Getting People Talking

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Getting People Talking

• Word of Mouth

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The Debate

• To paraphrase George Orwell
• -All consumers are not created equal
• It seems that consumers are not an amorphous mass
  whom we can blanket bomb with commercial messages
  that they will all meekly respond to, as
  traditional advertising models would have us
  believe
• Instead, there are some consumers who will pick
  up on information and pass it on to their social
  network thus acting as powerful brand advocates,
  or influencers
• Word of Mouth Marketing is an attempt to harness
  this people power and make it work for
  advertisers and their brands, but how can media
  be part of this?

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Summary of Findings

• The need for Word of Mouth has risen as the
  belief in traditional forms of advertising have
  declined
• Word of Mouth is all about TRUST
• -When people feel vulnerable
• -When theyre going through changes in lifestage
• -When they need advice about something from an
  expert but someone they know, not an
  impersonal advisor
• Certain consumers are more likely to be conveyors
  of WOM
• -These people are known as Influencers about
  10 of the population
• -However Influencers are generally different for
  each category

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Summary of Findings

• The Internet, particularly the rise of User
  Generated Content, has played a fundamental role
  in the move towards WOM marketing
• However, magazines can also play a part in
  generating
• WOM
• -They are seen as close and trusted friends
• -Editorial viewpoints are often taken as the
  readers own
• -Magazine readers are also more likely to be
  among the 10 of Influentials who generate WOM

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Contents

• The Spread of Word Of Mouth (WOM)
• - And the rise of the Internet
• Why is WOM so important?
• Influencing the Influencers
• WOM Marketing
• - How Media can be used to propagate WOM

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In the Beginning
About 350,000 years ago, Hominid hearing
apparatus was tuned to hear sounds made in speech
for the first time
Today, Word of Mouth is instrumental in 83 of
purchase decisions
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Why do we talk

• Before we could write, the only way for humans to
  communicate was via speech
• So for hundreds of thousands of years, talking
  was our most important social connector
• - Information danger, food, water
• - Social history, love, kinship, enmity
• Word of Mouth today fulfils the same role
• - Provides people with information
• - Reinforces social bonds
• - Builds on oral tradition

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How does Word of Mouth Work?
Spontaneous sharing an experience I went to an
amazing restaurant on Friday night Prompted
speaking in response to a need If youre looking
for a new buggy, Id recommend the
Maclaren Secondary relating experience of
another person Ive never tried it, but my mum
has and she didnt think it was that great
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Who propagates WOM?

• Family
• Friends
• Colleague
• Trusted Independent
• Aspirational Endorser

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Different types of WOM

• Word of Mouth is deemed to be all communication
  which takes place about brands on a Consumer to
  Consumer basis
• -This can be split into two main types Buzz and
  Advocacy
• BUZZ
• - Talking about something new, cool, different,
  provocative
• - Something to be passed on to gain social
  currency
• - This can have a positive effect on a brand but
  not necessarily lead to sales
• ADVOCACY
• - Focused on the brand and its merits
• (positive or negative)
• This is more likely to have a greater
• short-term sales effect

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Why is WOM most Important
Lifestages Transition Point of Vulnerability
Need for new information
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Why has the role of WOM grown?

• As life becomes more complex and choice
  proliferates, people are relying more than ever
  before on recommendations
• - WOM now 1.5 times more important now than
  it was 25 years ago
• 89 of women believe recommendations by friends
  and family
• 70 of women learn about new products or services
  from another woman

Recommendations Make People Feel Confident And
Keep Them Connected
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WOM Growth
Where do you get most of your information about
new products and services?
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Internet 2.0

• The internet has caused a seismic shift in
  peoples ability to find information and
  communication with each other
• The next phase of web development Internet
  2.0 sees the consumer taking control
• -Blogging
• -Community sites like MySpace and Face Book
• -User generated content as on You Tube or Flickr
• -Chat Rooms and Forums for consumers to comment
  on anything and everything!
• Suddenly anyone can get their voice heard and air
  their opinions to millions of others
• -Advertisers want to harness this power
• -(And try and steer it to their benefit)

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Why is WOM so Important?

• Trust for big businesses is at an all-time low
• - And this includes their advertising
• Consumers are more ad-savvy than ever they are
  no longer passively waiting to be told which
  products to buy
• - Brand choice is huge often overwhelming
• - Media fragmentation and consumer control means
  they are also more easily able to edit out
  advertising theyre not interested in

Advertisers must find new ways of connecting and
engaging with their consumers, and new channels
through which to speak to them
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The Road to WOM
WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING
Need for Breakthrough Grassroots Vehicle
Mass Marketing Less Effective
Media Environment
Fragmentation Cost
Low Credibility of Conventional Advertising
Rise of Internet
Marketplace
Differentiation Low
Established Brands / Business Models Under Threat
Need for Remarkable Brands / Contagious Ideas
Financial Pressure
Number of Choices / Brands Up
Distribution Concentration
Low Credibility of Conventional Advertising
Globalisation
Pace of Technology Faster
Need for Influential Consumers
Tuning Out
Consumer
Want Authenticity, intimacy Remarkability, edge
Less Time, Attention, Trust
Heterogeneous Consumer
Rise of Word of Mouth
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The Decline of Trust

• Growth in WOM occurred during mid-90s
• This coincided with a period when consumers lost
  trust in large organisations
• - Government
• - Businesses
• - Brands
• Instead they turned to family and friends as
  trusted sources
• - Offer advice based on personal experience
• - NOT marketing spin or hype

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Why do people trust?
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A person like me
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Influencing the Influencers
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AlphasandSneezers Influencing the Influencers
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Traditional Advertising Model
Communication
Audience
Consumers are Passive Receivers who are served
blanket advertising
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AlphasandSneezers Influencing the Influencers
New Advertising Model
Communication
10
90
Audience
Reach Opinion Leaders and they will pass the
communication on to Opinion Followers
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Law of the few

• Consumers arent a collection of isolated
  individuals but a community of interconnected
  people
• Brand perceptions shaped by many influences
• - Advertising
• - Word of Mouth
• - User imagery (aspirational people using
  product)
• - Observed behaviour (watching how others do
  things)
• Paid for communications cant reach everyone
• - Instead influence the influencers and their
  position in the hierarchy will help to position
  the brand in others eyes

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Who are the Influencers?

• Who theyre NOT
• - Most affluent
• - Best educated
• - Elected officials
• - CEOs of major corporations
• They ARE
• - The 10 most actively engaged in social and
  cultural dynamics of their community
• They are twice as likely than average to be asked
  their opinion on products and services
• They are also different for every category
• - Only approx 5 of people are Pure
  influencers in every
• walk of life. The rest are influencers in 1,
  or maybe
• more categories

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Word of Mouth Marketing
Todays marketing world is broken. We must accept
there is no mass in mass media. We must always
remember the consumer is Boss Consumers today
are less responsive to traditional advertising
they are embracing new technologies and making
purchase decisions in environments where
marketers have less direct influence.
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Emergence of WOM as a Marketing Tool
tx portfolio
Emerging marketing techniques being used
currently, or intended to use in next 6 months
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WOM Marketing
How to make it work Make it mutually
beneficial Give them a reason to talk Empower
consumers to share experiences
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Implementation of WOM
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How to engage consumers with WOM
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• Keep it real and/or simple
• Be relevant and memorable
• Be personal
• Build a customer journey
• Provide support / expert advice
• Gain trust
• Provide brand experience
• Build connectivity
• Above all, show respect, and listen to feedback

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The Honesty ROI Honesty and Relationship,
Opinion and Identity
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• Honesty of Relationship
• - Be open about any relationship between
  marketer and endorser
• Honesty of Opinion
• - Never tell consumers what to say
• Honesty of Identity
• - Disclose identity of origination of any
  communication
• Research shows that being open about involvement
• in WOM marketing leads to better results than
• deception

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How Media can Get People Talking
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A Reminder

• Who do people turn to for WOM recommendations?
• - Family
• - Friends
• - Colleague
• - Trusted Independent
• - Aspirational Endorser
• Media has the potential to act as either of these

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How Readers Relate to Magazines
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Magazines are in the centre of My World, the
same place as close family and friends the
place where trust is highest
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Return on Involvement

• Readers are so involved with the opinions of the
  magazine that they are often adopted as their own
• Magazines contribute more than any other
  marketing channel to a persons own
  recommendations to friends and family
• This effect is strongest amongst the 10 of the
  population who are Influentials
• So not only do magazines influence their readers
  purchase decisions, they also have an indirect
  impact on the readers circle of influence

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Return on Involvement
Magazines have more influence than any other
marketing channel Saying Which Marketing
Elements Contributed to Recommendations of Theirs
in Past Year
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Just how influential are Magazine Readers?
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• Almost half of Influentials in the USA (49) are
  heavy magazine readers
• But only 1/3rd (32) are heavy TV viewers
• So, an Influential is 22 more likely to be a
  heavy magazine reader, (index 122) and 21 less
  likely to be a heavy TV viewers (index 79)

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Its good to talk!
The heaviest 20 of magazine readers are the most
likely group to talk to others about Toiletries,
H/hold Products, Clothes, Pharmaceuticals
Base All adults
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Experts
The heaviest 20 of magazine readers know a large
amount about many of different topics
Base All adults
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Talk to many different people
The heaviest 20 of magazine readers talk to many
different people about certain topics
Base All adults
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Likely to convince others
The heaviest 20 of magazine readers believe they
are likely to convince others about their
opinions on a range of different categories
Base All adults
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But what about the Internet?

• Recent Millward Brown research suggests that
  though Online WOM is more visible, offline is
  more powerful
• - Online WOM works best for certain products or
  services e.g. car insurance, digital cameras
• - However, consumers are starting to seek expert
  recommendations using online sources
• - Furthermore, offline is more often used to
  spread negative WOM
• Personal contacts are far more important for
  seeking advice - they are a trusted source who
  understands what is needed
• - Online WOM is diminished by lack of knowledge
  about whos giving the advice, and by lack of
  knowledge about who wants the advice

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Summary of findings

• The need for Word of Mouth has risen as the
  belief in traditional forms of advertising have
  declined
• Word of Mouth is all about TRUST
• - When people feel vulnerable
• - When theyre going through changes in
  lifestage
• - When they need advice about something from an
  expert but someone they know, not an
  impersonal advisor
• Certain consumers are more likely to be conveyors
  of WOM
• - These people are known as Influencers about
  10 of the population
• - However Influencers are generally different
  for each category

43
tx portfolio
Summary of findings

• The Internet, particularly the rise of User
  Generated Content, has played a fundamental role
  in the move towards WOM marketing
• However, magazines can also play a part in
  generating WOM
• - They are seen as close and trusted friends
• - Editorial viewpoints are often taken as the
  readers own
• - Magazine readers are also more likely to be
  among the 10 of Influentials who generate WOM