Debate on Word of Mouth Marketing

Fun debate taking place over at the Adrants Network on Soflow

WOM marketing is just like any other form of marketing out there. If used the wrong way...or more likely, used stupidly by marketers that don't understand the method...it can have horrible consequences for the brand. But used the right way, it can be the most honest form of marketing out there and can build not only business, but a brand's image.

A few years ago, I was Red Bull's Student Brand Manager at Miami University. I think a lot of us would say this job was all about WOM. My job was to praise the glories of Red Bull with the goal of getting bars/stores to carry it and students to drink it. Now there could have been a fine line here if I wasn't honest with my association with the company. But in all activities, I would start off by saying I worked for Red Bull. The key thing with all of this is that I loved the brand and wanted to talk about it. It wasn't just some brand paying me to talk about a random thing. So in a way, this wasn't WOM, it was true 1:1 marketing when I talked with my fellow students and gave them a can to try.

Now contrast that with a company like BzzAgent. I've actually been a BzzAgent with them for close to two years now, ever since Seth Godin worked with them on Purple Cow. The campaigns I sign up for are a lot like Red Bull....I only do those that interest me and I want to talk about. If I sign up for a campaign and I either A.) Hate the product, or B.) Think the messaging is fake, I just don't bzz. Simple as that. But I know there are BzzAgents that aren't doing that. They are just talking up every campaign they can find. That is where the line gets iffy. BzzAgent has the potential to either continue being a great company or fall into a dangerous trap of fake WOM. I think they will come out on the good side, but the second that starts slipping is when I'm not bzzing anymore.

WOM is about giving brand evangelists the tools to talk about your product. If they love it, they will praise it all day long. The danger is when people start talking about your brand just because they are paid to do it, or get rewarded in some way. All of us as marketers have the duty to not cross the line, no matter how tempting the reward might be on the other side.