Word-of-Mouth

Joseph Jaffe, author of Join the Conversation, writing in Adweek, offers some good advice. The movie Rounders contains a life lesson: "When sitting down at the poker table, look around for the sucker. If you don't recognize the sucker, get up and leave, because the sucker is you." Along the same lines, the next time you sit down at a planning table to discuss something viral, look for the moron leading the project …

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According to Ad Age, word-of-mouth spending has increased from $76 million in 2001 to $981 million in 2006 and is expected to grow to approximately $3.7 billion by 2011. Still, the discipline accounted for just 0.4% of the share in the $254 billion marketing-services category, a grouping that includes direct marketing, branded entertainment and public relations, among others. If PQ Media's analysis is correct, …

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We've mentioned before, as have many others, that there is no such thing as a viral video. Hence, a client can't legitimately request one in her brief to the agency. Marketing guru Seth Godin endeavors to explain: Word of mouth is a decaying function. A marketer does something and a consumer tells five or ten friends. And that's it. It amplifies the marketing action and then fades, usually quickly. A lousy flight on …

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Diners Club is offering card members 24/7 Concierge service at 1-800-2-DINERS. While I've yet to utilize this service, the direct mail piece they sent me today says I can get just about anything, including a limo, a meeting room, a reputable dog sitter or a table at my favorite restaurant. This is good. An investment in great customer service is the best ad one can buy. …

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Washington Post looks at New Media Strategies--a company of 70 people who scour the web each day to track what's being said about their clients' brands. As the explosion of blogs, social networks and video-sharing sites has driven big companies to recognize the role of Internet image in protecting their bottom lines, traditional media companies and private investors are seeking to buy Web-savvy start-ups that have a …

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Promo Magazine breaks down some word-of-mouth numbers, revealing just how brand-centric our culture has become. Americans make about 4.5 billion brand impressions a day just through conversation. In fact, a mere 15% of the population makes 1.5 billion brand mentions to friends each day, according to new research on word-of-mouth marketing. The study, conducted by research firm Keller Fay Group, is the first to …

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Washington Post reports on the federal government's oversight activity as it relates to one of the marketing industry's hottest segments. The Federal Trade Commission yesterday said that companies engaging in word-of-mouth marketing, in which people are compensated to promote products to their peers, must disclose those relationships. The FTC said it would investigate cases where there is a relationship between the …

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The New York Times looks at the power of word-of-mouth today. While every brand desires this supposed state of marketing nirvana, very few know how to accurately track the activity. “The majority of word-of-mouth happens in areas devoid of microphones or cameras or any other means of actually tracking conversations,” said Jamie Tedford, senior vice president of media and marketing innovation for Arnold Worldwide, an …

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