Updates from December, 2006

• Technorati: Blogs Up; Splogs Down
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 9:03 am on December 22, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  Technorati is tracking more than 57 million blogs, and Q3 2006 figures show that number is growing steadily, with 100,000 more blogs being created every day, according to Technorati’s October 2006 State of the Blogosphere report. The company also contends that, while it appears that blog growth is slowing, better splog (spam blog) control measures are to blame for the dip.
  Also reported:
  * The blogosphere is doubling in size every 230 days.
  * In Q3 2006, Technorati reduced the overall percentage of splogs indexed from 8% to 7%.
  * More than 70% of pings are from known spam sources, which Technorati blocks before they become splogs.
  * About 4% of splogs do get past Technorati’s filters — even if it’s only for a few hours or days.
  
  Learn more

  

  

   

• 74% of U.S. Shoppers Turn to WOM for Advice
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 9:02 am on December 22, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  A staggering number of U.S. (74%) and U.K. (63%) shoppers claim they turn to friends, neighbors, and colleagues for advice on their purchases, according to a recent study by WOMMA member company Millward Brown. Shoppers in both countries claim that personal opinions are very convincing, ranking them higher than online sources.
  Other findings:
  * 34% of U.S. shoppers and 45% of U.K. shoppers claim to use online sources to make purchase decisions.
  * 11% of U.S. shoppers and 10% of U.K. shoppers say they use informal sources of online information (chat rooms, blogs, message boards, etc.) when making purchase decisions.
  Visit Millward Brown

  

  

   

• This Holiday Season, Viral Marketing, Incentives Led
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 9:01 am on December 22, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  Retailers got in touch with their inner techies in an attempt to reach the two-thirds of adults who intended to do their holiday shopping online this year. According to the 2006 eHoliday Mood Survey conducted by BizRate for Shopzilla and Shop.org, 41.6% of retailers intended to use blogs or RSS feeds as part of their holiday marketing mix, while 79.5% planned to use viral marketing at social networking sites.
  Once they lured shoppers to their sites, an increasing number of online retailers were willing to offer free and discounted shipping in order to “seal the deal.” Two years ago only 64% of online retailers offered shipping incentives, while this year 83% used shipping-based promotions.
  
  Learn more (DM News)
  Learn more (NRF)
  
  Learn more (Business Blog Consulting)

  

  

   

• From the Archives: Incentives Better Than Satisfaction at Driving WOM
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 9:00 am on December 22, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  While customer satisfaction by itself doesn’t necessarily up the odds of word of mouth success, incentives prompt satisfied customers to spread the word, according to Jochen Wirtz and Patricia Chew’s 2002 International Journal of Service Industry Management article, titled “The Effercts of Incentives, Deal Proneness, Satisfaction, and Tie Strength on Word of Mouth Behavior.”
  Other findings:
  * Deal-prone customers generate more word of mouth — independent of incentives.
  * Satisfied customers are a “necessary but not sufficient” component for positive word of mouth generation.
  * Incentives might be an effective way to induce satisfied customers to make recommendations.
  Learn more

  

  

   

• WOMMA Celebrates Largest Word of Mouth Event Yet
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 4:57 pm on December 19, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  More than 400 of the industry’s savviest word of mouth marketers and enthusiasts attended WOMMA’s second Word of Mouth Marketing Summit last week in Washington, D.C. — making it our most successful event to date. Thanks to our many attendees, members, speakers, sponsors, and partners for making this such an exciting, dynamic, and rewarding event. We hope you learned as much as we did!
  If you missed the Summit, don’t fret: All conference audio — including brand new how-to sessions and case studies from more than 70 speakers — is available on our website.
  Order conference audio

  

  

   

• Reuters Syndicates 3,000 Blogs
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 4:52 pm on December 19, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  Television shows, newspaper articles, and radio programs all are syndicated. And now, thanks to a new partnership between Reuters news service and social media firm Pluck, so are blogs. Reuters began using Pluck’s BlogBurst syndication service last month to syndicate news and commentary from nearly 3,000 blogs, ranging in subject matter from philosophy and politics to travel and fashion. The goal, according to Reuters, is to introduce mainstream media to alternative sources of information. And because bloggers are paid when their work is syndicated, newsmakers can count on consumers to begin sharing more and better information with their peers via blogs.
  Learn more (BizReport)
  Learn more (MediaPost)

  

  

   

• Car and Driver Magazine Turns Readers into Agents
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 4:50 pm on December 19, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  Car and Driver magazine has launched a new word of mouth program to connect its readers with its advertisers. Called “The First Drivers Club,” the program is designed to recruit consumers to participate in “buzz activities” for the magazine in exchange for access to new cars and products, which they will be asked to review and discuss with their peers. Car and Driver, which has been experiencing a decline in circulation, is partnering with WOMMA member companies Renegade Marketing Group and BzzAgent to manage the program, which it hopes will connect advertisers with readers, readers with each other, and, ultimately, the magazine with new ad revenue.
  Learn more (BrandWeek)
  Learn more (Media Buyer Planner)

  

  

   

• New Website Helps Users Spread WOM, Save Energy
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 4:49 pm on December 19, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  The Alliance to Save Energy has launched a word of mouth campaign and social networking website that it hopes will encourage consumers to be more energy efficient. The “Six Degrees of Energy Efficiency Challenge” kicked off last month with a home makeover in Washington, D.C., the purpose of which was to help a local family save energy with simple home improvements. The event was supported by the simultaneous launch of SixDegreeChallenge.org, an educational website created by WOMMA member company Fleishman-Hillard that asks consumers to commit to saving energy by taking a quiz, making a pledge, and “challenging” six of their friends to do the same. Upon challenging their friends, users can literally see their social network, which is represented visually on screen to help consumers see and measure their word of mouth impact.
  Learn more

  

  

   

• Briefly: Dave Morgan On Privacy, Starwood Hires Ambassadors
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 10:47 am on December 19, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  Dave Morgan Examines Public Policy, Online Advertising
  Starwood Hotels Recruits Brand — and Beer — Ambassadors

  

  

   

• Managing a WOM Program: Amy Cotteleer, Sam Decker, Dan Buczaczer
  
  

  WOMMA Editor 7:03 pm on December 18, 2006 | Comments Off Comments Permalink
  

  Citizens for Wii, all I can say is, WowWii.

  

  Amy Cotteleer’s give away raffle of a Nintendo Wii demonstrated the effectiveness of concepts that have been discussed at several WOMMA sessions: sampling increases memorability and if you can’t give everyone a sample, do a raffle (David Clark of Talk Marketing). Also, as she noted, agencies should be extensions of the brand and goodwill is an asset that competition cannot undermine or destroy.

  As Sony struggles with the PS3 introduction and fake blogs developed by their agency, Zipatoni, we can only hope that they consider the WOMMA code of ethics and agencies quoting Andre Malraux and discussing best practices next time.

  But really, the Wii story is fascinating. The Wii introduction is noteworthy for its well thought out strategy in light of a come from behind market position in sharp contrast with the PS2 equity that Sony started out with and now seems to be squandering. Amy discussed the Wii strategy ( targeting outside of traditional gamers…soccer moms) and ambassador program (party invitations for Ambassadors to send to their friends, Wii and games provided).best question: Where do you find the Ambassadors? Not in the usual places.

  For more detail try the Nintendo Forums. For an interview with one of the Ambassadors, go here; pictures are here. More? Here and here.

  According to the latest numbers from BrandIntel, the Wii is the most discussed game console…it seems to be working.

  Sam Decker of Bazaarvoice discussed some of the principles to get word of mouth momentum going within an organization. He said that at times it can feel like no one else gets it and you wonder how to get other people and groups involved.

  Sam spoke at the Forrester Consumer Forum in October along with Andy Sernovitz and although camera-less during his WOMMA session, I had this picture of Sam, Andy and Gordon Gould.

  

  Sam uses the visual of a woodpecker and a peacock to explain his recommended strategy for getting organizational buy-in. Woodpecking is the day to day and Peacocking is doing something that everyone has to pay attention to.

  His short list for building momentum:

  • Name Some Stuff: The long tail is taken but keep thinking.
  • Share love and pain: how do you get people to be accountable for driving the momentum of the word of mouth campaign.
  • What’s in it for me? WIIF Speak the language of your audience. Take a book that an executive has read and use the recognizable words from from it…long tail, paradox of choice.
  • Resolve the Edge Concerns. Address concerns head on.
  • Use Multiple Sources of Confirmation. Interesting third party statistics.
  • Characterize the Upside: ..Accentuate the feature; use visuals.
  • Demonstrate Cross Organizational Impact.
  • Choose influential allies inside the organization.
  • Tell Interesting, amazing sound bites in one on one discussions.

  Tags: Wii, Wii Ambassadors, WOMMA Summit 2006, WOMMA, Sam Decker, Marianne Richmond, Andy Sernovitz, Amy Cotteleer, marketing, Nintendo, Zipatoni, Sony, PS3, BrandIntel

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