Decoding Word of Mouth

by Scott JeffreyJun 17, 2010

Getting customers to talk about your products and services has long been the marketer’s coveted goal. Elusive as word of mouth (WOM) may be, the fruits of positive consumer talk can transform any business.

No matter how great your advertising and promotional strategies are, nothing is more powerful than one real person telling another real person why they should buy from you.

Most marketing initiatives and business plans incorporate some aspect of so-called viral marketing since Seth Godin’s Unleash Your Ideavirus and Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point.

But knowing terms like sneezers, influencers, connectors, and mavens won’t help you create authentic WOM.

What will? Start by understanding why your customers talk in the first place. Then, you’ll be less likely to waste time trying to manipulate your customer’s opinions and more time supporting them with a superior customer experience.

Our latest slideshow, created by Aaron Shields and designed by Melissa Thornton, makes the rules of WOM crystal clear:

If you want to go deeper in your understanding of consumer talk, check out BJ Bueno’s Why We Talk: The Truth Behind Word of Mouth.

Godin Misunderstands Apple

by Aaron ShieldsJan 19, 2010

Leander Kahney’s Inside Steve’s Brain, a look at what makes Steve Jobs tick, made me stop, jump out of my seat, and shout, “Are you serious?” It wasn’t caused by a sudden revelation or a scandal; it came from a passage clipped from an interview with Seth Godin:

Not everyone loves Apple’s advertising. Seth Godin, author of several best-sellers about marketing, said Apple’s advertising has often been mediocre. “I’m underwhelmed by most of Apple’s advertising,” he told me by phone from his office in New York. “It’s not been effective. Apple’s advertising is more about pandering to the insiders than acquiring new users. If you have a Mac, you love Apple’s advertising because it says ‘I’m smarter than you.’ If you don’t have a Mac it says ‘you’re stupid.’”

Apple’s advertising is not effective. Really? Are you serious?

In a 2006 talk, Godin told Google: “What I want to sell you really hard on is not that technology wins, ‘cause I don’t think it does, I think what technology does is that it gives you a shot at marketing. And, if you don’t buy into that then I believe that the company sooner rather than later is going to smash into a wall.”

Godin’s saying that Apple’s advertising isn’t effective, but technology only succeeds if the marketing works. And, Apple’s obviously succeeding, so I’m not sure I follow the logic.

Rather than being ineffective, I’d consider Apple’s advertising brilliant. Most new converts got hooked into the Apple brand through the iPod and the silhouette-dancing ads. These ads are some of the most inviting ads in the last decade: anyone can picture themselves as the faceless figures rocking out to their own tunes. The message is obvious: if you love music, come in.

Once you’ve already bought into the brand, why wouldn’t you want to stand out as a person making the best choice? This is what the advertising for these computers reflects: Apple is the better choice. And, sooner or later, if you don’t already have an Apple computer and you’ve already bought into the Apple brand, you’re going to want one to go along with that iPod or iPhone. Apple stores are even set up with this in mind: try the iPod or iPhone and while you’re at it why don’t you play with that pretty computer sitting next to it.

Apple’s advertising, as I see it, is really a two-pronged approach: (1) invite you in with the iPod advertising and (2) keep you there with the computer advertising. One makes you want to come in, and the other makes you want to stay there, all while keeping true to the brand’s identity.

Ineffective? Anything but.