Here Comes the Next Wave of Marketing & Media…

Crisis requires radical shifts in thinkingIn this recession economy smart marketers are now

rethinking traditionally held views...

The Fastest Growing Marketing/Media Segments

Expected 5 year Compound Annual Growth Rate

Word of Mouth (Network Marketing) 27%Internet/Mobile 14%Branded Entertainment 13%Custom Publishing 11%Out of Home 10%

Source: Veronis Suhler Stevenson

12 Reasons Why

Word of Mouth

(Network Marketing)

Deserves Your

Consideration

In This Economy

Reason #2 – Word of Mouth Taps The Values of New, Customer Participation Culture

Mass Media Word of MouthCustomers Now Want:FreedomCustomization ScrutinyIntegrityCollaborationEntertainmentSpeedInnovation

Participation Values Grade2/102/103/102/101/108/105/102/10

Participation Values Grade9/108/109/109/10

10/108/108/109/10

Evaluation Score 25/80 70/80

-93% of people believe word of mouth is the most reliable way to find out information about products and services (up +26 pts. Vs. 25 years ago)

Source: NOP World

Reason #1 – Word of Mouth Gets Noticed

Reason #3 – Word of Mouth Stimulates Action- 90% - proportion of people who can skip ads, do skip ads and- 69% - percentage of people who are interested in skipping ads completely

Source: Yankelovich

- 70% - percentage of people affected by word of mouth conversations- 37% buy it/try it - 24% consider it - 9% avoid it

Source: Keller Fay

BUT

Reason #4 – Word of Mouth is More Trusted

- 61% of people claim to buy the same brands as their friends (+28 pts. Vs. 4 years ago) - 90% trust their spouse - 82% trust their friends

Sources: Keller Fay/Yankelovich/Henley Centre

Reason #5 – Word of Mouth is a Competitive Advantage

Reason #6 – Word of Mouth Has Longevity- Over 30% of the broadcast content we see in mass media is advertising or promotion

How much is consciously & attentively well-received and retained in memory? Low to Virtually nil

- Average people have 17 word of mouth conversations each day

How much is interactive, spoken, internalized, retained and behavior altering? High

Reason #7 – Word of Mouth Costs Less Per ImpactNational Ad campaign low

impact splatter focus

82% of community members refer more people to a brand after joining

Face to face or on the phone high intensity Bull’s eye focus

Verses

Reason #8 – Word of Mouth Targets Influence

- 70% of Wikipedia’s content is produced by 1.7% of its audience

- Top ranked Influencer belief – “I love talking to others about things I’ve just discovered”

- Influencers are 2x more active, conversational and/or brand-involved than the mainstream consumer

Sources: Agent Wildfire, Keller Fay

Reason #10 – Word of Mouth is Consumer Driven

Entertainment Value Information Value

Entertainment Value Informational Value Explicit value (rewards) Intrinsic value (feeling of belonging) Extrinsic value (ego/reputation) Experiential value (immersion) Social value (making connections) Talent value (expressing skills/creativity) Service value (adds to the product) Collaborative value (1+1=3)

Mass Media Provides: WOM Provides:

Reason #9 – Word of Mouth is More Measurable and Linked to Growth

- Word of mouth activities have much better measurement ability because of their digital nature and opportunity to mine relationship with customer/member

- The #1 factor linked to business growth is word of mouth referral

- Word of mouth measures the key business drivers of engagement and advocacy

Sources: Agent Wildfire, Bain

Reason #12 – Word of Mouth is the Now & the Future

58% of marketers agree that word of mouth influence will overtake traditional media influence within a generation

73% of marketers believe marketers will become much more important in an organization by leveraging word of mouth strategies and tactics

Source: Agent Wildfire

Reason #11 – Word of Mouth Simply Provides More

Advocacy Ambassadorship BuzzCommunication Insight InnovationOperational Improvements Real world feedback SolutionsSupport User Generated Content

Don’t skate to where the puck is , skate to where it is going to be

In hockey, football or life, you have to be ahead of the pack

to receive the pass so you can score the goal. Don’t wait to run after the pass is begun.

By then it is too late.

Basic Slide Presentation Source: Agent Wildfire, Toronto, Canada