All Things WOM

One of the more important sessions at last week’s WOMM-U conference was on Ethics, Endorsements, and Your Next WOMM Program. Paul Rand, WOMMA’s Ethics Chair, and Anthony DiResta, former regional Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Director, discussed impending changes to FTC guidelines on testimonials in advertising.

Specifically, the FTC is seeking to ensure Advertisers and Bloggers are 100% transparent and always disclose when a blog post is being sponsored. “Sponsored Conversations” is the term being used to describe a situation where a business compensates a blogger in exchange for writing a post about a product/service a business provides. Lots of businesses are doing this and because it is a cost-effective marketing activity, it’s likely more businesses will be doing “Sponsored Conversations” with bloggers.

Additionally, the FTC is proposing to make Advertisers liable for the actions of their sponsored Bloggers and make the Bloggers personally liable for their actions.

Why? Well, the FTC is in the business of protecting consumers from unscrupulous business practices. The commission believes consumers must be protected from being influenced by bloggers who fail to be transparent and disclose they have been compensated by an advertiser. The worry, of course, is compensated bloggers may not give their honest opinion about the products/services they’ve been compensated to write about.

This issue gets muddier when it comes to defining compensation. Clearly, cash is compensation. But in-kind gifts and special access privileges are harder to define as compensation and payment. For example, is giving a blogger a book to review considered compensation? How about giving a blogger access to test drive a new car, is that compensation? Outside of cash, defining payment gets cloudy.

While there is much that is unclear with “Sponsored Conversations,” WOMMA has been very clear about its stance on Ethics and Endorsements as it relates to businesses and bloggers.

The WOMMA Ethics Code clearly asks businesses and bloggers to disclose their relationships and to disclose if the blogger received product samples or other incentives from a business.

The WOMMA Ethics Code also asks for honesty in all aspects of Word-of-Mouth marketing from truthfully disclosing relationships between a business and a blogger/customer and truthfully sharing authentic opinions with others about a product/service in online and offline conversations.

Designing and executing Word-of-Mouth marketing programs that follow the WOMMA Ethics Code of always disclosing relationships and always sharing authentic opinions is one way to avoid scrutiny and controversy.

Another way to avoid scrutiny and controversy when executing Word-of-Mouth marketing programs is to reconsider paying outright cash to entice bloggers and customers to either write something or say something about your business. (Just as in life, when money gets involved, issues seem to follow.)

Of course, the absolute least controversial method for businesses to get bloggers to blog and people to talk is to design products/services that are inherently worth talking about. (Yeah, yeah … easier said than done.)

It’ll be interesting to see where the FTC nets out on this important matter because lots of questions need to be answered. What ramifications are likely for Advertisers and Bloggers who run afoul of updated FTC guidelines? How will businesses and marketing agencies respond to the new guidelines as bloggers continue to gain more sway in helping to shape public opinion?

Let’s talk. The comments are open. The opinions will be varied. I’m sure you have something to share. Have at it.

On May 13 & 14, WOMMA held its Word-of-Mouth Marketing University conference.
Below is a recap of a presentation from the conference.

Presentation:
Maximizing Online Video for Marketing Success

Presenter said:
Jeben Berg, creative director of Cross Platforms Solutions at YouTube & Google, threw out some startling stats about YouTube … it’s 81-million unique monthly visitors makes YouTube one of the most trafficked websites in the world … each minute, another new 15-minutes of video is uploaded to YouTube.

Obviously, YouTube is a media and marketing channel to be reckoned with and smart companies are finding ways to integrate YouTube into their marketing mix. Jeben explained there is “no single formula” for online video success. There are, however, lots of best practice tips on how to improve the effectiveness of online videos.

First, focus on great ideas rather than production values. Companies like BlendTec and its “Will it Blend” series begin with a singular idea — such as, will an iPhone blend? — to create simple yet interesting videos. According to Jeben, following the BlendTec approach of “high concept with low fidelity” is a recipe for creating compelling online video.

Second, think quantity more than quality. Jeben explained brands that post lots of videos gain the most viewers and receive the most must-see recommendations from friends.

Third, make the most out of your Title, Description, and Tags. Don’t get too cute with your video title names. Use key words and commonly searched terms in the Description of your videos. And, spend extra time making sure you Tag your videos with the most appropriate terms. Something simple as a good title, robust description, and relevant tags will help online videos get better visibility through search engines.

Jeben jokingly talked about how many CEOs of big brands have called YouTube requesting certain videos be taken down. As long as a copyright isn’t infringed upon, YouTube leaves such videos alone.

Audience tweeted:
@VirginiaMiracle was impressed with the short case study on how the rock band, Weezer, analyzed the stats behind their videos, “weezer used their YouTube stats to determine that no one in the state of Oklahoma cares about weezer.” By knowing how few viewers there were from Oklahoma, Weezer decided not to make a tour stop in the state.

In response to Jeben talking about the recent Domino’s video incident, @spikejones tweeted, “CEO of Domino’s called called YouTube and tried to play the ‘pull down the video b/c I pump so much $$ into Google card.’ It didn’t work.”

Jeben continued the Domino’s story about the company’s video response. @TravelPRPro responded, “Money Talks. Advertising does have influence. Domino’s response to employee hoax got prime placement on YouTube bc they advertise.”

WOMMA says:
Viral videos can give a company lots of attention. However, predicting what goes viral is nearly impossible. If you approach making a video with the intent of it going viral, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Instead, use Jeben’s advice of focusing on a quality idea more than on quality video production. It’s interesting ideas that get people interested and when interest is achieved, online word-of-mouth is primed to spread.

On May 13 & 14, WOMMA held its Word-of-Mouth Marketing University conference.
Below is a recap of a presentation from the conference.

Presentation:
Yelp: Empowering Consumers with Local Knowledge

Presenter said:
In kicking-off the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s WOMM-U Conference, Geoff Donaker, chief operating officer at Yelp, said, “The Genie is out of the bottle. You’re better off joining the conversation, than not.” Conversations about local restaurants and businesses fuel Yelp’s business. Donaker described Yelp as, “local search powered by community.”

It is the online community that provides Yelp with over 6-million reviews of local restaurants and businesses. 21-million people last month used Yelp to decide which restaurant to visit, car mechanic to use, and spa to be pampered at. With its broad reach and deep reviews, Yelp is changing the game of small business marketing.

Donaker told the story of a local carpet cleaner who used to spend $100K on yellow page advertising. Thanks to all the new business generated by positive reviews on Yelp, this carpet cleaner no longer spends money on yellow page advertising. Instead, this business is spending much of its advertising budget on improving it’s customer service, resulting in more positive reviews on Yelp.

Donaker also discussed how businesses have a love/hate relationship with customer-driven reviews. Businesses love how great customer service is rewarded with positive reviews. However, they hate the loss of message control. That said, the positive to negative review ratio at Yelp stands at 6:1.

Audience tweeted:
@ErikNYC mentioned the beauty of Yelp’s customer-driven model is that “when the customer wins, the business wins.” Echoing sentiments from the presentation, @gamedayjreau tweeted, “It’s always about customer service at the end of the day.”

In response to a case study example of how negative reviews can become positive for businesses, @leslieforde commented, “It’s worth engaging vocal customers gently. Reaching out to angry customers can change negative perception.”

WOMMA says:
The love/hate relationship with customer-driven conversations is real. Word-of-mouth offline and online can not be controlled, only sparked. A business cannot ethically control what customers say about them. One of the best ways to spark word-of-mouth conversations is through delivering outstanding customer service and providing remarkable products.

For any business wanting to spark word-of-mouth conversations, it must first spend time and money to gain utmost confidence in their services and products. This confidence will give a business thick enough skin to withstand negative reviews as well as a solid foundation from which a virtuous cycle of positive reviews will fuel business growth.

Expect lots of tid-bits to be shared from WOMM-U 2009. But first, here is list of immediate recap information.

1. Interviews with presenters and attendees (from BlogTalkRadio)
2. In-depth Blog coverage (from Josh Hallet of Hyku)
3. Flickr Photo roll (from Josh Hallet of Hyku)
4. Smart tweets tagged with #WOMMA (from WOMMA)

Over the next couple weeks, we’ll be sharing video ditties from the Conference as well as digging deeper into some of the major themes discussed in the ballroom sessions and breakout groups. Until then, then should satiate ya!