All Things WOM

In 2005, Seth Godin wrote the FREE PRIZE INSIDE. It’s essentially a guidebook for creating remarkable products and services. As marketers we know when remarkable things get remarked about … word of mouth happens..

This 2-minute video ditty shares two word-of-mouth worthy free prizes I experienced while staying at the Hotel Burnham in Chicago. (Yes, I mispronounce the hotel’s name in the video. My bad.) Enjoy.

Beloved brands have it easier with word of mouth. Why? Brands that are beloved by people get discussed freely and widely. Apple, Whole Foods, Starbucks, Twitter, and many other brands get talked about because there is something intrinsically interesting about them. In other words, beloved brands are far from being boring.

Unfortunately, most brands fall into being “boring” and not beloved.

During a WOMMA Brands Council Webinar yesterday (audio available here), Josh Bernoff, Forrester Research Analyst and author of Groundswell, gave some advice on how boring brands get tap into word of mouth conversations.

Bernoff recommends boring brands encourage people to talk, even if it isn’t about the boring brand itself. Bernoff calls this strategy Borrowed Relevance. By borrowing something relevant to people, like a topic or an issue, and encouraging conversations about that relevant topic, boring brands can become a part of the conversation.

American Express practices “Borrowed Relevance” with their OPEN FORUM blog community. As a brand, there isn’t much remarkable about American Express to spark conversations. However, by bringing together a group of business experts sharing actionable advice in an on-going series of blog posts, American Express effectively taps into the interests and needs of its small business card holders. This is “Borrowed Relevance” at work.

Similar advice is given by Alexandra Samuel. In a Harvard Business article, Alexandra talks about how commonplace brands can use the marketing strategy of “Reflected Glory” to get customers talking. According to Alexandra, Reflected Glory Marketing (RGM) is about finding, “…something your customers do care passionately about - something that reflects thematically and positively on your brand - and invite customers into that conversation.”

She cites Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty and Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility Project as prime examples of RGM.

Alexandra sums up the power of Reflected Glory Marketing by writing …

“When your company digs deep to find the resonant themes that connect you with your customers, you are reconnecting to your most profound strengths, and to the essence of your brand. By surfacing those strengths in the social context of the Internet, you’re able to reinterpret, re-envision and even re-engineer your core value proposition. In partnership with your customers, and using emergent social media platforms, you may find new ways of translating what makes you great into great products, services or value.”

As the leading voice for ethical and effective word-of-mouth marketing, WOMMA has always taken a strong stance against SHILLING. Paying cash to people to talk about, blog about, tweet about a product without disclosing they are being paid to do such is SHILLING. And WOMMA stands against this unethical practice.

The first WOMMA Ethics Code was established in 2005. Since then, it has become a standard guide for companies of all sizes to use to help them design and deliver more ethical (and effective) WOM programs.

The WOMMA Ethics Code has evolved since 2005 through an annual review process. In the last formal review, WOMMA included this language: “We stand against marketing practices whereby the consumer is paid cash by the manufacturer, supplier or one of their representatives to make recommendations, reviews or endorsements.”

Three WOMMA members have requested this language in the ethics code be revisited.

Through the practice of Sponsored Conversations, we are seeing more brands and agencies compensating bloggers with cash, in-kind gifts, and special access privileges in exchange for writing a post about the product/service a business provided them.

Sponsored Conversations are a cost-effective marketing activity and thus, its likely more businesses will be doing more Sponsored Conversations with bloggers.

But is it ethical? Does full disclosure from a blogger telling us they’ve been compensated in exchange for posting their opinion make Sponsored Conversations an acceptable marketing practice? Should WOMMA alter its ethics code to support marketing activity where a consumer is paid cash to make recommendations, reviews or endorsements?

WOMMA wants to hear your opinion because your opinion will help WOMMA make a stronger ethics code that is reflective of how honest marketers should behave.

Consider adding your voice to this issue on the WOMMA Living Ethics blog. The conversation is already lively.