Knox
shared his first-hand research-based word of mouth experience with
a packed house of marketers today. He said that as their marketing
developed they discovered that there were two types of people associated
with how trends develop.
First there are trend setters. These are the people whose equity is
based on being different. These are the people who, once someone else
start wearing their new favorite kind of sunglasses, decides that
sunglasses just aren't cool anymore.
Trend setters do drive sales, but the true drivers of sales are the
trend spreaders. These are the types of people who notice what the
trends are and then get their friends to go out with them and buy
the latest pair of jeans. These are the people that Procter and Gamble
discovered have the most value to their brands.
If you connect with just 1% of trend spreaders within a market you
can significantly influence your sales.
One other key point to word of mouth marketing that Knox pointed out
- and I found this especially intriguing - you can't explain everything
in your ads. If you do then trend spreaders won't have anything to
say.
Knox also made a distinction between advocacy and amplification within
word of mouth. His example of a high advocacy low amplification product
was the Crest teeth whitening strips.
They're very popular and people believe in them but they're not something
you discuss at parties really (Hey Joe, nice tie. By the way I think
you should try the Crest Whitening Strips. Seriously.).
An example of high amplification, low advocacy was Budweiser's "Wasssup!!"
campaign. This got everyone talking, but not really about the brand.
Knox wrapped up his presentation with his three main ways of getting
influential people talking about your brand.
1) Give them the information first. People love to break
news. If you give it to the right people they will tell everyone.
2) Give someone the inside scoop. This ties in with getting
news first, but it emphasizes a type of information that's harder
to come by.
3) Allow your consumers to influence your decisions openly.
This is another key way of creating buzz about products that has a
measurable effect on your bottom line.
Provide your connectors with information they find interesting and
you'll see your brand spread far and wide.
Discuss
This Article at WebProWorld.
Garrett French
Editor, WebProNews.com
http://www.WebProNews.com
Read this Newsletter at:
http://www.smallbusinessupdate.com/2004/0525.html |
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By
Garrett French