Updated: April 18, 2008 02:24 PM
Updated: April 18, 2008 02:24 PM
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AdRantsPosted by josh.morgan
Start-ups live by them, Fortune 500 companies are either embracing them or cursing them, and now politicians of all parties have embraced them.
"When Barack Obama addressed the bloggers at the Democratic National Convention" in 2004, said Rosen, "He said, 'Welcome, welcome. I may start a blog myself.' And he said, 'I may be coming to you for advice.' And I shouted out to him, 'Write it yourself.' He said, 'Oh, well, as soon as I find three free hours a day, I will.' Which meant never. And he's learning it's necessary for him to write it himself. Because that's what's really powerful."
In the past week I have given presentations on online communications and blogging to two very different companies (although no politicians – Arnold are you listening?). One is a world class semiconductor company and the other is a highly successful regional healthcare provider. They both have very different reasons for doing so, but a common goal, a new way to engage with customers.
Politicians used to engage with their constituents by attending BBQ’s and taking whistlestop tours, with each member of Congress, representing 600,000 people, those tactics don’t quite scale to meet their needs or the needs of their constituents.
To those that elected representatives who aren’t afraid to go back to the type of communication that happens 1-1, where everyone’s voice can be heard, “Welcome.”
As everyone who has jumped into the blogosphere has learned, it’s not easy, but good communication usually isn’t. It takes a commitment, forethought and hard work, all to make it look easy.
If you’re serious about talking with your constituents, customers or partners and not at them, jump in, if you’re not, get ready to pay the price, because they’re already talking about you, or get ready to explain why you’re not.
posted by josh.morgan
Posted by Elizabeth.Lee
What I really appreciated about the WOMMA conference was hearing WOM's passionistas rein in the hype around this "new thing" called word-of-mouth marketing. Everyone’s taking notice -- that eternal search for the latest and greatest. But wait, WOM.... new? Clearly not.
Then why is WOMM so hot right now? Well who would’ve thought that you’d be on the receiving end of my WOM on WOMM and WOMMA today? Precisely. The “word on the street” no longer needs to hit the pavement with much force to gain momentum and power.
So people are talking and people trust WOM... but what are they saying about your business? Who’s getting the positive WOM action? Well keynotes from Don Peppers and Fred Reichheld struck me with a few takeaways.
Peppers discussed an overall shortage of paying customers -- not capital. He addressed a need to strengthen customer lifetime value (CLV) and how companies increasing “Return on Customer” share a key quality – they are trusted by their customers. Reichheld discussed how loyalty’s the surprisingly simple common denominator for business success. He proposed the idea of “bad profits” -- profits that come at the expense of customer irritation (think large switching costs for flights among airlines) and how customer resentment damages longer-term growth. It makes sense. But how many companies can really say that the Golden Rule is core to their value proposition?
So what else gets passed along? Well we all know the outrageous, irreverent, and humorous get their share of WOM. Bob Mankoff (cartoon editor of The New Yorker's Cartoon Book) gave an entertaining presentation showing the relevant connection points that humor can facilitate. John Moore (Brand Autopsy) also addressed this type of buzz and the relative longer-term value of a blip on the WOM radar (e.g., a Super Bowl commercial) versus lasting WOM (e.g., outstanding product/service). One might easily assume the latter as the better option -- invest in the product/service itself to stimulate intrinsic WOM. However, not everyone can be at the top of their category. Is the WOMM piece’s remark-ability in and of itself so bad?
Speaking of... Have any of you out there experienced the latest in behavioral targeting -- an experiential piece of marketing at the urinal? Yes, HAUB (Heat Activated Urinal Billboards) has arrived. And if hyper-color porcelain isn’t quite right for you, how about a little strobing and talking with the Wizmark?
posted by Elizabeth.Lee
Posted by Rick.Murray
The highlight of WOMMA thus far has clearly been the keynote delivered at lunch today by Scott Ginsberg, aka The Name Tag Guy. Scott decided 1900+ days ago that he was going to wear a name tag 24/7 to make people "more friendly and approachable." Today, some six years later, he's turned his name tag obsession into a full time gig as an author, speaker and more.
He related all this back to WOM by saying that brands needed to be more approachable too. And then he offered five rules to help us get there:
Do something cool. The reaction you want to get from anyone seeing your stuff is just that: "cool."
Tell your story. Make sure that everyone that's important to you knows it and can tell it back to you.
Focus on winning fans, not selling customers. Fans don't need to be sold, but they do need reasons to come back.
Own a word and make it a crucial part of your story. Win the Google search war.
Market yourself daily.
All very simple and straightforward. Cool.
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posted by Rick.Murray
Posted by Phil.Gomes
Neville Hobson points us to BrandWeek's less-than-rosy estimation of the power of blogs.
As Neville cites from the BrandWeek piece (PDF):
Blogs provide almost no new information. They’re frequently inaccurate. They contribute to the hysterical polarization of our nation’s political discourse. And they’re often written by people who can’t, you know, write. So naturally marketers have flocked to associate their brands with them. Seriously, it’s not entirely clear why so many marketers have rushed to get themselves name-dropped in one of the most unreliable media environments yet invented.
When approached with the criticism that science fiction was an inferior literary form, Sturgeon agreed that "Ninety percent of all science fiction is crap." However, he also informed his critics that you could say that about pretty much anything.
The point is well-taken, though, that there has been a mad rush by marketers to show how much they "get" blogs, sometimes with disastrous results. But the issue just isn't about whether the media environment is "unreliable."
"Unreliable media environment" or not, it's the communicator's responsibility to achieve understanding of that environment.
Nevertheless, it's become pretty clear that people make extreme negative statements about blogs in order to drive chatter and controversy.
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posted by Phil.Gomes
Posted by Phil.Gomes
Many of you know me from Phil's Blogservations. Some of you have wondered when I'd be starting a blog under the Edelman.Com domain.
Well, here you have it. Welcome to TalkShop.
"To put it country simple," as William S. Burroughs used to say, TalkShop is a team blog about word-of-mouth marketing, social media, and related topics. We seek to be informative, analytical, and (when appropriate) slightly irreverent.
Now, I'll tell you what this blog isn't:
This won't be Phil's-other-blog
We have contributors from all over Edelman's network that, as of this writing, counts 43 offices worldwide. Think of me more as a host, editor, and frequent contributor.
A place for agency chest-beating
You won't read TalkShop otherwise. (Though I'd be surprised if it didn't happen from time-to-time.)
Time to TalkShop.
Technorati Tags:
pr, public relations, word of mouth marketing, wom, buzz
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posted by Phil.Gomes
TalkShop is a blog about word-of-mouth and the Me2 Revolution, published by Edelman and hosted by Phil Gomes, the company's Senior Counsel, Online Communications. This blog pulls in thoughts and opinions from members of the worldwide Edelman network.
Posts that contain WOM OR WOMM OR "Word of Mouth" per day for the last 30 days.
Get your own chart!