Have You Heard the Word?
By: Diane Anderson
Word-of-mouth marketing can generate a lot of buzz; just make sure you don't get stung.
Tell a friend: Word of mouth rocks. It's how many people find a dentist, a plumber, a pediatrician and a realtor, even a shrink. You tend to trust your friends. So when one of your close pals swears by her hairstylist, raving about what a "shear" delight he is, you are apt to give him a shot rather than thumbing through the phone book and blindly calling random barbers. Then you'll tell your friends. …
Small wonder this type of hype is highly coveted.
Now countless companies are trying to glean lessons from the phenomenon of friend-given recommendations. It's increasingly difficult to cut through the advertising clutter, as consumers gain more and more control over the messages they receive in this world of DVRs and video on demand. Thus, companies invest an estimated $100 million to $150 million a year on word-of-mouth or buzz marketing.
Intelliseek's "2005 Consumer-Generated Media and Engagement Study" polled 660 online consumers and explored attitudes and opinions across key consumer-generated media venues - including Internet message boards, forums, blogs, direct company feedback and offline conversation. The study found that, compared to traditional advertising, word-of-mouth behavior continues to grow in importance in consumer awareness, trial and purchase of new products.
Consumers are 50 percent more likely to be influenced by recommendations from peers than by radio or TV ads, which is a slightly higher level of influence and trust than found in a 2004 study coauthored by Intelliseek and Forrester.
Yes, everyone knows that good word of mouth can do wonders for a company's reputation and its bottom line. Of course, the flip side is that the masses can also bad-mouth you and ruin your chances at future fame and fortune. The reality is that, while everyone wants to get good word-of-mouth buzz, not many companies understand how to garner that much sought-after street cred and high regard.
If you're an affiliate, buzz marketing is an affordable way to generate interest and develop traffic. Even the smallest of affiliate sites can engage customers in this way. It takes strategic thinking but not an ad budget to rival Coke or Pepsi. What is required, however, is some dedication to spreading an idea, a few passionate people and a willingness to talk. A lot. The payoff is that you'll encourage some folks to check you out online. And you might even earn better commissions as a result.
But currently, word-of-mouth marketing appears to be a fickle business, but if marketers apply some strategy, they are sure to be singing its praises. Whether you tell your friends your secrets or not is up to you.
Take a Bite From Apple's Book
Apple Computer is one of the best-loved brands around. Even though it claims less than 5 percent of the PC market, fans are rabid about its products. And take a look down the street - see any white ear buds? The prolific iPod phenomenon is proof of how Apple is transforming the music business through good buzz.
One reason Apple got to be so popular in the first place can be traced to Guy Kawasaki, best known for his former role as chief evangelist at Apple; he helped spread the company's Macintosh operating system through word of mouth. Soon after, other tech firms like Microsoft hired their own evangelists. Kawasaki has authored eight books on marketing, and he thinks that today's high tech changes will make it easier to spread the word.
"The ubiquity and freedom of broadband are absolutely changing the world, making it easier to build brands, not harder. You used to have to have $3 million to buy a Super Bowl ad," Kawasaki says. "MySpace and Facebook have been able to build great products and use wordof- mouth and guerrilla marketing to build amazing brands. Nowadays, blogging and podcasting are considerably more powerful means of word of mouth than people simply spreading the word by, well, word of mouth."
Kawasaki's advice to marketers hoping to build buzz is to first create a great product and then let customers try it out, let them test-drive. And maybe, just maybe, they'll spread the good word.
G'head, Squeeze the Charmin
A couple of marketers are taking Kawasaki's advice and letting the public experience their products in a very hands-on way in the form of "pop up" stores. It's tough to cut through the clutter, so some brands are renting space on a short-term basis to let consumers experience their goods and generate buzz.
Kodak and Illy Caffè both wanted to let consumers see and experience their products in a hands-on environment. So each opened brief "art exhibits" at their self-created temporary galleries. Kodak's galleries, which were open during the month of November in New York City and San Francisco, didn't have merchandise for sale, just photos on the walls and new cameras for gallerygoers to check out.
"The vision behind the Kodak Gallery is to invite consumers in to experience photography and to feel and touch the products. It is much more about the learning experience and getting immersed in the digital experience," says Kate Imwalle, who helped put together the Kodak Gallery in San Francisco's Cow Hollow neighborhood. "This gallery is about the power of photographs and celebrating community."
Kodak promoted the gallery and encouraged foot traffic, but a key component of the experiment was the lack of outright product-pushing. That way, gallery-goers could relax and enjoy the environment.
Galleria Illy at 382 West Broadway in New York had a coffeehouse vibe and tons of art events - acclaimed painter Julian Schnabel created coffee mugs, and NYU film students shot a series of films - to get American consumers hip to its brand. The rental was short term in the high-priced SoHo neighborhood; it opened Sept. 15 and closed Dec. 15. The idea was to give people a chance to experience the brand in the artsy milieu of a coffeehouse/art gallery.
"The galleria was a physical manifestation of our brand. It was like our business card," says Greg Fea, president and CEO of Illy Caffè North America. "People got to experience Illy and education and culture. They had a full immersion experience with the brand. It was received really well. We've been extremely pleased. We had events around art and culture, because culture is a big part of coffee. … People in New York got to know us better. We served 20,000 coffees, like 300 to 400 on weekend days, and 200 a day during the week."
Kodak and Illy both advertised without being overt about it. Instead, they created places where people gather and could talk about photographs or coffee. They created communities.
Create Community
Communities happen online, too. A perfect example of how rock bands have used word of mouth to gain recognition for their songs and gigs is found at MySpace.com. Continued on Page 2...
Tags:
viral, community, video, apple, sony, word of mouth, buzz marketing, people find, consumers, word of mouth marketing, internet message boards, good word, bad mouth, consumer awareness, traditional advertising, company feedback, fame and fortune, shear delight, media venues, hairstylist, dvrs, flip side, tv ads, pediatrician, barbers,
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