Word of Mouth – A Prescription for a Bad

Economy
 It looks like we’re in the big R…

2009 Anticipated Declines:

- 15% Newspapers
- 13% Consumer Magazines
- 10% Radio
- 4% Network TV
Smart Marketers are Now Rethinking Traditionally
Held Views...

Another
Change
You Can
Believe
In Is
Coming
…
 Word of Mouth is Catching On…in All Its Forms

Buzz Marketing
Customer Collaboration
Social Media Brand Communitie

Influencer Marketing
Social Networks Referral Programs

User Generated Grassroots/Cause Experiential Viral

Content Marketing Marketing Marketing
 The Fastest Growing Marketing/Media
Segments
Expected 5 year
Compound Annual Growth Rate

Word of Mouth 27%

Internet/Mobile 14%
Branded Entertainment 13%
Custom Publishing 11%
Others 10%
Fact - Most Traditional Media is an Inefficient
Cost…

…Word of Mouth is a Wise Investment

 7
Reasons Why
Word of Mouth
Deserves Your
Consideration
In This Economy
Reason #1 – Word of Mouth Gets Noticed

- 4% any ad recall from last TV - 93% of people believe word of

show watched (down from mouth is the most reliable way to
34% in 1965) find out information about products
and services
-70% of people frequently
consume multiple media
simultaneously
 Reason #2 – Word of Mouth Stimulates Action

90% - proportion of people who -can

skip ads, do skip ads
70% - percentage of people affected b
word of mouth conversations
- 37% buy it/try it
- 24% consider it
- 9% avoid it
Reason #3 – Word of Mouth is a Competitive Advantage

- Only 1-2% of marketing budgets are currently spent

directly on creating word of mouth

-Year Round Community - $100-500

- Word of Mouth Campaign - $40-150
-Blog /Social Media Outreach $30-100 against the Typical Research

- A 7% increase in positive word of mouth equates to 1%

business growth
Reason #4 – Word of Mouth Targets Influence

- With rare exception (i.e. - 70% of Wikipedia’s content

magazines), mainstream
media has a tough time
targeting audiences and
specifically influencers
is produced by 1.7% of its
audience
- Top ranked Influencer belief –
“I love talking to others about
things I’ve just discovered”
Reason #5 – Word of Mouth is More Trusted

60% of people have a  Word of mouth is the #1

much more negative view trusted source, up 50% vs. a
of marketing and generation ago
advertising than a few
years ago  61% of people claim to
buy the same brands as
27% trust manufacturers their friends

 14% trust ads  82% trust their friends

 8% trust celebrities
 Reason #6 – Word of Mouth is More Customer
Centric

WOM Provides:
Mass Media Provides:  Entertainment Value
 Entertainment Value  Informational Value
 Information Value  Explicit value (rewards)
 Intrinsic value (feeling of belonging)
 Experiential value (immersion)
 Social value (making connections)
 Talent value (expressing skills/creativit
 Service value (adds to the product)
 Collaborative value (1+1=3)
Reason #7 – Word of Mouth is the Now & the Future

 58% of marketers agree that

 Marketers plan on spending word of mouth influence will
more/less in 2009: overtake
More Less traditional media influence
Newspaper 5% within a generation
32%
Radio  73% of marketers believe
5% 33% marketers will become much
TV 4% more important in an
37% organization by leveraging word
Magazines 3% of mouth strategies and tactics
 We plan, seed, incubate execute, measure, live and
breathe the spectrum of word of mouth

Integrated
 Brand Community-building
 Influencer-driven
 Challenge/intervention
Grassroots sponsorship/cause-driven

Offline
 Experiential
 Buzz/Guerrilla

Online
 Social Media Production/Outreach
 Viral
 User-generated

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 Let’s Start Your Next Conversation…

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