Facebook and MySpace: Beware Of The Mommy Bloggers

MediaPost Publications, July 29, 2009 — was reading the write-ups of last week's BlogHer conference in Chicago secretly jealous that even though I'm a mommy and a blogger, this junket was simply not in the cards for me.

But it wasn't just jealousy that drove my interest, it was how the mommy bloggers inadvertently, perhaps, uncovered a central truth about social media marketing: it isn't at all about carefully targeted display ads, or search ads, but about relationship-building. Unfortunately, that isn't something the Facebooks and MySpaces of the world have learned to monetize very well yet. So, while the discovery of the mommy bloggers is great for advertisers, it's not so great for those who are trying to be the broker that connects the bloggers with the marketers. That connection is already... continue reading

Reward Program Members Are Brand's Best Friends

MediaPost Publications, February 16, 2009 — Reward program members are a brand's best word-of-mouth (WOM) advocates, according to new research from Colloquy, the Cincinnati-based loyalty marketing consultancy.

Reward program members are 70% more likely than others to actively recommend products, services and brands, the study found. Proclaiming these active recommenders "word-of-mouth champions," Colloquy said they make up 55% of reward program members, but only 32% of consumers who don't belong.

Few CMOs Think They're Effectively Tracking Social Media, Word-of-Mouth†

Survey: Marketing Execs, Not Other Departments, Should Be in Charge of Monitoring Customers' Conversations

Advertising Age, January 26, 2009 — Who in corporate America owns the consumer relationship, the customer experience, word-of-mouth or social media? The answer appears to be nobody.

For all the talk about listening to consumers, few marketers think their companies are doing so effectively and even fewer are monitoring what people say about their brands in social media, according to a new survey by the CMO Council.

Study: How Profitable Is Word-of-Mouth?†

Brandweek, October 10, 2008 — If a conversation costs 50 cents to generate, how much profit do marketers reap from the typical eight minutes a consumer spends talking about their favorite brands?

According to BzzAgent, a word-of-mouth marketing agency in Boston, that profit is 38 cents. The firm has pegged this amount as the "communication dividend" in a report titled Calculating Your Communication Dividend, which examines the value of word-of-mouth conversations.

In its latest report, BzzAgent also found 87 cents to be the value per communication. The firm arrived at both numbers by mapping standard word-of-mouth calculations onto consumer recommendation and purchase behavior.

General Mills, Kraft Launch Word of Mouth Networks†

Brandweek, October 5, 2008 — Recognizing that a consumer's two cents are well worth their dollars, General Mills and Kraft have both launched new word-of-mouth networks.

For General Mills, it is "Pssst . . . ," an online network that gives members the scoop on the latest product news and offerings. The site, pssst.generalmills.com, currently has 100,000 members after a quiet launch last month.

Pssst uses an initial survey to help gauge product preferences. Once registered, users can voice their opinions via blog posts, share online coupon offers and recipes, and test new sample kits via the mail.

Kraft, meanwhile, kicked off Kraftfirsttaste.com last week, which lets consumers share the newest coupon and sampling offers, but also includes features such as a member spotlight, product... continue reading

Ogilvy, Dove Miss Chance to Turn Bad Press Into 'Debate'†

If They Wanted to Be Word-of-Mouth Marketers They Should Have Been Listening

Advertising Age, May 12, 2008 — The latest Dove controversy epitomizes the ad industry's struggle to reinvent itself as a participant in an ongoing conversation rather than an old guy with a megaphone barking orders to people who no longer follow them.

Ogilvy's work for Unilever's Dove brand has been a poster child for this conversion. Here was a campaign that used traditional one-way stuff such as TV spots, banners, billboards and magazine ads but did it in a way that encouraged and facilitated debate everywhere from Oprah's studio to the smallest blog.