That being said, I find it surprising that more brands aren't providing simple ways to allow their customers to share information offline.

One company that has it figured out is high-end audio manufacturer Bose. I've been a happy owner/early adopter of their QuietComfort noise-canceling headphones for a number of years (on my second pair, in fact, after leaving my last pair in a hotel room safe - Marriott, hope your cleaning staff who "didn't find them" is enjoying them!). When these headphones first came onto the scene, chances are if you were wearing them while on a crowded business flight or vacationing, someone would come up to you and ask about them. Now, seems like everyone is wearing these $300 headphones everywhere I go!

So, what's the ingenious thing that Bose has done? They have simply included informational pass-along cards right in the headphone case. That's right - for probably less than $0.10 in packaging, they've incorporated a offline referral tool right with the product.

When someone asks, regardless of whether or not I feel like talking about the headphones, how they work, etc., I can simply hand them a card which directs them to a website where they can get all of the information they need. (Note to Bose - why not direct these referrals to a special landing page that acknowledges they were referred by a friend, with reviews/testimonials, etc. as well as provide a way to better track the referrals? Drop me a line and we can talk more...)

Bose has made it easy to spread the word. How is your company making it easier for your happy customers to pass you along?

(Oh, and JetBlue and Enterprise, hope each of your cleaning crews are enjoying the two 32GB iPod Touches I also managed to leave behind over the past year... but that's a story for another day!)

When you are the voice of a brand, either through a blog, Twitter or Facebook, it is important to make sure that the voice is unique, polished and genuine. When interacting directly with a consumer, you need to make sure that the brand sounds like someone the consumer can trust, be friends with. You’re representing a brand, so if that brand were a person, what sort of characteristics would he/she exhibit? How would this person sound, literally?

I find that it is immensely helpful when trying to mold the voice of a brand to create a voice sheet and refer to it when blogging, tweeting or updating the Facebook status. When creating a voice sheet, think of the target consumer and try to match your voice to theirs—it would be best to read Tweets, status updates and blog posts that your target demographic has written to gain a better understanding of the type of language your consumer uses. Here are some things your voice sheet should include:

• Adjectives – List of adjectives your target commonly uses
• Key Phrases – List of key phrases or expressions used by your target
• Tone – What is the overall tone of your voice? (Example: Intelligent, humorous, approachable, youthful, worldly, etc.)
• Writing Style – When writing, should grammar be more formal or laid-back?

Remember, the key to strong, fruitful interactions with the consumer is developing an authentic voice that people will come to recognize, trust and love.

Total spending on WoM marketing is expected to increase 10.2% to $1.70 billion in 2009 and grow at a CAGR of 14.5% during the 2008-2013 period, reaching $3.04 billion as more brands include WoM in their media mix and ROI metrics improve.

Other Key Highlights:

• "Spending on U.S. word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing increased 14.2% to $1.54 billion in 2008, as brands recognized the need to get involved in consumer and business conversations and allocate resources to WoM. Spending increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.6% from 2003 to 2008. "

• "Spending on WoM content and services increased 13.0% to $1.26 billion in 2008, as major marketers integrated WoM into the media mix and shifted to specialized WoM firms that help drive long-term campaigns. Spending rose at a 37.3% CAGR of 37.3% from 2003 to 2008. "

• "Spending on WoM ancillary products increased 19.7% to $286 million in 2008, due to growing demand for return-on-investment (ROI) data and the impact of WoM campaigns on consumer purchasing behavior. Growth can also be attributed to the increasing sophistication of WoM tools that are being used to monitor online and offline conversations. Spending grew at a CAGR of 39.1% from 2003 to 2008. "

Who's Investing in WOM?

According to the study, consumer product goods (CPGs) companies are the major adopters of WoM, accounting for 17.4% of spending in 2008. Other top categories include food & drink, finance & business-to-business services, electronics & telecommunications, and retail (they note that auto & transportation would have been in the top five if not for their industry's recent financial woes and cuts in spending).

Shift in Consumer Behavior

Not really a surprise here, but the study notes/validates that consumers are abandoning traditional and ad-supported media, migrating to digital and consumer-supported media.

For more information (or to purchase the report), click here.

Last week you learned a valuable lesson (no, not that Oprah is queen - we already knew that). You learned, hopefully, not to underestimate the power of Word of Mouth.

To recap, for those who haven't been stampeded in one of your locations within the past week...

You as a brand, interested in dipping you toes into the healthier side and challenging the "F" that is the center of your acronym (you are brave!), decided to launch an online coupon for your new "Kentucky Grilled Chicken" line and seed it with the ever so subtle and non-influential (ha!) @Oprah.

The coupon was for two free pieces of grilled chicken, two sides and a biscuit to anyone who downloaded and printed it within a two-day period.  By your brand's own analysis and admission, according to your spokesperson and Ad Age however, it wasn't the Big O who caused the premature canceling of the promotion and in-store riots, it was the WOM-driven sharing of the promotion.

According to this very informative review of Chicken-Gate in Ad Age, KFC/KGC banked on big Oprah numbers. You took O's projections for number of coupons based on other offers from her show and then subsequently doubled them.  You estimated about 10.5 million coupons were downloaded, which you could have handled. But then, the kicker comes in - in what I can only believe to be an obvious twist of fate without unique codes and a system that can detect them, the coupons were photocopied and shared from friend to fast food loving friend.

Adding mega fuel to the grill, you apparently didn't properly brief all your chicken purveyors.  You see, my non-Yum Brand enthusiasts, KFC is not only company-owned - there are franchisees across the country (and it is a recession). And they aren't giving you their chicken without Colonel Sanders reimbursing them. So they do what all people trying to curb costs in a harsh economic climate would do - act completely unaware and utterly unwilling to accept the coupons. At least that is what has allegedly happened several reported scenarios that we have learned about thanks to our friends at Consumerist who are always clucking around the latest promotional scandal.

All of this adds up to a public relations disaster with consumers now pacified with a free Pepsi (really KFC, not even a drumstick or two? or better yet how about a Dr. Pepper?) left angry and annoyed.

Believing that you  hadn't learned the Starbucks lesson in the inevitable WOM of coupons seems unrealistic. I can't help but believe that you WANTED this mega success turned disaster of too much consumer interest to happen. The amount of precedence (see below) makes your unawareness just not seem likely.

And this could have been deemed a total and utter success, if you just would have set better rules of engagement.

Oh, KFC... If only you had handled it better - with unique trackable codes or printing system, some type of CRM integration (which would have given you more measurable results and consumer qualification for a deeper relationship marketing after the fact - building loyalty with your new grilled friends) or when the chicken hit the fan, with a better crisis plan in place.

As I am convinced you know, with downloadable coupons, the ability for it to spiral, especially in a recession and for a FULL MEAL is inevitable. Consumers live and breathe a brand throwing them a free buck.

But have no fear, KFC, a few of your friends have made just as big of a mess of things as you have. If only you had heeded their example.

DR PEPPER

Dr Pepper said it would give everyone in the country a free soda if Guns N' Roses released its much anticipated album "Chinese Democracy" before the end of the year.  This promotion culminated in the band's lawyers getting nasty with the brand stating that G 'n R are "outraged at the treatment of their fans and the American public in general" after Dr. Pepper's site couldn't handle the traffic and repeatedly crashed when they attempted to honor their promise.

After mega backlash in the blogosphere for seeming to be unprepared for the consumer response, Dr Pepper extended the offer for a few more days, but continued to receive tons of criticism as a result of the incident. Note to Dr. Pepper: if you would have offered us all a partial refund for the album (what a let down it was) all would have been forgiven

SUBWAY

Your footlong friends Subway did away with their iconic and beloved (by sub fans, not by me) stamp loyalty program that was born way back in the 1980s after (duh) realizing that there might be some fraud going on both with consumers and internally with their franchisees with counterfit stamps and cards.

The breaking point? A roll of the stamps being sold on eBay.

I think they're redeeming themselves with the big Chuck promotion, though. I'm all about the Save Chuck bandwagon. Maybe you could spin yours into saving Lipstick Jungle? Or Kings? I love both of those programs. I'd be happy to help. I bet Brooke Shields and Ian McShane could get behind some grilled chicken.

QUIZNO's

In other sub disasters, earlier this year, your grilled sub friends, Quizno's ran into some trouble when they announced their million sub giveaway (aka free sandwich) (see a pattern here?)  The problem, which seems like it might be a bit of yours also, was many of the company's franchises didn't participate in the "million sub giveaway" leading to mega consumer backlash.

It is unclear if they ever truly hit that magic million number.

And, the ultimate king of coupon PR disaster is of course, your friends from the land of eternal rain, Starbucks.

STARBUCKS

Trumping all of the above, your Seattle friends ran into a class-action suit after they tried a free coffee promotion way back in 2006. Starbucks emailed printable coupons for free iced coffee drinks to employees urging them to pass the coupons on to friends and family. Obviously, their friends & family hit the fabulous "FORWARD" button and the promotion got a bit out of hand.

After 38-days Starbucks announced that they would no longer honor the coupons.

So, in summary, my friends in mashed potatoes & chicken, I am suggesting that you curb this crisis with some innovation. Do a promotion that honors and activates your influencers.  Use them as the spark that fires up the grilled fire, in a positive, trackable, and controlled manner.  Rally around them to introduce your new health-conscious option.

You will spark word of mouth and have a demonstrated ROI that makes your loyalists, your new friends in all things grilled, the blogosphere, AND your franchisees happy and full.

Need an agency to help you out? This is right up our alley. Drop me a line.

Your friend in all things grilled, mashed & gravy covered,

Sarah

Tip #1: Motivation

If you are truly starting “from scratch,” with no existing customers (let alone an existing CRM system or even an email list), you’ll need to think about what will motivate a group of consumers to want to learn about your new product or service. Consider the use of an incentive to attract a group of prospective consumers. An incentive could be tangible (free T-shirt, entry into a sweepstakes), or intangible (the chance to help test out a new product, the opportunity to interact directly with product developers and like-minded consumers). Think about the type of consumer you are trying to attract and what they would value (what would wealthy middle-aged men care about more - a free T-shirt, or some frequent-flier miles?) You can build an experience around your product or service by providing an exclusive online community to allow these like-minded consumers to interact and share in the experience.

(Note that at this point you are not “rewarding” word of mouth; the up-front incentive is simply a way to get consumers to “hear you out.” They shouldn’t be obligated to do anything beyond this step. The consumers who stick around are the ones who truly want to learn more, be engaged and become product experts.)

Tip #2: Education

Discovery is a key element in triggering conversations. People want to be “in the know” - education provides them with “social currency,” since they will have valuable information/knowledge that their peers do not. Education also allows you to articulate your key selling points and better ensure that they are accurately passed along. Quizzes are a great way to engage and interactively educate your consumers. If you have a prototype/beta version of your product, provide a set of testing instructions and solicit feedback through the use of surveys.

Tip #3: Co-creation

The best way to develop an emotional bond between consumers and your brand is to involve them in the process as early as possible. Activities such as providing feedback on packaging and marketing materials, helping come up with names and taglines, or submitting photos documenting brand interaction or product use are just a few examples. Provide ways for consumers to show off (and share) their creativity and newfound passion, and gain recognition for their work. Encourage them to make it “their” product. Consumer-generated content is a valuable by-product of co-creation and can build awareness for your product or service months in advance of any traditional advertising initiatives.

Tip #4: Anticipation

As you approach product/brand launch, you should have a group of passionate consumers who have developed a strong emotional connection to your product (in some cases, without having actually used or experienced it!). Continue to feed their passion - continue to involve them in product testing, chats with product managers and developers, first-look sneak peeks and insider information. The trick is to release information in “bite-size chunks” - enough to feed their enthusiasm over a period of time and reinforce your selling points, but not so much as to overwhelm them.

Tip #5: Recommendation

Congratulations - your new product or service has launched! This passionate group of people you have fostered are no longer “consumers” - they are your customers. Treat them well; they are your early adopters and evangelists. They will be the ones sharing their enthusiasm for your new product or service (chances are they have already been doing so for quite some time).

Publicly acknowledge and provide these customers with special status in your customer community since they have been with you from the beginning. Be on a first-name basis with these customers. Invite them to special events. Send them birthday cards.

Lastly, don’t consider this the end of your WOM “campaign” - consider it the beginning of your long-lasting WOM program!

I recently returned from WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit in Las Vegas. It was a fun (yet sleepless!) few days and it's always great running into/reconnecting with familiar faces as well as meeting new ones.

Historically, these events have always left me invigorated and full of new ideas. But this time, something felt... "different" (and it wasn't the shots of Petron that we did at the Wynn just a few hours earlier after an all-night Blackjack marathon )

In the opening "State of WOM Address" given by WOMMA President John Bell, he said something along the lines of the word of mouth marketing industry reaching a "tipping point". I think what he meant was that WOM is about to transition from a "niche" form of marketing and a tiny part of the overall marketing mix to a more "mainstream" tactic that is on the top-of-minds of any C-level executive.

Yes! I agree 100%! But after two days of panels and networking with people from a variety of backgrounds (brands, agencies, services), I started to wonder, could word of mouth marketing, rather than reaching a "tipping point", be "jumping the shark"?

Thinking back to the "early" WOMMA events (2005), there was an electricity/excitement in the air. It's really hard to explain, but everyone was drinking the proverbial Kool-Aid. The excitement wasn't about what had been done, but about the potential of what could be done. There were far more questions than answers, but that was fine, because it was forcing people to think about things like tactics, metrics, and business models. And for brands, how can they sell WOM to their boss and how do they budget for it?

Flash forward 3.5 years - word of mouth marketing has matured into a multi-billion dollar industry. There are tons of books, blogs, and even awards dedicated to the concept. So although I didn't find it surprising that audience members (many of whom were new to the industry and first-timers at a WOM-related conference) were asking many of the same questions as back in 2005, the vibe was much less "electric" and more "uncertain", and what surprised me was the lack of concrete answers being provided, in particular with respect to:

• Tactics
• Metrics
• ROI
• Ethics

How can that be possible? Are we, as practitioners, really still figuring things out? Or are we hesitant to share too much info with other agencies/potential competitors (since the event was probably 90% vendors/agencies)?

On the agency/vendor front, are folks jumping into the WOM/SM arena out of true passion/belief or are they just trying to latch on the next "big/cool" thing or make a quick buck? Will the industry simply become dominated by a small group of large PR Social Media agencies? If times become tough economy-wise and competition more fierce, will things like ethics be tossed out the window? Please tell me no!

However, I do truly believe that the industry is at a crossroads. The lines are being blurred between PR, marketing, loyalty/CRM, and customer service as these tactics increasingly overlap. Demanding accountability and establishing consistent metrics among both brands and agencies is the only way to ensure things "tip" rather than "jump". Hopefully this stirs up some healthy dialog - I encourage you to post your thoughts below, or drop me a tweet!

Oh, by the way you can check out all of the live "tweets"/micro-commentary that were posted during the WOMMA Summit by looking for posts tagged #womsum (or just click this link).

One of our current methodologies involves a survey distributed to a randomized sample of a program’s (i.e., community or online consumer panel) members asking questions related to the conversations they’ve had offline in the past month about that brand or product.  One question we recently added to the survey asks, “How likely are you to recommend [product/brand] to a friend or colleague”?

This question probably sounds familiar.  It’s the “Ultimate Question” as defined by Fred Reicheld in his book of the same name.  The Ultimate Question’s purpose is to determine your Net Promoter Score, that is, the ratio of promoters to detractors of your product or brand.  This score is designed to provide the measure of a company’s performance through the customer’s eyes.  It’s a widely accepted, yet controversial metric for determining an organization’s ability to grow.

Here’s how it works.  Consumers are asked, on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being extremely unlikely and 10 being extremely likely), “How likely are you to recommend an organization to a friend or colleague?”  Those who answer 0-6 are “detractors” and those who answer 9-10 are “promoters”.  You subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters to determine the Net Promoter Score (NPS).

One question we’ve always asked in our WOM surveys has been “How many conversations have you had about [product/brand] in the past month?” with the answer based on a 0-10+ scale.

We decided to dig up 6 months of historical WOM survey results and match the NPS results with our conversation metric to see how they fit together, and were surprised by the results.  Note: All three clients are of different verticals.

Basically, the more conversations a customer has, the more likely they are to recommend the product.  No surprises there.  But what’s most interesting is how conversations mimic the assumed detractor/promoter values of the Net Promoter Score.  According to the historical results of three of our existing clients, those customers who had 0-6 conversations are essentially detractors, unlikely to recommend the product or brand to a friend.  At seven and 8 conversations the NPS spikes, and 9-10 are significantly higher, extremely likely to recommend the  product.

Now admittedly this isn’t a conclusive correlation with only 6 months of historical data, but the striking resemblance of “conversations per month” to the Net Promoter Score begs the question, why are consumers who are having up to 6 conversations per month about a product or brand ‘unlikely’ to recommend the product to a friend or colleague?  Is this a flaw in either our or the NPS methodology?  Are customers over-reporting their conversations or under-reporting their likelihood of recommendation?  Are consumers aware of the difference between a product conversation and a product recommendation?  Share your thoughts with us!

The Groundswell authors break down the opportunities within social media to mirror corporate structures, providing an easy way for people in research, marketing/PR, customer support, product development to find their path into social media initiatives.

This is a solid approach because it brings clarity and structure, leading to actionable initiatives. It's also a good approach for a brand that is making their first foray into the space so they can clearly define objectives and measurable goals and ultimately come away with a success story to justify additional investment.

But what about the brand that has experience and is ready to take a more holistic approach? Or what about the brand that wants to leapfrog their competitors who have already been experimenting for the past year?

Social media and word-of-mouth are not about corporate "silos" - the most effective and sustainable programs cut through silos and have touch points across departments. Does this approach make getting a program off the ground more challenging? Absolutely, but it also accelerates corporate learning, improves results and sustainability of the program.

When did you say the Groundswell 2.0 bus was arriving?

Social capital can be best defined as an "investment in social relations with expected returns in marketplace." It deals with the value of an individual's social network/connections.

For example, let's say you have a great new product that you'd love to have Oprah talk about on her show (who wouldn't!). It's safe to say that Oprah's social capital is much more valuable than yours or mine - she has a worldwide audience of millions and is one of the wealthiest people in the US with connections to a who's who of celebrities, business leaders and politicians - so it would be extremely difficult to gain access to her connections/spheres of influence.

Social currency is a term used to describe the value of exchange of information. In a nutshell, social currency acts as an "icebreaker" and is ammunition for conversation. It can come in many forms such as a funny joke, a stock tip, a funny viral video, or juicy gossip, i.e., "I know something you don't know" - it makes someone look good in a social context and buys respect and admiration. Oprah would happily mention your great new product on her show if she felt the social currency it provided would be of value to her audience and make her look "in the know." "Water cooler" TV shows work because those who watch them are "in the know" while others feel left out.

Remember the first time someone sent you a link to Subservient Chicken? You probably felt special, like you were privy to something no one else knew about. You quickly emailed the link out to your friends, family and co-workers. Then the mainstream media picked up on it, and soon your inbox was flooded with "check this out" emails! The value of the social currency dropped significantly since it had become old news.

So, how does this all relate to word of mouth and your company, product or service? When developing a word of mouth strategy you need to factor in the social capital of those you are trying to engage/reach (are you trying to reach hip, cool Gen Y-ers, or simply trying to reach people looking for free stuff to try out?) as well as the value of the social currency you can offer them (is your brand/product/service itself remarkable?), or can you provide some level of inside access/content/information which would be of value to your most passionate, outspoken customers and/or potential ones?

The main issue I hold with this discussion is the misconception of what a conversation is.  A conversation by definition is an exchange of information.  If there's no exchange, it isn't a conversation.  If a TV ad tells me to buy a car, I didn't have a conversation with that ad.  The ad spoke at me and i probably didn't listen because I'm not in the market to buy a car.  Referring to a brand whose strategy includes broadcasting marketing messages through social media channels as a brand attempting to ‘join the conversation’ seems inaccurate.  It isn’t a conversation at all.  I might follow @reuters on Twitter.  The account "tweets" Reuters stories.  It doesn’t follow, it doesn’t respond.  This isn’t a conversation between me and Reuters, and I don’t think that just because it’s on Twitter, a social networking service,  makes it any more of an attempt at a conversation.

I don't necessarily believe you can equate an offline conversation to an online conversation, either.  An offline conversation is generally one to one or one to a few.  Online conversations are often defined as one-to-many but that isn’t exactly accurate either, it implies broadcasting from one person to many people.  The unique aspect of an online conversation is that it is possible to have a one-on-one conversation that is then seen and read by many.

This doesn’t dilute the value of a one-on-one conversation, it just make it public.  This is a huge opportunity for a brand as it allows the success of a meaningful one-on-one conversation to potentially influence the majority who are just listening.

Take, for example, a presidential candidate who travels to small town Iowa to have dinner with a family of four.  It seems like that candidate’s time could be better spent holding a rally with far more people, but then the media picks it up and now millions of people hear about how a candidate took time out of their busy campaign to sit down and have dinner with 4 people in rural Iowa.  They must care!  It’s a similar strategy.

Which brings me to my next point, social media is a stage.  People create and critique as a form of expression and to be seen and heard.  A recent eMarketer study shows that 85% of social media users think companies should interact with their consumers through social media.  Users want to know that brands are hearing what they have to say.  They don’t necessarily need a brand to interact with them specifically, but they want to know they are there and interacting with others.  Conversing with just one customer can show countless others that a brand is listening.

And it is listening that seems to be lost in this mix.   One of the most important traits of a good conversationalist is the ability to listen.  How can you exchange information if one or both of the participants are not listening?  It doesn’t work and that’s not a conversation.  What’s great about social media is a brand has the ability to listen in on all kinds of conversations.  Listen for questions, calls for help, complaints on forums, social networks and blogs.  Customers aren’t afraid to voice their opinions.  Identify who’s talking about you, where they're at, and what they're talking about.  Then get in there and exchange some information.  Continue your approach in an organized way, be responsive, be transparent, and most importantly LISTEN.  Remember that a conversation is an exchange.