Word of Mouth Marketing

WOMMFor FAL

“Goodwill is the only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy.”

- Marshall Field

“Quotes on the Value of Word of Mouth.” Yahoo! 20 July 2009 <http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/6246/quote6.html>.

WOMMFor FAL

What is WOMM? Variety of categories, including buzz, blog, viral, cause

influencers, social media marketing, and ambassador programs

Personal nature of communications believed to add layer of credibility

Belief that person carrying message is honest and without ulterior motives

Therefore, research shows that many are more likely to believe WOMM over traditional forms of marketing

Grewal, R., T.W. Cline, and A. Davies, 2003. Early-Entrant Advantage, Word-of-Mouth Communication, Brand Similarity, and the Consumer Decision-Making Process. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13(3).

Key Influencers Family Friends Shop Assistants Beauticians Celebrity Endorsements

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WOMMFor FAL

Other Companies’ Initiatives P&G:

“Connectors” model (“Tremor” and “Vocal Point”) “Club Website” model (“beinggirl.com” and

“homemadesimple.com”)

Avon: “Avon Ladies model”

T-Mobile & Tigo: Viral Marketing

Mobile Marketing

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P&G “Connectors” Model Concept

P&G’s “Vocalpoint” and “Tremor” initiatives

Aimed at members of the target market (targeting moms and teens respectively) and recruiting them as “connectors”

These people are then given coupons, samples, and the message that the company wants them to share and are asked to distribute them among their social networks

“I Sold It Through The Grapevine.” BusinessWeek. 08 July 2009<http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_22/b3986060.htm>.

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P&G “Connectors” Model Concept

“Connectors” are recruited through social networks that the target market would frequently visit

Screening questions are asked to ensure that the people have the right network to be included in the program

In return, those “hired” are given numerous free samples and are constantly kept up to date on product developments and are used for R&D for P&G products

“I Sold It Through The Grapevine.” BusinessWeek. 08 July 2009<http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_22/b3986060.htm>.

WOMMFor FAL

P&G “Connectors” Model Results

Claims that sales have “exploded” in the test markets for “Vocalpoint” (experienced growth of 17-50%)

Message is delivered to target market by friends and family and is therefore perceived to be more legitimate

Connectors are not paid allowing them to say what they want about the products – further increasing legitimacy

Screening of “connector” candidates allows for minimal waste and maximum exposure

“I Sold It Through The Grapevine.” BusinessWeek. 08 July 2009<http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_22/b3986060.htm>.

WOMMFor FAL

P&G “Club Website” Model Concept

P&G’s “beinggirl” and “homemadesimple” initiatives

Created websites with the goal of making the target market feel that they belong to part of a club

The sites provide content that members of such a “club” would want to read and interact with such as: learning opportunities communication between members of the target market providing interesting articles various types of multimedia numerous free samples and discounts

“About Beinggirl.” Beinggirl.com - For Girls, By Girls. 08 July 2009<http://www.beinggirl.net/en_US/aboutbeinggirl.jsp>.

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P&G “Club Website” Model Concept

“Beinggirl” website is aimed at teenage girls claiming to help them through a difficult stage in their lives

It provides a way for girls to make it through these struggles together

“Homemadesimple” is for mothers and provides articles and innovative ideas for simplifying household chores

The sites constantly push P&G products as solutions to their problems and aim to convert prospects into active customers

“About Beinggirl.” Beinggirl.com - For Girls, By Girls. 08 July 2009<http://www.beinggirl.net/en_US/aboutbeinggirl.jsp>.

WOMMFor FAL

P&G “Club Website” Model Results

Cheap and easy to maintain compared to other advertising campaigns

Analysts report that P&G’s “beinggirl.com” website was 4 times as effective at driving sales than a similarly priced traditional advertising campaign

P&G discovered that audience is more receptive to interactive rather than traditional passive advertising

The website also has the ability to act as a focus group by gauging the reaction to products in the comments in the discussion group

Pulizzi, Joe. "Engagement Sells: How Online Content Can Move Product." Chief Marketer. 08 July 2009 <http://chiefmarketer.com/disciplines/online/ engagement_online_content_0227/>.

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“Avon Ladies” ModelConcept Similar to P&G “Vocalpoint” model but actually hires people

within the target segment and pays them commission to sell the products themselves

Also allows for a form of pyramid scheme where the initial salesmen can recruit further salespeople and take a percentage of their commission

Results Raises awareness of products through a trusted source and

offers customers the chance for immediate purchase Using solely this method, Avon now has sales of

$10.7 billion annually

Gordon, Bryony. “Ding-dong, I've been converted.” Telegraph.co.uk: Telegraph. 08 July 2009 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/ beauty/3359568/Ding-dong-Ive-been-converted.html>.

WOMMFor FAL

Viral MarketingConcept T-Mobile & Tigo have campaigns using funny/cool videos

and images emailed to a small group of people who in turn forward them to friends

Do not relate to the product itself but relates instead to the company’s other advertising campaigns, the product’s function, a desired lifestyle, etc.

Results It is common and easy to forward emails to many people so

each forward grows the brand’s exposure exponentially

Cheap to implement but hard to monitor campaign’s success

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Viral Marketing

This spontaneous dance routine featuring 350 anonymous people in a train station in the UK became a YouTube sensation garnering 13 million views

Watch video at: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/dance/

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Mobile MarketingHipCricket Research - Basic SMS Marketing If sent an SMS advertisement, there is 96% chance that a

person will remember it, 33% chance of buying the product, 37% tell a friend, and 6% forward it to a friend

Kroger Supermarkets Kroger Supermarkets in USA developed a system where

discount coupons were sent to people’s telephones to be entered by store cashiers

Discovered that over 10% were redeemed in the pilot project leading to it being implemented across all outlets

“IPhone -Report: Mobile/SMS Marketing Yields Higher Results.” IPhone. 15 July 2009 <http://iphone.tmcnet.com/topics/ iphone/ articles/43715-report-mobilesms-marketing-yields-higher-results.htm>.

Tsirulnik, Giselle. “Kroger supermarket chain expands mobile coupon promotion.” Mobile Marketer. 8 Jan. 2009. 15 July 2009 <http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/commerce/2417.html>.

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Mobile Marketing

Nike Created a mobile marketing campaign targeting runners

offering a recorded motivational wakeup call from their favourite Nike athletes

The 8 week promotion exceeded its target participation by 300% by the end of the first week

New Line Cinema – “Snakes on a Plane” Set up a promotion where people could go online and

send recorded messages from Samuel L. Jackson to their friends in a phone call

Over 4 million calls were made during promotion

“Top 10 Mobile Marketing Campaigns.” Christine. 15 July 2009<http://www.christine.net/2006/11/top_mobile_mark.html>.

WOMMFor FAL

Mobile MarketingDove Part of “Campaign for Real Beauty” A large hoarding had a picture of an old woman and asked people

to use their mobiles and vote on whether she was “wrinkled” or “wonderful”

Below that, the live results were displayed

Axe Allowed men to download ring tones that they could relate to a girl

and have it ring when that particular girl called Provided value to user and reinforced brand association whenever

a particular girl called

“Top 10 Mobile Marketing Campaigns.” Christine. 15 July 2009<http://www.christine.net/2006/11/top_mobile_mark.html>.

WOMMFor FAL

“Don't ever underestimate the power of commonality and endorsement.”

- Bill Cates

“Quotes on the Value of Word of Mouth.” Yahoo! 20 July 2009 <http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/6246/quote6.html>.