Emanuel Rosen, the author of the very much talked about book “The Anatomy of Buzz” and expert of word of mouth marketing, gave an eye-opening talk with examples from his books and life experience. He claims that there are two main factors that contribute to the success of generating word of mouth – how contagious the product is and what action are made to accelerate its buzz. Rosen shared his top list of characteristics that will ‘make it contagious’ including compatibility, making things simpler, allowing for creativity and also evoking emotional response. Note that many of these are internal factors that derive from the product itself.

Emanuel Rosen on Buzz at WOM UK

What about the external factors? What could we do to accelerate contagiousness? Here are a few actions that could help in increasing word of mouth for your product:
•    Wide scale seeding. We live in small social clusters, so by seeding the product into multiple social clusters in different areas will increase the chance of the product getting buzz.
•    Surprise. This may seem old and used but it always works! The element of surprise will always catch people’s attention.
•    Find a hook. Introduce an interesting or unique conversation piece about the product and people will talk about it.
•    Uneven distribution of information.  When you know something that others don’t know about, word of mouth will happen. Secrets tend to spread…
•    Stimulate interactions.  Whether in forms of competitions or viral campaigns, if you can get people to interact with each other then buzz will emerge.
•    Connecting to passion. Take the example of American Express’ and their campaign to renovate local landmarks in different cities in the US. By introducing a poll to the public they were able to get communities that are passionate about landmarks to gather up and vote.

Do you have any other useful hints and tips for creating buzz? Do you think that the effort marketers put in to producing buzz will see results if the product itself is not contagious?

interaction vs proximity graph

Brands are no longer able pitch the credentials of their products to the current social media generation. Push is almost out, but pull is sky rocketing in. Buyers and consumers want trusted and real information from people like themselves and know where to go, to get it. They need it stamped as trustworthy and good for usage (with extra features) not by any company that dreamed up the slogan at a coffee shop meeting, but by the members of a social network that they can see, interact with, and most importantly something that they chose to join. They all have an appetite for the real interaction that generate buzz in which they are a part of. Facebook’s 350 million user posts and its shared 3.5 Billion different content per week, is what these consumers want.

Talk about a lot of possible brand awareness and brand management. People know the members of their social media networks and trust what they have to say. They can access all this information quickly and easily to help them learn about the product, and step into a shop knowing more about the goods compared to the shopkeeper himself.

Social media is about investing in relationships that create more economic value than they cost. It is about engaging with the people who decide whether to buy or not buy what you are selling, like it or dislike it, recommend it or trash it, and even to mould it or to throw it out the window.

A great (and very fun) way to show the power of social media marketing is to enter “(BRAND NAME) sucks” into Google. Put into consideration the fact that around 80% of the information read on the Internet today is not read on the site that it was originally published, but through social media, the word is spread to different websites, blogs, forums and networks. It is no longer just a fad for kids or a way to spread the word about your fart app; social media is evolving as a powerful and a fast paced low-cost, high-reward tool for making the sales, turning profits and taking home the big prize.  The price tag is appealing and it is no holds barred.

It would probably have been useful if the organisers had determined the definition of social media before the debate begun, as this was the main part of the whole debate and its aftermath.

There were a few interesting questions that came up during the debate though; if you pay for viral is it still viral? If you pay for social, have you really earned it? Are social media users, and more importantly bloggers, really in it for the money, or for increasing status, their passion and personal expertise?

For sure, the social platforms are all out there, open for any user or organisation for free. But there is a huge benefit from getting help from people who knows the drill. The debate took silly proportions as there is no way of neglecting the value time and money spent on social media brings to businesses. Social media management is a long-term investment that requires people’s time. The pay-offs are amazing though.

At the end of the event all present took a vote, and it became clear that over 65% of the audience thought that social media could or should be paid for – and thereby got Neoco’s sign of approval!

Weak Ties (in Word of Mouth)

Word of mouth spreads through people’s connections with each other. The looser those connections are, the faster and farther it can spread…

In 1973 sociologist Mark Granovetter published what is now regarded as one of the most influential and cited sociology papers ever written. ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’ explores the idea that society is held together by weak and strong bonds that exist between people. Crucially Granovetter pointed out that most advantage is conferred through Weak Ties – as he, at the time, proved by demonstrating that most people found new jobs through their Weak Ties, rather than through their Strong Ties.

What are Weak and Strong Ties?

Strong Ties are the relationships we have with close friends and family which have more bearing on our identity. They are our support system, the relationships in which we invest more of our time and energy. Weak Ties are the more distant, functional relationships we have with colleagues, friends of friends, or people we may have met through an activity, interest or online that have less bearing on our identity. The two types of tie have very different functions. Strong Ties provide our emotional safety net, they are our social glue. Weak Ties help us with social mobility, they are our social oil.

With regard to word of mouth Weak Ties are an important part of what makes someone influential. To explain why we must first look at how information travels. Clearly information spreads from person to person, but when a social network consists of a large number of Strong Ties information can become trapped. This is because the lack of Weak Ties in the group reduces the opportunity to transfer information to another social network. For the same reason members of very close friendship circles based on many Strong Ties tend to be exposed to fewer new ideas. The absence of Weak Ties in their network impacts on their ability to connect to other social circles where different information is being discussed. Weak Ties act as the conduits for new ideas, helping information to move from group to group.

This means that Weak Ties are essential for word of mouth and influence. They are the channels through which people access information and resources beyond those available in their own social circle. It follows, therefore, that people with a greater number of Weak Ties are more exposed to new ideas and are in a stronger position to inject those ideas into otherwise unconnected networks.

Weak Ties increase massively in a digital context. People who actively participate online – in terms of social networking, social media, and the maintenance of their relationships through email – are able to sustain many more Weak Ties than they would otherwise achieve offline. Moreover, because of the functional nature of Weak Ties (i.e. largely informational rather than emotional transactions), people who use review aggregation sites, pay attention to peer rating systems and follow threads effectively establish a Weak Tie with every contributor. This exponential boost to the volume of an individual’s Weak Ties also increases their access to new information and their ability to spread word of mouth to new networks of people.

Information flows more easily, traverses a greater social distance and reaches a greater number of people through Weak Ties. Weak Ties are a key component of word of mouth.

We suggest going over to the site and reading up on the other content too.

There is also a PDF report that you can download:

Guardian Word Of Mouth report – Word of mouth is a very big topic, and one that is being discussed by many brands and agencies across the world at the moment. Read on to find out how we have built on existing theories and developed a new way of understanding and identifying influential people…

"the Park & Ride shoppers definitely looked different this year"

Because the Wii girlfriend was just to subtle, Alton Towers and Ultimo combined for this viral.

“Alton Towers Resort teamed up with Britains leading underwear brand, Ultimo to make sure women don’t make a boob on the rides this summer.

A group of test-riders donned a variety of Ultimo bras and were put through their paces on several rides, including Rita Queen of Speed and Spinball Whizzer, to test the durability and lift support of bras-and to make sure they were a snug fit.”

Whilst it’s an obvious viral choice for the guys, it just feels a little a little wide of the mark for the core audiences of Alton Towers and Ultimo. Yes, it will no doubt get a lot of viewers and maybe even some press but are they right viewers? Will it be the right press? We constantly work with clients to educate them about the difference between quantity and quality when it comes ot social media and this is a good example of quantity at the expense of quality. It’s much better to have lower exposure but to a more targetted audience. Neoco have delivered loads of word of mouth, viral and social media campaigns and consistently, when you look at the ROI, 1,000 qualitive targeted users are better than 50,000 quantitive broad-base users. Don’t fall for the trap of thinking high viewers/ fans/ friends = success.

How does it relate to you?

Social Media/”Consumer Generated Media”, although fairly new compared to other forms of online communication is the third most popular way to spend time online, in fact 1/5 of all time spent online, in the UK is spent on Social Networks. Added to this is the perception, among the more traditional among you is that Social Networks are there just for younger audiences that just spend most their time on Facebook/Myspace/YouTube. Yes these are key sites, and yes young people are still in these spaces, but there is a huge space online that is inhabited by all ages, in fact between April 08 – April 09 18-34 age group lost a 8.3% share of online user composition, in community member sites. There is almost an equal share between 18-34 and 35-49 age groups, if you then add in 50-64 group, the share held by 18-34’s is looking rather small.

Once you take away the big sites I have mentioned above, naming another 7 Social Media sites which reach over 3m unique users (in the UK) per month might be a bit of stretch and no Twitter isn’t one of them! But this just points out there is huge untapped market, where you can interact, it doesn’t have to be through the initial channels that you would think of.

So basically, pretty much all age groups are using Social Media, you know their interests, age group and where they live. For Marketers, this is a dream, as all over the internet users can be talking about your brand, doing some of the leg work for you.

Who rules online?

This would be fantastic if everything being said was positive, however as we all know, this is not the case! What has happened is that control has been taken away from brand’s and instead given to the public. A scary thought indeed, but you can help even the balance through buzz monitoring, such as Neoco’s PoNo service. But added to this you can interact with disgruntled consumers in a very public place and can in fact turn negative publicity into a very positive outcome. Toyota did this in the states with one of their best selling car’s, the Camry. They opened a dialogue with key bloggers who were unhappy with the product, helped improve the product and in front of a huge audience of readers solved the problems for them. This was great PR, and was widely praised in blogs. For organisations who do latch on to this new approach to marketing, that sometimes you do make mistakes, but you are happy to rectify them, its a huge step forward and can forge trust in a brand that cannot be repeated elsewhere.

One thing you need to think of before approaching the world of social media is planning. With both negative and positive outcomes in mind, knowing how to react to them before they come. Having key set of objectives and KPI’s in place so you can track how well your campaign is doing, whether this is brand awareness or ROI. When it comes to planning and experience Neoco are digital experts, so please drop us a line to find out how are tools and services can help you.

Thanks to the guest speaker Alex Burmaster, from Nielsen.

For the fourth report in a row, Peter found his face replaced with a title graphic and now regrets dumping the Nielsen graphic designer.

As a founding member and part of the council for the industry body for Word of Mouth (marketing) UK, I manage to get my hands on all manner of interesting gubbins – just like this new Nielsen report on the global impact of Social Networking. It highlights some interesting facts and behaviours that any marketer looking at this space (which should be every marketer) should know.

Download the Global Faces and Networked Places – A Nielsen Report on Social Networkings New Global Footprint PDF report.

If you would like to discuss your Social Media strategy with experienced professionals, then just drop us a line. We’ve helped many a brand from global multnationals to local start-ups implement effective social media campaigns with long term success. Neoco clients had access to this report some time ago so there’s another incentive to get in touch.

You can also find a lot more info like this at WOMUK

We often get clients asking us about all these different channels and the best way to communicate across them. Good news is that we are going to start running workshops and training days to help expand the knowledge and ability of our clients and their internal teams. This is open to people on either side of the fence (client or agency side).

Are you interested in any of the following? If so, go to http://ping.fm/rSWYc and register your interest.

* Mobile Marketing – Harnessing the power and potential of media targeting
* Online Marketing – Getting to grips with the power of online marketing
* PR – Getting to grips with how online fits into the PR mix
* Audience Building – Unlocking the keys to boosting your traffic and retaining customers
* Blogging – Authoring blogs that get readers and ratings
* Community & Web 2.0 – Building effective online communities
* How the Internet works – Understanding the key components that make up the Internet
* Podcasting – Getting to grips with designing and building podcasting strategies
* Media Targeting – Harnessing the power and potential of media targeting
* Search for Advertisers – Getting more profitable customers through search
* Search for Agencies – Getting more profitable customers for your clients through search
* Email Marketing – Getting to grips with email marketing
* Viral Marketing – Creating effective viral marketing messages
* Research for Online Audience Behaviour – Understanding your customers
* Word of Mouth & Advocacy – Engaging and motivating your audience to promote your brand
* Widgets – The way to create widgets that get results and exposure
* Trends – Understanding the strategic trends driving the digital economy
* Web 2.0 – Harnessing Web 2.0 practices and technologies in your business
* Web Project Management – Running web projects to deliver on time and within budget
Go to http://ping.fm/IqnOz and register your interest.

Night of the Living Dead - remade by the fans

Speak to some of Neoco’s big global brand clients and you will soon hear them going on about the ‘co-creator generation’ and how to engage them. Co-creators are a group of people who share a similar love for something and work to create or progress the ’scene’. Have you seen the Kill Bill special ‘fan’ edition (The Whole Bloody Affair)? Or what about the Lego Mindstorm development studio or any of the Lego scenes on Google Images or You Tube…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIXByCAIzos]

Co-creators or the generation thereof are not categorised by age or similar demographics, they are actually a mind set. It’s mostly a co-incidence that they are of a similar age or sex. A general rule of thumb is the more niche the cause, the more passionate the co-creators. In some ways, that’s why the big brands are destined to fail with their recruitment of this audience as by and large, people just don’t care enough about a mobile phone and the intrinsic links to other content (music, video, photos, etc) are too generic to evoke true passion.

An example of a genre that is never short of co-creators is the living dead, or zombies. From zombie pillow fights in Seattle to zombie talk radio podcasts, the world of the dead has never been so alive and online has made this possible. The latest co-creation to hit zombie-land is NOTLD:R – an interesting remake of the 1968 movie Night of the Living Dead. The whole movie has been cut in to scenes which are then distributed to co-creators who have to animate the scene in their own way. The new animations will then be recompiled for an entirely new experience of NOTLD. Sounds very exciting but to a lot of people this sounds quite sad and those people are missing the point. Co-creators are passionate about their interests and spending four months animating a scene for a collective movie is a state of mind and emotion. These people would not go watch a football game, they would be the ones who get painted and turn up with drums, horns and flags at every game.

So whilst the idea of involving co-creators is a great one, the brand needs to ask a few questions first:

Is our brand strong enough to withstand the impact of co-creation
Is our proposition really inline with their passion?
What do we want to get from this?

If you can get positive answers from these three questions, you might just have something that could involve or attract co-creators and all the positive word of mouth, buzz and advocacy that it brings. Be warned though, if you even have one answer that is not strong you are likely to just end up with a handful of zombies going through the motions.

Rich and Judy

This week, Neoco attended a WOMUK Expresso Briefing about why marketing should now be aimed at finding and engaging the “adfluentials”. The starting point of the discussion was a consideration of effective marketing in an environment where the brand-consumer relationship is increasingly complex. For one thing people are discerning between products and services with reference to new sources of authority. Online, peer reviews are becoming more important than any direct marketing. Even in traditional media people are listening to TV personalities for non-expert guidance. Publishers need to understand the Richard and Judy effect as much as fashion lines need to understand what Gok Wan will do to their industry. In terms of digital, however, these new sources of credibility are even more important for two reasons; firstly advocates and detractors a-like can get their voices heard easily, without regulation; and secondly they can be more easily engage with by brands, creating a real two way conversation.

To effectively get a message out there marketers need to identify and work with the people that have the greatest potential to influence others but who also are passionate about the brand or at least the sector.
These are the “adfluentials” and they already want to be found. Engaging with adfluentials in the first instance should ensure a more natural, relevant word of mouth reach. This allows brands to reach
their target audience in an organic way. From these ideas the issue that arises for me, someone starting out in marketing, is how active agencies need to be to achieve this. Surely working with influential brand advocates is about listen – taking a more passive role to empower consumers. And at the end of the day isn’t
this just a case of handing over more power to the consumers. Great if you have a cool brand, or a really solid product, but potentially a way to come across as pandering or directionless or even a way to open up
to more criticism. If this model becomes the predominant way of approaching marketing campaigns, agencies will have to consider brand strength and whether a product will genuinely stand up to scrutiny
before working with it.

Maybe we are generally moving towards a more honest approach to what the customer can add to the discussion. What is more, empowering people that want to have a dialogue with your brand doesn’t have to mean tipping the balance away from internally driven vision. Listening, after all, really means listening to the right people – finding ways to align brand vision and consumer needs. Involving highly targeted people
in the first stage of a campaign has certainly proved successful for Neoco’s clients, and even across brands that don’t have an immediate ‘coolness’ grab. It also seems that this approach is a great way to dissipate negative word of mouth.