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WOMMA 2006

Trustiness*

December 19, 2006

Posted by leah.jones

I've been back from WOMMA almost a week, but still haven't wrapped my head around the whole experience. It shows in my blogging--I've aborted this post four times already. So instead of trying to summarize the whole event in one post, I'm going to share some of my favorites notes (not quotes) and direct you to better recaps.

People carry two wallets. One with money, the other holds time. A product has to be worth both the money and the time. Remember that time is more valuable.
--Ted Leonsis, AOL

Wisdom of crowds VS the tyranny of mobs.
--Rob Gould of Porter Novelli

Word of Mouth is the folklore of consumer culture.
--Gary Stein of Ammo Marketing

When the spin is obvious, the information is more valuable.
--this was from (I think) Julia Hood of PRWeek, but definitely from the session "Are bloggers journalists?"

The best coverage can be found by searching for the WOMMA tag on Technorati or by reading all of the live blog entries at the WOMMA site.

*Trustiness? That was also from Gary Stein at AMMO.

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posted by leah.jones

WOMMA 2006

WOMM: One Marketing Hand Should Wash The Other

February 9, 2006

Posted by Phil.Gomes

There's much to learn from Jonah Bloom's excellent post-conference editorial in AdAge, reposted with permission on the WOMMA site.

I'll point to one part, in particular.

There's too much for all types of marketers and agencies to learn from word-of-mouth techniques for those to be the purview of one person or department exclusively. One of the core aspects of word-of-mouth marketing is that it requires monitoring of the conversation, listening rather than just talking. What is learned from such a dialogue must be used to inform the full breadth of marketing activities, otherwise it is being wasted.

Bloom rightly warns that word-of-mouth capability should not sit in a "silo" but, rather, be a discipline that permeates all functional areas of the marketing department.

Does anyone really think that, even a year from now, we're going to hear "Hey! That's Bob! From our word-of-mouth department!"

Technorati Tags:
womm, word of mouth marketing

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posted by Phil.Gomes

WOMMA 2006

Some Basics from "Basic Training"

January 23, 2006

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?

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posted by Elizabeth.Lee

WOMMA 2006

The Name Tag Guy

January 19, 2006

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