What's On Your WOM List?

I'm off to participate at the WOMMA Summit (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) and it's got me thinking about what word of mouth is in the first place. In a simplistic kind of way, I like to think that word of mouth is essentially something that makes us want to tell others about it. Here's a few I can remember followed by what the first thought was that popped into my head:

Mini Cooper
"cool"

Google
"this makes finding stuff so easy"

Subservient Chicken
'how did they do that"?

YouTube
"makes watching video online fun"

Dove Real Beauty
"that was clever"

Craigslist
"I'll never pay for classifieds again"

Twitter
"not sure exactly, but can't stop using it"

Facebook
"so convenient to stay in touch"

IPhone
"i'll never go back to a regular phone"

Of course word of mouth can also be bad. AOL, Comcast, Microsoft (Vista), and others have experienced the wrath of customers who put considerable energy into saying things about the products or services that weren't flattering. To me the current state of marketing revolves this idea of "viral"—producing something that spreads organically from person to person. Not unlike some of the examples I've provided in the list. But we call videos "viral" before they ever have a chance to be. Is that putting the cart in front of the horse or is has the word viral become so overused that it's actually meaningless?

Maybe it's as simple as asking ourselves, would you recommend this to a friend? And if that's the case, we'll have our work cut out for us because there are so few things in this world that actually are. So what's on your WOM list? And why?

Comments

[Steve Baty]

Dave,

I think the real challenge for WOM marketing is to create an experience that is *so* good; *so* compelling that our enjoyment of it not only encourages us to tell others about it, but that our own story conveys that same sense of enjoyment to the point that *others will re-tell our story without first experiencing it for themselves*.

Those "Oh yeah, my friend absolutely *raved* about his experience with company X" conversations. This more than viral. To take your own ripple metaphor, this is about creating skipping-stones from our experiences.

Steve

[Kelly]

Moleskine notebooks
"love the feel of the paper, and old dead guys used them"

Dumbo Feather Magazine http://dumbofeather.com/
"feel inspired every time I read it and it's beautiful"

tatty devine Jewelry
"quirky and unusual"

@badbanana (Tim Seidell on twitter)
"manages to make me have a big laugh more than once a day"

aesop http://www.aesop.net.au/
"their stuff is amazing and their shops are tres chic"

For me "viral" is now an agency term written on briefs before something is even produced - "this is viral" before it is even passed on to someone else.

In relation to Steve's post, I wonder though if all brands can achieve that feeling that you HAVE to tell someone - the RAVE and RANT you have when you Must Tell Someone about how fantastic something is. My tinned soup client may not be able to do that - but I like the idea of these small endorsing phrases that multiply and then have enormous impact.

[Dave Shelleny]

Pandora - Ditch the CD changer for parties, pick the artists that match the mood, shuffle, then play.

[Jay Ehret]

David, Thanks for getting the conversation started ahead of the WOMMA Summit. John Moore of Brand Autopsy recently told me that word of mouth is about earning an opinion (good or bad). WOM doesn't just happen because you are in business or do a good job.

The Flip Camera - It makes internet video simple.

[Stephen Collins]

Dave, at the moment, WOMMA's not even on my list. They have a position of not allowing one-person organisations to join. Laurel Papworth (http://silkcharm.blogspot.com/search?q=womma) and I have both lobbied them and they aren't interested.

Apparently, businesses like mine and Laurel's don't have the ability to do WOM. And we're not traditional agencies, so apparently, we don't count.

Frankly, WOMMA fail.

[Michelle / chelpixie]

Oh definitely the iPhone and Twitter.

Tweetdeck
"because I need my groups on twitter"

Freshbooks
"easy way of billing/time tracking, plus they won my heart by sending me flowers"

Batchblue
"most streamlined and social CRM out there, plus you get SuperTags which you will love"

[John Bell]

@stephencollins - you should contact me or Kristin Smith, our new Executive Director, regarding membership. we are a member-driven organization and need everyone who is passionate about WOM involved. Our member-model is based upon organizations vs. individual practitioners and if you are an organization than you will qualify for membership. I can be reached at john.bell@ogilvypr.com

[Mark]

Jet Blue: An enjoyable way to fly

"12 bones" (here in Asheville) - Excellent ribs

I-Pod: All my music, portable in that cool looking unit

Rhodesian Ridgeback: A great dog

[Laurel Papworth]

@John Bell - The very fact that WOMMA doesn't understand that word of mouth comes from individuals not organizations goes to the very heart of their failure.

I am a woman, an individual - who went to Saudi Arabia to launch a social network for Islamic women, to teach Arabic women how to blog and use social media as part of the Middle East Broadcasting "Women's voices matter" and -as one individual - to effect social change from Jeddah, Saudi through to Dubai, UAE THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH. I have worked in Singapore with the Government there, on social network strategies to engage with their population in WORD OF MOUTH campaigns.

None of this is of interest to WOMMA because frankly, they want the discussion to be around Agency Media marketed through social networks, not Social Media through word of mouth in communities.

What WOMMA need to realise is that true word of mouth, social media organisation are arising- and the agencies will go where those who are truly involved in WOM are - leaving echo chambers behind.

Thanks @Stephen Collins - The irony is that the word of mouth campaign being built by individuals against WOMMA for their "organizations- only" rule won't even be recognized for the damage it will do them until too late. The ripple will wash over them, and they won't see where it came from...

[David Armano]

John Bell, thanks for taking the time to address Stephen's concern and thank you Stephen for voicing it here.

Laurel, you bring up a good point of word of mouth working both ways. In this case, WOMMA's policy could be generating WOM of the negative kind. I don't know enough about the rationale behind their policies, but hopefully they are listening.

[Jim Nolan]

I came across your blog looking for articles about marketing and advertising.
Congrats for the topics you´ve been posting. I´ll include a link from my blogroll.
All the best,
Jim Nolan
sales@promogiftstore.com
http://www.promogiftstore.com

[Clinton Skakun]

Ruby(Programming Lanuage) -- A powerful, easy to use language for quick application development.

Vista -- Vista sucks!!!

Linux -- Free, awesome, open source

Wordpress -- THEE best blogging software out there.