BzzAgent Dave

Today we were fortunate to have the Big Bee himself, Dave Balter, CEO of BzzAgent. Dave was a big hit last summer when he came to class and he didn't disappoint this time either.

Dave shared some new aspects of his presentation including Five Rules of Word of Mouth and Four Tips for Companies Who Want WOM. The five rules are:

1. Don't sacrifice your brand for entertainment. (Dave's point was that some brands seem to be doing anything they can to get noticed even if it has really nothing to do with the brand).
2. Consumers will do what they want with your brand. (The point here being that companies have to loosen the reigns of control over the brand).
3. Buzz doesn't always equal WOM. (The point here is be careful of doing campaigns that just get people talking about the campaign itself rather than the product or service).
4. Don't lie, steal, cheat, or deceive. (Obviously this is a point about being ethical when implementing WOM initiatives).
5. The only magic pill for WOM is to make a great product. (All good WOM starts with a great product or service experience).

Dave summarized his talk by providing four tips for companies who want to have good WOM. These are:

1. Make a product worth talking about.
2. Let people experience it.
3. Give tools so they can share their views effectively.
4. Get out of their way (let people do what they do best when they have a great experience -- tell others).

Dave does a great job illustrating these points with compelling stories and examples.

There were a number of other issues we discussed but I'll leave it to my students to raise them.

Thanks Dave for a great visit!

-->
Tags: BzzAgent WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Class 15 Agenda: WOM As Media Channel?

Learning Objective(s):

• To understand how WOM fits as part of a larger media plan
• To consider the pros and cons of WOM as a “media channel”

Readings for This Class:

o Chapter 6: Word-of-Mouth Storytelling. Dave Balter & John Butman. 2005. Pages 115-133. (Bb)

o Suggested Reading: Firm-Created Word-of-Mouth Communication: A Field-Based Quasi-Experiment. David Godes & Dina Mayzlin. 2004. HBS Marketing Research Papers No. 04-03. http://ssrn.com/abstract_id=569361 (Bb)

o Suggested Reading: Quantifying the Ripple: Word-of-Mouth and Advertising Effectiveness. John E. Hogan, Katherine N. Lemon, & Barak Libai. 2004. Journal of Advertising Research, (September), 271-280. (Bb)

o Suggested Reading: Grapevine: Chapter 5: The Myth of the Influentials. Dave Balter & John Butman. Pages 91-111. (Bb)

Content:

• Guest Speaker: Dave Balter, CEO, BzzAgent, Inc.

Activities:

• Guest Speaker: Dave Balter, CEO, BzzAgent, Inc. (aka, BzzAgent Dave)
• Bio: CEO Dave Balter founded BzzAgent in 2002. Since that time, his company has provided word-of-mouth media services for dozens of Fortune 500 companies and has been featured in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and on National Public Radio.
• A co-founder and current board member of The Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Balter is an international speaker on the topic of word-of-mouth marketing. He has presented for corporations, associations and non-profit groups throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. He co-authored Grapevine: The New Art of Word-of-Mouth Marketing, which has become one of the industry's most recognized business titles.
• Dubbed a "serial entrepreneur" by The Boston Globe, Balter built and sold two promotional agencies prior to forming BzzAgent. He was named to the "40 Under 40" list by The Boston Business Journal in 2006 as well as by Advertising Specialty Institute in 2001. Women's Wear Daily named him one of the "Top 7 Individuals Changing the Face of Beauty" in 2001.
• His commitment to corporate transparency has resulted in five innovative blogs, which were profiled in an extensive Inc. Magazine feature and later earned an Award of Excellence from the Society of New Communications research. Balter earned a B.A. in Psychology from Skidmore College and aspires to build the world's largest rock garden.

To Do (for next class):

· Readings

o Sales Pitch Society II. Kate Kaye. 2006. Pages 1-42. (Bb)

o Suggested Reading: Live Buzz Marketing. Justin Foxton. 2006. Pages 24-46. (CM)

o Suggested Reading: To Tell Or Not To Tell? Assessing the Practical Effects of Disclosure for Word-of-Mouth Marketing Agents and Their Conversational Partners. Walter J. Carl. 2006. Pages 1-34. (Bb)

o Suggested Reading: Stealth Marketing: How To Reach Consumers Surreptitiously. Andrew M. Kaikati and Jack G. Kaikati. 2004. California Management Review, 46(4), pp. 6-22. (Bb)

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Class 14 Agenda: Designing Organized WOM Program for Client

Learning Objective(s):

• Compare and contrast five stages of a research-based consulting engagement
• Identify key questions for clients at each various phases
• Identify roles and relationships between client and consultant

Readings for This Class:

• None

Content & Activities:

• Five-stage framework for research-based consulting engagements:

1. Identify problem/issue/question
2. Data collection
3. Data analysis
4. Data interpretation
5. Data translation

• DWOMP Assignment
• Form groups (Red & Blue Teams)

To Do (for next class):

• Make initial contact with client contact person.
• Readings

o Grapevine: Chapter 6: Word-of-Mouth Storytelling. Dave Balter & John Butman. 2005. Pages 115-133. (Bb)

o Suggested Reading: Firm-Created Word-of-Mouth Communication: A Field-Based Quasi-Experiment. David Godes & Dina Mayzlin. 2004. HBS Marketing Research Papers No. 04-03. http://ssrn.com/abstract_id=569361 (Bb)

o Suggested Reading: Quantifying the Ripple: Word-of-Mouth and Advertising Effectiveness. John E. Hogan, Katherine N. Lemon, & Barak Libai. 2004. Journal of Advertising Research, (September), 271-280. (Bb)

o Suggested Reading: Grapevine: Chapter 5: The Myth of the Influentials. Dave Balter & John Butman. Pages 91-111. (Bb)

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Citzen Marketer Jackie Huba on Citizen Marketers

Our class was very fortunate yesterday to have citizen marketer guru Jackie Huba visit our class. Jackie and Ben McConnell, her co-author, are on tour discussing their new book Citizen Marketers: When People Are the Message. We were stop #8 on their tour and read the entire book as part of the required readings. Jackie and I met through our participation in WOMMA and at WOMMA events (I am a member of the Academic Advisory Board and she is a member of the Governing Board of Directors).

Jackie is an extremely gracious and knowledgeable person. For this special event we mutually agreed not to have any PowerPoint slides and had a dynamic discussion that lasted over an hour and a half where we covered topics ranging from how payment and/or incentives may or may not affect the credibility of the contributions of citizen marketers to companies' reservations about social media to how effective participation with social media can give a firm competitive advantage. (I should note that Jackie is equally dynamic when presenting with slides as I've had the chance to see her present at two or three WOMMA conferences).

She believes the true power in social media lies in its ability to foster long-term loyalty and advocacy between companies and customers. While shorter-term campaigns that accomplish strategically important goals have their place in the mix, she feels that ultimately social media and the contributions of citizen marketers is a long-term process of engagement and dialogue. This is what lies behind, at least in part, the following statement in their book: "Social media is the antidote to campaign-based thinking" (p. 172).

Another fascinating part of our discussion was how companies should respond to the contributions of citizen marketers. I set the context for the question by giving the example of how McDonald's has responded to the contributions of McChronicles (a blog that was discussed in the Citizen Marketers book). I then asked Jackie if there were any guidelines she could offer companies about if and how to respond. She said that each case comes with its own set of opportunities and constraints but that there were at least two principles that could be generalized.

First, find out if you have citizen marketers and what they are saying and doing (most companies are surprised to learn of their advocates and detractors actively working for or against their brands).

Second, if you do (and you probably do!), consider reaching out to them, say that you saw their contributions (for example, it may be a blog or podcast), thank them for their contributions, and ask them if there's anything the company can do to help them with their efforts (or, to address concerns if there are detracting comments). Sometimes the company may not be able to help the citizen marketers in the way they might want (certain legal matters might restrict them), but some times they can. And sometimes the citizen marketer expects nothing.

For example, according to my brief e-mail interview with the author of the McChronicles blog at the end of January, the author responds to my question of what type of response he is looking for from the company, if any. He writes:

I expect nothing. I hope only that the voice of the faceless, average fast-food consumer is heard. I feel that what we want is simple - delivery on the promise. We don't go to McDonald's for tire balancing or for exceptional table service. They have never promised either. What we want is Quality (in the realm of fast-food), Service (in the realm of fast-food), Cleanliness (in the realm of known and standard sanitary practices), and Value (when compared to all the competition). Why? Becasue QSCV is McDonald's mantra - they taught us to expect this. (Thanks to McChronicles for allowing me to post this excerpt on our class blog!)

I think this is precisely Jackie's point about social media. Any social media efforts have to be part of a broader effort of long-term loyalty and advocacy which is fundamentally about a social contract between companies and consumers (and other stakeholders I might add, such as community members affected by what the company does). By the way, her two points about different ways of engaging in customer conversations fit very nicely into an informal model I've been developing, with the help of others, about different levels of engagement and involvement with social media.

Well, Jackie certainly delivered on her brand promise as an engaging and delightful person to converse with about citizen marketers and social media. I'm sure all of the other stops on her tour will have an equally compelling experience. Thanks so much Jackie and you're welcome back any time!

By the way, I also want to say that I was very proud of my students who continue to come to class prepared with excellent questions and comments that allowed for an engaging discussion.

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University Citizen Marketers

Class 13.5 Agenda: Special Session on Citizen Marketers: When People Are the Message

Learning Objective(s):

· Identify factors contributing to the recent resurgence in WOM;

· Articulate how WOM is both a set of activities and a larger philosophy.

· Identify ways companies have responded to and/or worked with citizen marketers in the age of conversational marketing.

Readings for This Class:

• Citizen Marketers: When People Are the Message. Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba. 2007. Pages 135-175 (Chapter 7 & Conclusion; CIT)

Content & Activities:

• Guest Lecture: Jackie Huba, Co-Author, Business Advisor, Secretary for WOMMA
• Bio: Jackie Huba is the co-author of "Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force." The New York Times has called the book "the new mantra for entrepreneurial success." For the past three years, "Creating Customer Evangelists" has been a worldwide phenomenon; the book has been translated into six languages.
• As a business advisor, Jackie has worked with Disney, Microsoft, Ulta, Whirlpool, Discovery Education, Campbell Soup Company and others.
• For the past five years, Jackie has been researching the effects of word of mouth on customer loyalty and how that translates into customer evangelism.
• Forbes has called Jackie's work "the word of mouth gospel" and recently U.S. News & World Report featured her work in a 3-page spread.

To Do (for next class):

• Print out Designing WOM Program assignment sheet
• No Readings
• None
• Complete WOM Episode Survey #2 for Friday’s class.

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Class 12 Agenda: Practitioner Perspective: A Client’s View On Selecting WOM Marketing Companies

Class 12 Agenda: Practitioner Perspective: A Client’s View On Selecting WOM Marketing Companies

Learning Objective(s):

• To identify key phases of consulting engagement
• To learn what is involved in selecting a WOM service provider from the client’s perspective

Readings for This Class:

· A Note to New Consultants. Bruce Henderson. 1970s. Pages 1-3. (Bb)

· How to manage connected marketing. Martin Oetting. 2006. Pages 232-266. (Bb)

Content & Activities:

• Complete two EWOMP case presentations
• Basic Consulting Framework
• Presentation of what’s involved from a client perspective in selecting a WOM program service provider
• Brian Kenny – VP of Marketing & Communications
• Ann Comer – Associate Director, Marketing Programs
• Alyssa Meritt – Associate Director of Interactive Marketing
  

To Do (for next class):

• No Readings

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Class 11 Agenda: Evaluating WOM Programs

Learning Objective(s):

• To explain an organized WOM program in light of the WOMMA Terminology Framework
• To articulate how an organized WOMM program leverages WOM principles
• To apply lessons learned from evaluating a company’s organized WOMM program to designing one’s own WOMM program

Readings for This Class:

• No Readings

Content:

• Student presentations

Activities:

• Presentation order:
• Matchstick – Chrysler 300C
• M80 – Sony Mylo
• BzzAgent – Dunkin’ Donuts
• For Friday presentations:
• Brains on Fire – Fiskateers
• Ammo Marketing – Lonely Planet

To Do (for next class):

· Readings:

o A Note to New Consultants. Bruce Henderson. 1970s. Pages 1-3. (Bb)

o How to manage connected marketing. Martin Oetting. 2006. Pages 232-266. (Bb)

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Class 10 Agenda: Programs & Techniques: Blogging & Communities

10; Programs & Techniques: Blogging & Communities

Learning Objective(s):

• To understand three different approaches to how companies are using blogs and three different levels of involvement.
• To articulate objectives that can be accomplished through blogging.
• To identify the pros and cons of gaining customer insight through blogs and customer communities

Readings for This Class:

• Blog Marketing. Andrew Corcoran, Paul Marsden, Thomas Zorbach, & Bernd Röthlingshöfer. 2006. Pages 148-158. (CM)
• Understanding Blogs and Private Communities. Communispace White Paper. 2005. Pages 1-8 (Bb)
• What Companies Gain from Listening: The Effect of Community Membership on Members’ Attitudes and Behavior in Relation to the Sponsoring Company. Communispace White Paper. 2006. Pages 1-11 (Bb)

Content & Activities:

• Discuss what should be emphasized in the presentations.
• Finish up from last class: Measuring Advocacy and Net Promoter Score
• Industry Measurement of Loyalty and Advocacy: Net Promoter Score as an Organizational Discipline.
• Overview of NPS
• How companies are integrating the process into organizations
• Critiques of the NPS
• PowerPoint: Blogging and Communities
• Approaches to blog marketing (from Connected Marketing book)
• Blogvertorials – extension of classic PR, “blogger outreach”
• Example: Nokia – Nokia seeded its new camera phone with a number of cutting-edge bloggers in Finland. They didn’t ask the bloggers to write about the phones but many bloggers did. It generated a lot of traffic to the Nokia website.
• Example: Dr. Pepper and Raging Cow (what not to do) – Dr Pepper offered a number of young bloggers incentives to discuss their new milk-flavored product called “Ragin Cow”. Dr Pepper asked the bloggers not to mention that they briefed the bloggers about this but the word got out, which led to tremendous outrage.
• Example: Wal-Mart
• Business blogs (aka, corporate blogs)
• Example: Stonyfield Farm – uses blogs to create interest around lifestyle issues surrounding their product: The Bovine Bugle (a blog about Jonathan Gates and his organic dairy farm in Vermont) and Baby Babble (a places for parents to meet up rant, offer, and seek advice…).
• Faux blogs – a form of stealth marketing
• Example: Sega – Beta 7 – an advertising agency created a fake blog authored by an imaginary videogame tester called Beta 7. The new ESPN 2K4 game was sent to the blogger where Beta 7 posted a review. The review stated that it was extreme that it triggered blackouts and fits of violence. To prevent the software from reaching the stores Beta 7 launched an online campaign to ban the software – all a ruse to stimulate sales.
• Example: McDonald’s Lincoln Fry campaign – this featured an imaginary individual who found a fry shaped like Abraham Lincoln. The blog got over 2 million hits and was linked to a McDonald’s Superbowl commercial. When it was found out to be a fake blog the ad spots got even more press.
• Sponsored and Paid Blogs – paid blog programs controversial in the blogging world
• Coca Cola and Torino Conversations (sponsored blog)
  
• Marqui Pay Bloggers Program
• PayPerPost
  
• Objectives for blogging: (“From interruption to engagement, from control to collaboration”)
• Generating interest – Stonyfield Farms
  
• Drive action/sales – Treonauts.com
• Create goodwill – Microsoft’s Scobleizer
• Establish expertise – English Cut blog (Thomas Mahon, Savile row tailor from London)
• Customer dialogue – FastCompany, a business publication, invites readers to suggest ideas for stories
• Employee dialogue – Variety “Have You Heard” collaborative blog; it’s designed to keep employees up on the latest industry trends
• Levels of involvement with online WOM.
• “Monitoring” is a somewhat passive strategy (done without a spirit of engagement; goal is more for “intelligence”-gathering and control)
• “Listening” is a more active approach (done with a spirit of engagement; often a precursor to dialogue)
• “Joining in” is even more active and involves participating in ongoing discussions and/or creating a space for those conversations to take place. (Sometimes this is not appropriate if it’s perceives as being invasive; sometimes you need to be invited in).

To Do (for next class):

• Readings:
• None
• Activities
• All groups need to turn in their papers.
• Prepare for presentations

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

WOM produces new perspective on family pursuit

-->
This past summer my mother called a family meeting at which she proposed a product that she had been working on for quite some time. Her new product is still being polished and although my stance on the future success of this product is currently undecided, I am supportive and can’t disclose the details of her endeavor. Fortunately for her, my enrollment in this class came at just the right time. While my mom’s idea was thoroughly designed and seemed modern, practical, and yet unique enough to propagate interest, her target demographic-college students- seemed impractical. My initial reaction concerned getting the attention of college students. While considering traditional marketing strategies, all I could do was refute every proposition with the notion that, “We’re too busy. We have enough to worry about. We just don’t care.”
However, after a few class sessions it suddenly became clear to me, that once we consider marketing strategies that breach the parameters of traditional strategies, college students are one of the most ideal demographics to undertake. We are the most connected, we are the bloggers, and we are the ones who know how to use the newest technology. Or at least teens are, according to www.pewinternet.org, who report that 57% of teens that use the Internet are considered content creators. And by the time my mothers idea materializes these teens will be the college students. Why couldn’t I see this? A concept that seems utterly commonsensical after a few class sessions, I’m reminded is novel; one of the first techniques that acknowledge the consumer and appeal to them on their territory.
My support for my mother is no longer a mere act of parental respect. I am excited and look forward to disproving my brothers and sisters outright lack of support for my mother on the basis that her goal is unrealistic and too broad. We are currently strategizing ways to reach the parents of college students. So far we’ve contacted the head of the fundraising department at a college who has agreed to work with us after hearing my mother’s idea. Working with the school allowed us access to all the students’ addresses and so far we’ve approached people as a “fundraiser.” We will be sending people a sample of the product as well as an opportunity for feedback. My mother has a lot of work to do, but I’m encouraging her to think about sites such as Facebook and Myspace. I will be taking advantage of my role as a student, and partaking in some WOM for the product. I look forward to comparing results.Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Class 9 Agenda: Programs & Techniques: Cultivating Loyalty & Advocacy

Learning Objective(s):

• Identify six tenets of customer evangelism
• Apply six tenets to case study analysis
• To identify opportunities of challenges of the Net Promoter Score as a
  metric for measuring loyalty and advocacy

Readings for This Class:

• The Customer Evangelism Manifesto. Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba. 2003. Pages 1-20. (Bb)
• Chapter 12: The New Mavericks of Marketing. Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba. 2003. Pages 123-138. (Bb)
• The One Number You Need to Grow. Frederick Reicheld. Harvard Business Review. 2003. Pages 1-10. (Bb).

Content & Activities:

• Finish up from last class: Activity on Creating Your Own Product Seeding Program
• Power Point:
• Practitioner Framework for Cultivating Loyalty and Advocacy: Six tenets of customer evangelism
• Industry Measurement of Loyalty and Advocacy: Net Promoter Score as an Organizational Discipline.
• Overview of NPS
• How companies are integrating the process into organizations
• Critiques of the NPS

To Do (for next class):

• Readings:
• Blog Marketing. Andrew Corcoran, Paul Marsden, Thomas Zorbach, & Bernd Röthlingshöfer. 2006. Pages 148-158. (CM)
• Understanding Blogs and Private Communities. Communispace White Paper. 2005. Pages 1-8 (Bb)
• What Companies Gain from Listening: The Effect of Community Membership on Members’ Attitudes and Behavior in Relation to the Sponsoring Company. Communispace White Paper. 2006. Pages 1-11 (Bb)

--> Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

A Maze of WOM

In class, we’ve discussed the importance of generating positive WOM and avoiding negative WOM. The idea seems to be pretty self-explanatory: you want everyone to hear all the great things about your product and you would prefer to keep thoughts of your product’s worthlessness from ever seeing the light of day. This concept, however, overlooks the very important factor of taste.

It is extremely hard, if not impossible, to quantify positive and negative WOM when the matter of taste comes into play. Certainly, it is often easy to discern whether the speaker is displaying a positive reaction towards a product, but I don’t see any way to determine whether or not that means the influence that particular thought has is necessarily in agreement with the thought itself.

This idea was brought to my attention through the otherwise innocuous events of my weekend. On Saturday, my girlfriend and I went to see the movie, Pan’s Labyrinth after receiving a positive WOM recommendation from a friend of mine. Or, I should say, a recommendation that my friend considered a positive one. He described Pan as a riveting foreign movie that mixes fantasy with a period/war film with beautiful special effects. This would certainly fall under the characterization of positive WOM, right? But, what if I hated movies that have sub-titles? What if I hate fantasy, or war films? What if I want my movies to be entirely driven by the actors, not by surreal computer effects? Sure, my friend liked the movie and his recommendation would be documented as a positive WOM exchange, but when dealing with the matter of taste, we consider it a black and white issue. There is room for interpretation by each individual member of the audience as to whether this WOM fits into their own personal taste.

As for the film itself, I enjoyed it. My girlfriend, on the other hand, was turned off by the graphic, gratuitous violence, saying she couldn’t even watch half the scenes without feeling nauseous. After hearing her dour review, my roommate exclaimed, “Awesome! I’m definitely going to see that one!”

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Don't be a Stumbling Block!

Long time ago I received a forwarding email regarding a study that was done on WOM. The study showed that irritated costumers are five times more likely to spread the word to their friends than a store representative and would most likely tell four friends on average. It reflected a typical human nature - human beings are more likely to spread the negative experience than positive’s; and this is also what we have talked about in the beginning of the class that people need to vent and would like to warn others (which most likely people do that out of vengeance…) voluntarily based on negative experience.

Speaking of negative experience of WOM, this reminded me a terrible experience that I had almost four months ago. To keep the story in a nutshell: I was literally dragged to a presentation by a so-called “friend” (he didn’t tell me that he was bringing me to a presentation; he only said it would be a surprise…and it happened around my birthday so I thought he would probably bring me to somewhere good....). I was asked to join a company which sells phone plan service and to pay USD$390 in order to become a "certified consultant" which helps to spread the word out. What I could gain from the company is, if there is a deal done then I would earn commission from the deal. To keep it short, I later on did spread the word out. But rather than helping to sell the phone plan, I was actually venting this horrible experience to my friends about how the company actually deceived people to join by asking its “employees” to keep the representation mysterious until their friends are actually there. The phone plan service per se is not a bad product; however, the techniques that the company employs to spread the WOM have some serious problems. From my point of view, the company is in fact taking advantage of the relationships between friends and made people (like me) feel violated by that. It has not only ruined a friendship but also held me back from engaging any other "authentic" marketing events because of this uncomfortable experience.

The WOM marketing this company engages is no different from stealth marketing. I couldn’t say that this company is doomed to be an unsuccessful one, but I strongly believe its unethical WOM tactic would, to some extents, prevent its growth to its highest potential. Companies should not forget that the growths of their businesses are determined by what their customers say about them. Being honest always wins customers because customers are delighted when the company/ service/ product is true to itself. If companies employ unethical practices, they are not only putting their own businesses into jeopardy but also are putting stumbling blocks in front of others who are true to their customers.

The study mentioned above is conducted by the Verde Group from Canada.

P.S I hold myself from not putting the name of that company up here so bad =[ Ask me in person if you want to know more detail about it! =)



-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Lemonade Diet and WOM

I was watching the news tonight and it so happened to have a segment on Beyonce's new diet fad: the Lemonade diet. The woman reporter had mentioned that through Word of Mouth, this diet has become quite popular ...amongst whom? Well, that is what I wondered. The broadcast was vague on which audiences this particular diet appealed to. "Beyonce Diet - Behind the Scenes of Beyonce's Diet Plan." - is the name of the article to Beyonce's 20 pound drop trick.

The woman reporter then ventured to say something to the likes of, "Well, this new Lemonade diet drops pounds quickly, but is it safe?" -- The classic question that any healthy human being can answer themselves: "Of course not, it's a liquid diet; no protein, etc."

It irked me how a credible source on the same newscast (I believe she was a doctor/nutritionist) listed the negative points to the diet; she described some side effects that occur while on the diet: irritability and fatigue. This goes to show how much power and authority a famous star has; to the point where people do something they know is bad for their body anyway, but if Beyonce of all people tries it out, so should you! Talk about famous-person testimonial for a fad that no one in their right mind would try out if some ordinary person were to come out with some other "fruity liquid diet."

So what does this have to do with Word of Mouth? It simply shows how conversation is merely created to reel in the everyday person. We learned in class about WOM Creationists -- with the Forehead marketing and Paris Hilton and Carl's Jr. Well, here we go! There's more talk about Beyonce and her new movie (which is also another form of advertisement), than the actual diet. Beyonce is drinking lemonade for ten days and losing 20 pounds, let's all line up and do the same! But, look here, negative WOM comes into play when the news has a segment saying it's not healthy for you.

Intersting how there is a two-in-one occurence going on. Beyonce and her diet vs. Beyonce and her new movie. I wonder if there was more positive WOM for the diet or for the movie. By the looks of it, I don't feel neither succeeded all too well.

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Class 8 Agenda: Programs & Techniques: Influencers & Product Seeding

08; Programs & Techniques: Influencers & Product Seeding

Learning Objective(s):

• To articulate two WOM principles to explain the effectiveness of seeding trials
• To identify multiple ways of identifying influencers

Readings for This Class:

• The Influentials: Introduction. Ed Keller & Jon Berry. Pages 1-25. (Bb)
• Seed to spread: how seeding trials ignite epidemics of demand. Marsden. 2006. Pages 3-23. (CM or Bb)

Content & Activities:

• Take questions from our past two guest lectures on:
• Monitoring and tracking WOM
• DIY solutions of tracking online WOM
• Survey-based versus online CGM tracking
• Viral and buzz marketing
• Generating buzz versus cultivating advocacy
• PowerPoint: Presentation and Activity on Influencer Marketing and Product Seeding

To Do (for next class):

• Readings:
• The Customer Evangelism Manifesto. Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba. 2003. Pages 1-20. (Bb)
• Chapter 12: The New Mavericks of Marketing. Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba. 2003. Pages 123-138. (Bb)
• The One Number You Need to Grow. Frederick Reicheld. Harvard Business Review. 2003. Pages 1-10. (Bb).
• Suggested Reading: Creating Brand Advocates. Steve Rusticus. 2006. Pages 47-58. (CM)
• Suggested Reading: Advocacy Drives Growth. London School of Economics. Brand Strategy. 2005. Pages 1-9 (Bb)
• Suggested Reading: Executive Summary of “A Longitudinal Examination of ‘Net Promoter’ on Firm Growth.” Tim Keiningham, Bruce Cooil, Tor Wallin Andreassen, & Lerzan Aksoy. 2006. Pages 1-6 (Bb)

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University

Reflections on Steve Curran's Visit To Class (Pod Design)

Steve Curran from Pod Design came into speak with our class on viral marketing and branded entertainment. This is the second time Steve has visited the class and this time he brought with him Jessica Morris, Pod's Online Communication Specialist.

Steve went over a number of very cool campaigns he has worked on for clients like Warner Brothers, A&E, Atlantic Records, Peerflix, etc.). He creates"conversation pieces," which often take the form of online games, branded sites, or other online user "experiences" that lead people to have conversations about the brand.

There are two aspects of their visit that I wanted to comment on. First, Steve gave us a nice overview of the pros and cons for using branded games (what they did for ProTrade Mascot Kombat), branded web toys (what they did for Rumor Has It), and branded video (a good example of this, though not done by PodDesign, is the series of Diet Coke and Mentos videos that were originally CGM and then became branded).

For games, the pros are that it's fairly easy to identify who will play them since there are established gaming communities. However, some people have a block about playing a "game" so not everyone does.

For web toys, an advantage is that they are not perceived as a game and thus they have a chance to break through to a wider audience. However, they can be harder to seed because there aren't necessarily established communities.

Branded video is accessible to an even wider audience but the main disadvantage is that it's a very cluttered, competitive landscape.

Pod has also done more community- and microsite-oriented programs for clients, including Beacon Street Girls and Tweeter Mobile.

The second thing I wanted to comment on is Jessica's work. She talked about how she seeds various games in online venues. There are a number of methods including the use of tagging services (like Digg and del.icio.us), directory websites (that specialize in gaming), forums (that are particular to the campaign), bloggers, social networking sites, etc. She has found that this is a lot of public relations work in the truest relational sense of the term: it's about being transparent with intentions and forming relationships with the people involved with the sites (especially for directory websites and bloggers). In some cases the sites themselves seek out her and PodDesign to find the latest content for their users.

This was another great class visit -- Steve, you're 2 for 2 now! :-)

Thanks to both Steve and Jessica for joining us!

-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University Pod Design

Product Seeding and Customer Evangelism

Seeding trials and how that process creates customer evangelism is something that I found to be very similar to our group project. We are evaluating a campaign done by BzzAgent, which is a word-of-mouth marketing company that prides itself on assembling opinion leaders. BzzAgent is quick to prove how these opinion leaders have a positive impact on the further sale of the brand. BzzAgent develops strong marketing relationships with them in order to seed products. This product seeding is done much like the cases looked at in Marsden’s article, such as asking for feedback on the product or suggestions for change. I don’t want to give too much away, but they also go to great lengths to weed out who they call “pests” or people who are not customer evangelists, but rather people looking to get in on a free deal.
It’s astounding to me how many people product seeding can reach through consumer generated media in comparison to the number of people companies affect through the traditional method of study (not to mention the huge budgets and amount of time spent.) The idea Marsden presents that the more traditional market research techniques are a whole lot of research and not a lot of marketing may be shortsighted. Although the initial phases are solely focused on the research, market researchers spend their time analyzing trends from that research and creating marketing efforts around those trends. I would argue that seeding trials is a more advanced form of market research in that is has the capability to span over many more people, is more pervasive in segments where the product is popular (or unpopular) and does so in a faster and more efficient way.

Bibliography

Seed to spread: how seeding trials ignite epidemics of demand. Marsden. 2006. Pages 3-23.
-->
Tags: WOM word of mouth Word-of-Mouth Marketing buzz marketing viral marketing marketing communication Northeastern University