are more interesting than your products
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Unless you're Steve Jobs talking about the iPhone, people don't want to talk about your products or capabilities; they can look that up on the web. What they do want to talk about are your points of view about the industry or category. What common mistakes do you see? What are one or two emerging trends you believe may upset business as usual? In what area are most people wasting money and don't even realize it? What "best practice" do you think is a waste of time? Points of view jumpstart meaningful conversations and distinguish your organization on more than products. And every CEO has those points of view to share with their organization, with customers, with media, and with employees. So share those interesting views. They'll get talked about.
#4. Nothing to talk about is why people don't talk
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The reason everyone in a company is often telling a different story -- or not saying much at all -- is that they don't have anything interesting to talk about. Elevator statements, product messages, and mission statements are -- let's face it -- pretty boring and not something that makes you want to get together with a prospect or an analyst. Nor are they something employees want to talk about when they get together with company partners and agencies. Take your points of view and set them free. Share them with everyone in the company and encourage everyone to talk about the ideas, as well as what they hear from the resulting conversations. People will remember and will talk about fresh point of views that get people to say, "Gee, that's interesting. Tell me more." But they're not going to talk about messages and value propositions.
#5. Measure involvement vs. awareness
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The new measure of marketing effectiveness is involvement. The more involved people become with your ideas or your sales reps, the more vested they become in those ideas and people. More importantly, involvement is the prerequisite to action, whether that action is changing your mind, asking for an RFP, or making a decision to buy. The objective is to engage people in conversations that get them involved with you and you with them.
One last point that resonated at that skeptical CEO meeting: I played the new Paul McCartney song,"Fine Line," which includes the lyrics, "There's a fine line between recklessness and courage." Not embracing conversational marketing and letting go of some control is reckless because it puts a barrier up between you and your customers, I reminded the execs. Change that makes a big difference, however, requires just a small bit of courage.
And what CEO wants to be seen as lacking courage?
________________________________________________
Lois Kelly is author of "Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing" and a partner in WOMMA member company Foghound. She also blogs at http://blog.foghound.com.
For more information about the book, visit http://foghound.com/BeyondBuzz.
For more information about Foghound, visit http://foghound.com.
Last week, WOMMA announced that Richard Tait, Grand Poo-Bah of Cranium Inc. will be keynoting its Word of Mouth Marketing Summit, Nov. 14-15 in Las Vegas.
Tait, whose motto is, “Orville Wright did not have a pilot’s license,” thrives on changing the rules and is renowned for exploring new ways to do things differently. In 1997, Tait created the fastest-selling independent board game in history: Cranium. In a time of technological excess, Cranium’s high-touch -- versus high-tech -- approach and mission to "give everybody the chance to shine" was groundbreaking.
You don't want to miss this exciting speaker! Learn to:
* Grow your business with FUN
* Build a great product that will make people want to talk about you
* Break the rules
* And more!
--> Don't Forget to Play!
At the Word of Mouth Marketing Summit, Tait will also host the world's largest Cranium Live game, giving Summit attendees a chance to flex their mental muscles while networking with hundreds of their word of mouth marketing peers.
>> Reserve your spot today:
$995 Members | $1495 Non-members
"Lost" co-creator J.J. Abrams is putting the thrill of intrigue and the power of word of mouth marketing to work to promote an upcoming -- and still unnamed -- movie. What is he doing to get the buzz wheel turning? First off, he treated movie-goers to a teaser before screenings of "Transformers," giving them just enough information to make them hungry for more. Based on the movie's release date, which is Jan. 18, 2008, fan sleuths then located a related website at www.1-18-08.com. There, they uncovered a few more clues about the movie that heightened their curiosity.
Abrams' "less is more" initiative is fueling fan conversations on tons of message boards and blogs, including the "Ain't It Cool News" blog (http://www.aintitcool.com). In a letter to Harry Knowles, HeadGeek at "Ain't it Cool News," Abrams acknowledged that cool marketing tricks were only part of the equation, and that only an equally cool product would live up to the hype and be successful. "Yeah, we're doing some fun stuff on the web," he wrote. "But, obviously, if the movie doesn't kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat's about what's online?"
With more than six months to go before the mystery movie is released, the buzz that has already started moving through online message boards has plenty of time to reach a rolling boil -- something that will hopefully fill seats once the movie hits theaters.
Learn more (KansasCity.com)
Learn more (Ain't It Cool News)
Learn more (1-18-08.com)
To encourage tourism to Charm City, the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association are recruiting Baltimore's biggest fans: Baltimoreans. BACVA, with the help of WOMMA member company Carton Donofrio Partners, created www.visitmybaltimore.com to attract tourists -- using Baltimorean-generated videos as bait.
Based on research that indicated people who "try" Baltimore like it, the site was conceived as a way for potential tourists to virtually sample the city. And who best to showcase a city's hidden treasures than its fans? With the understanding that residents of Baltimore are the best source of positive information about their city, BACVA is hoping to put their enthusiasm for their home town to work attracting others. Margo Amelia, BACVA's former VP of marketing, noted that the strategy is based on people's increasing reliance on peer reviews for travel decisions. "People want their peers' comments," she said. "I won't book a trip unless I've gone to TripAdvisor and see what my peers think of the hotel I'm thinking of booking -- it's a real seismic shift in how travel is being planned and thought about."
To drive Baltimoreans to submit videos to the site, Carton Donofrio Partners launched a grassroots campaign that included a booth at the Inner Harbor where people could create a video, as well as costumed street teams. There were also prizes for video submissions, including a stay in Baltimore, a digital video camera, and $2,007 cash.
Learn more (TMCNet)
Learn more (Visit My Baltimore)
WOMMA has just debuted the full agenda for the Word of Mouth Marketing Summit, which is taking place this Nov. 14-15 in Las Vegas. We've got some exciting things in store for our attendees, and it's shaping up to be our best Summit to date.
We can't let all the cats out of the bag just yet, though! Keep your eye on our event website at www.wommasummit.com and be the first to know when we announce new additions to our already amazing program. We'll have hot industry topics, current issues, the trends you need to know, and all the networking opportunities you can handle.
Stay up to date on the latest speakers and panels at WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit.
When Apple's iPhone finally hit stores last month, retailers were hard pressed to find a consumer who hadn't heard of it. The innovative phone-turned-pocket-PC was everywhere -- and not because of paid advertising. Instead, the iPhone owed its stunning debut to none other than word of mouth.
When Apple introduced the iPhone in January, it revealed few details about its next best-seller. What followed was what experts called a "minimalist" marketing campaign that put the sleek product -- rather than a hokey ad concept -- front and center. That campaign began with a single, coy commercial that briefly teased the iPhone. The next commercial didn't appear until early this summer. In between? Nothing but buzz.
Apple's unique and effective approach to marketing is straight from the WOM handbook: Build a cool product, and your customers will do the talking for you.
Learn more (Reuters)
Online and offline word of mouth continue to converge in the mobile world. The latest example? AT&T's new Video Share service. Launched in select markets last month and debuting nationwide later this month, the new service will allow video-savvy consumers to send live video for the first time from one cell phone to another, putting real-time viral videos in people's pockets -- literally.
AT&T is calling AT&T Video Share "a new service that truly redefines the possibilities of communication." Compatible only with a new fleet of video-sharing phones, the service will help consumers share a variety of as-they're-happening experiences with family and friends. Among those experiences, according to AT&T, are not only personal moments, but also marketing moments, as consumers can share live video and audio from the marketplace in order to seek real-time advice about their purchases.
"Users now have the ability to show others exactly what they see, when they're seeing it, and to share that experience across town or across the country," said AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson. If successful, AT&T Video Share could usher in a whole new era of instantaneous word of mouth for marketers.
Learn more (AT&T)
Learn more (BusinessWire)
For cable TV network and WOMMA member company A&E, this summer has been all about viral marketing. That's thanks to a wildly successful promotion for the new season of "Criss Angel Mindfreak," which has not only generated a wealth of buzz for the show, but also increased its ratings by 18% over last season.
The viral campaign begins online at www.freakyourmind.com, where users are prompted to enter a friend's name and contact information. That friend then receives an email from the sender urging him or her to click on a link that points to a viral video clip in which Criss Angel guesses the user's name and does a card trick in which the user's phone number magically appears. Then, to top off the trick, Criss Angel calls that phone number with a promo for his TV series.
According to Guy Slattery, A&E's senior VP of consumer marketing, the campaign was still generating 45,000 videos per day as recently as last month -- well after the show's season premier.
Learn more (MediaPost)
Learn more (iMedia Connection)
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