WOMMA Summit Wrap-Up

Historic Word of Mouth Marketing Summit Concludes

Two days of intense learning and debate move brave new world of marketing forward

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) made history last week when more than 350 marketing professionals gathered in Chicago's Hotel Intercontinental for the Word of Mouth Marketing Summit, the first-ever trade conference on the topic of word of mouth marketing. The summit brought the industry's best and brightest together to compare tactics, learn the state of the art, and share insights into resolving tough issues.

Using blogs, online communities, viral, buzz, evangelism, word of mouth and other techniques, WOMMA and its members are building a prosperous new world of honest, authentic two-way communications between marketers and customers. As the pioneers of this new industry, the summit's attendees discussed and debated the bellwether issues that define it. These issues included:

• Nurturing ethical leadership, consumer respect, and trust
• Creating a word of mouth campaign
• Measuring, tracking, and delivering ROI
• Sharing best practices
• Developing effective standards

Strong demand, global reach

Demand for the conference was so strong that WOMMA had to shift locations one week prior to the event itself. Even more amazing was the fact that it was sold entirely using word of mouth techniques. According to WOMMA officials, no money was spent on promotion.

Additionally, at least one-fifth of the conference attendees were from outside the U.S., hailing from countries such as Canada, Venezuela, Brazil, Austria, Japan, and Israel.

Leadership and experience

Featuring 57 industry experts and authors as speakers and panelists, the summit was kickstarted by WOMMA CEO Andy Sernovitz. In his opening remarks, Sernovitz outlined a bold vision for the future of the WOM (Word of Mouth) industry.

"Do we, as WOM practitioners, want to be viewed as the voice of the consumer or manipulators? As marketing pros - or experimenters on the edge?" Sernovitz asked. "In order for the WOM industry to grow and flourish, it is obvious that we must vigorously pursue the former in each case, and vigorously reject the latter."

Speakers shared solid case studies for attendees to take home and adopt. Lessons were shared from all corners of the business world, including the music industry, politics, and Hollywood.

Summit Coverage

Keith Bates

John Moore, Brand Autopsy

Rick Bruner, DoubleClick

Todd Sattersten

Church of the Customer - a great podcast!

Idil Cakim

David Polinchok

Jake McKee

Pete Blackshaw in ClickZ

Josh Hawkins