Social Tips for 2011

from MarketingProfs.com:

Three Ways to Influence Your Influencers

"In simplest terms, businesses are no longer in complete control of their products, brands and messages," writes Susan Gunelius at Entrepreneur.com. "End-users are now in control." And those end-users are largely influenced by so-called prosumers—brand and product advocates who use blogs, social networks and forums to shape opinions.

"To stay competitive in this ever-changing environment," she says, "businesses must learn how to harness these forces to their advantage." And once you've identified your key influencers, Gunelius recommends that you take the following steps:

1. Join the online conversation. Find out where your advocates congregate and open a dialogue. "It takes time and persistence to get on the radar screens of prosumers," she notes, "so be sure to consistently participate and offer information and insights that add value to the conversation."

2. Develop relationships. You want to appear human and accessible to any customer you encounter online, but step it up for your prosumers. Send them products and ask for their opinions. Leave comments on blog posts. Send @ replies on Twitter. "Like" a status update on Facebook.

3. Avoid self-promotion or direct marketing. "If they have a relationship with you that is already built on trust and respect, and you don't try to sell to them, but rather offer products, information and insight for their consumption," she says, "they're more likely to value what you give to them and share it with their own audiences, particularly if they believe your product or business can benefit their audiences."

The Po!nt: Prosumers will talk about your product or service one way or the other—so give them the tools and incentives to deliver the message you want them to send.

Source: Entrepreneur.com.

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Combining Word of Mouth with Social Media

People have always been talking about you.

You were not paranoid.

You did something impressive, word got around.

You screwed up, word spread even faster.

This has been going on since the beginning of time.

The modern term for it is Word of Mouth.

But now the voice has become louder and faster.

And just because you aren't talking, or listening, (I'm referring to participating in Social Media), the conversation is going on without you.

My Sunday Seth post from Seth Godin on Wednesday is a list for you to consider:

I spread your idea because...

Ideas spread when people to choose to spread them. Here are some reasons why:

1. I spread your idea because it makes me feel generous.
2. ...because I feel smart alerting others to what I discovered.
3. ...because I care about the outcome and want you (the creator of the idea) to succeed.
4. ...because I have no choice. Every time I use your product, I spread the idea (Hotmail, iPad, a tattoo).
5. ...because there's a financial benefit directly to me (Amazon affiliates, mlm).
6. ...because it's funny and laughing alone is no fun.
7. ...because I'm lonely and sharing an idea solves that problem, at least for a while.
8. ...because I'm angry and I want to enlist others in my outrage (or in shutting you down).
9. ...because both my friend and I will benefit if I share the idea (Groupon).
10. ...because you asked me to, and it's hard to say no to you.
11. ...because I can use the idea to introduce people to one another, and making a match is both fun in the short run and community-building.
12. ...because your service works better if all my friends use it (email, Facebook).
13. ...because if everyone knew this idea, I'd be happier.
14. ...because your idea says something that I have trouble saying directly (AA, a blog post, a book).
15. ...because I care about someone and this idea will make them happier or healthier.
16. ...because it's fun to make another teen snicker about prurient stuff we're not supposed to see.
17. ...because the tribe needs to know about this if we're going to avoid an external threat.
18. ...because the tribe needs to know about this if we're going to maintain internal order.
19. ...because it's my job.
20. I spread your idea because I'm in awe of your art and the only way I can repay you is to share that art with others.

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More than a Fish Story

Craig Arthur sends a regular newsletter to subscribers like me that contain nuggets like this:

Word of Mouth Strategies:

It’s Not the Size of the Idea That Counts…

By Wizard Partner, Sonya Winterbotham

“Then they layer the freshness cues some more. Their filleting room is glass from waist height to ceiling, so you see all the action.”

While big business spends millions pondering the next “Big” idea, over in the real world where budgets are leaner it’s the small ideas making the big difference.

If you’re struggling to stand out in a heavily competitive category, tilt your head, change your perspective and do just one small thing different to your competitors.

Need to be inspired? Get out there in your own market, I bet there are a stack of businesses already making small changes in order to stand out, for the better.

Here’s one example of a business that does it different in my market… It’s a seafood shop that brings “freshness” to the people in a very unique way.

Where I live the weather is sunny and the weekends are made for sitting around an outdoor setting shelling prawns and sipping beers… that’s our lifestyle, tough I know. And it makes retail seafood - big business. But get this… People here have this deep believe that the closer the seafood shop is to the water, the fresher the seafood. So if your shop is on the spit or backing onto the canal, you’re geography immediately puts your business at an advantage because of this perception. 10 minutes inland, and you’ve got some catching up to do. Well 10 minutes from the ocean is exactly where this business sits.

So how do they compete with the waterfront shops? Check this out…

First - they bring a little of the ocean a little further inland than you’d expect to see it… This seafood shop has filled their unused floor space with a big surf boat, topped it up with ice and packed it with fresh fish. You choose - they fillet - on the spot. The surfboat brings the idea of the ocean closer to the customers – closing the gap that perception opened. The fish (whole and unfilleted) add to that growing idea of freshness.

Then they layer the freshness cues some more. Their filleting room is glass from waist height to ceiling, so you see all the action. Every other seafood shop I’ve ever walked into, keeps the preparation behind closed doors… it’s all clean, pristine and sterile out front. But which sounds fresher? “I just bought fish fillets out of a display unit” OR “I just chose a whole fish, out of a boat, and watched it filleted before my eyes”.

Not big ideas, not expensive ideas… They just looked at what everybody else did, tilted their heads and asked – what little thing can we be doing that’ll make us stand out?

You don’t have to think big, you just have to think different.

PS from the editor. This business knows how to buy Word of Mouth. They use Kinetic & Architectural word of mouth strategies. They also understand what their brand stands for.

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Why Social Matters

For the last few years, I've been the "Internet Guy" among my circle of friends.

Those circles include: Advertising Federation Board of Directors, Boy Scout Marketing Committee, B.N.I.; Gus Macker Basketball, and the group of radio stations I work with.

Of course a HUGE part of my own business, ScLoHo Marketing Solutions is due to my internet and more specifically, Social Media usage.

Some think that it's just for 20 and 30 year olds, but I'm a living, breathing exception to that stereotype.

The past couple of years have exploded in opportunities and relationships due to my social media work. And it's not just a fad:

The Social Habit -- Frequent Social Networkers

Social Networking has exploded in popularity over the past two years, with the percentage of Americans maintaining a profile page on one or more social sites doubling from 24% in 2008 to 48% in 2010. Even more remarkably, as social networking has entered the mainstream, it has also quickly become not just an occasional diversion but a habitual part of American life.

In 2009, 18% of social networkers in America checked their sites and services several times a day. Just one year later, this figure stands at 30%, even as the total number of social networkers has grown. With both numbers growing dramatically, the actual number of Americans with "the social habit," who check their social media sites multiple times per day, has more than doubled, from approximately 18 million to 39 million.

A new report, based upon the 18th Edison Research/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Research Series, examines these habitual social networkers, providing information on demographics, status updating behaviors, mobile access and how social media has affected their consumption of other media.

The data is based upon a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,753 Americans (including 371 mobile phone interviews) ages 12+ conducted in February, 2010.

Principal Findings

1. With both usage of social networks and the frequency of that usage increasing dramatically, we are truly witnessing a sea change in how mainstream consumers communicate.

2. Americans who check social networking sites several times per day are much more likely to be young, and female.

3. Mobile access to social media is almost certainly a significant contributor to frequency of usage.

4. Frequent social networkers are also more likely to update their status on those networks -- i.e., create content online -- which has implications for word-of-mouth marketing and search.

5. Not only are frequent social networkers posting more status updates, they are also more likely to follow brands/companies than the average social media user -- which makes identifying and appealing to those with the "social habit" crucial for brands.

6. The data for frequent social networkers' usage of podcasts, online video and online audio supports the assumption that a significant amount of content is being consumed on-demand, potentially at the point where such content is shared.

7. Americans with "the social habit" are watching significantly less traditional television, but potentially consuming (and sharing) more "video" through alternative means.

8. Pandora is already the dominant online audio brand with frequent social networkers. These consumers' propensity for posting status updates and other content, combined with Pandora's recent moves to integrate with Facebook, will likely position Pandora as the dominant music discovery brand online.

(Source: Edison Research, 06/17/10. Complete report available free with registration. Click here.)

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TV vs Social Media

The subject of debate is: Word of Mouth...

Internet Can Drive Word of Mouth Even Better Than Television

There's no arguing that word of mouth (WOM) marketing impacts sales. And while a large number of people talk about content they found online, three-quarters of the time those conversations take place offline.

A recent study from Yahoo on WOM marketing demonstrates that the Internet has grown more influential when it comes to informing people through conversations about brands, even more so than TV in certain categories. The study also finds that the best vehicles for influencing WOM come from consumers who play in social networks. These "Conversation Catalysts" drive a disproportionately higher percentage of WOM activity.

While many marketers have little doubt that the Internet can influence WOM marketing nearly as much as TV, the huge gap in budgets for online versus television tells a different tale, says Radha Subramanyam, Yahoo vice president, who heads corporate and media research. "There's a bit of an intellectual gap in how marketers spend their budget that doesn't exactly tie to ROI," she says.

Although only 7% of all brand-WOM conversations occur online, 38% of people have brand-WOM conversations both online or offline influenced by the Internet, which Yahoo estimates at 74 million people.

Among the media channels influencing WOM, the Internet has grown while others like television and print remain flat. The level of Internet references rose to 15% in January 2010, compared with nearly 12% during the same time in the year-ago period.

Despite the buzz around social media and its role in WOM, most conversations take place face to face. Media -- both online and off -- are influential in driving these conversations, but it's important to note that 76% of WOM conversations take place in person.

Two-thirds of WOM is positive, and only 8% is negative, according to the study.

Certain categories such as financial and automotive appear to do better than health and health care and personal care and beauty. The study recognizes a 17% impact on finance from the Internet, compared with 8% for television. Yahoo believes that impact has a 1% bump to 18% on its network.

The study finds that Yahoo's audience drives more WOM marketing for automotive and finance categories. While the Facebook and YouTube audiences both have a considerable reach, a much higher volume of auto and finance WOM occurred among the Yahoo audience since January.

Automotive in Yahoo's network drove 54% of WOM marketing volume compared with 48% in Facebook; 46%, YouTube; 21%, MSN; 17%, AOL; and 15%, Hulu. Finance in Yahoo's network drove 55% of WOM marketing volume, compared with 48% in Facebook; 40%, YouTube; 23%, MSN; 17%, AOL; and 14%, Hulu.

Conversation Catalysts have become the most valuable WOM segment, because they have a large social network, belong to clubs, organizations and social groups, and often give advice in five or more product categories. They are 20% more likely to mention the Internet in brand WOM conversations.

This trend is driven by millennials, Subramanyam says. "This generation is moving into the years of life where they think about purchases. These kids are now becoming adults," she says. "This generation is the first that literally grew up with the Internet."

As millennials become the new adults, marketers will see an interesting cultural shift, Subramanyam says.

Even so, there's a missed opportunity in understanding that traditional Internet marketing has a bigger impact on word of mouth, says Brad Fay, chief operating officer at Keller Fay Group, and marketing consultant at McKinsey. "There's a big opportunity to drive word of mouth using something as simple as a brand Web site," he says. "The study found it's the number one component to drive word of mouth through the Internet."

About 15% of all conversations include something from people who found the information online, Fay says. People sit side-by-side with a mobile device in hand, talking about restaurants, clothing stores or services they read about online, he says.

The study concludes that Internet content can significantly impact WOM activity, especially on sites that serve this market segment known as Conversation Catalysts.

Yahoo partnered with Keller Fay to observe WOM activity from more than 18,500 survey respondents between August 2009 and January 2010. WOM conversations were tracked with the assistance of a 24-hour diary and follow-up contacts to answer standardized questions about brands and companies they talked about.

(Source: Online Media Daily, 06/11/10)

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Social Media vs Word of Mouth

A great piece from the LifeDev.net blog:

Word of Mouth Marketing Will Never Die

Question: What’s better than hyping your own product?
Answer: Having a satisfied customer do it for you.

Give your customers a reason
to evangelize your products.

My friend Heather was previously using an real estate agent that was a tad on the pushy side. The agent did all those things that really cheese potential home buyers off, like suggesting homes way out of Heather’s budget. The agent basically tried to force Heather into buying a home out of her price range so that she could receive a higher commission. (She even suggested Heather borrow money from her parents to do it!)

Instead of helping Heather, the agent was most interested in helping herself.

So, I sent Heather over to my buddy Travis who is also a real estate agent. I’ve known Travis for a while, and he’s quite possibly the most laid-back person I’ve ever met. He did everything he could to make Heather feel comfortable, and went out of his way to help her. Because of his helpfulness and care, Travis eventually sold Heather a home that she loved.

Instead of using the previous agent’s tactics, Travis instead made her feel at ease. He didn’t try to upsell her, but only worked within the parameters that she had previously set. Because, when you buy something as freakin’ expensive as a house, you definitely want to be at ease with your decision. (There’s nothing worse than a few hundred thousand dollars worth of buyers remorse.)

But here’s the real kicker: Heather has since sworn that she’d refer anyone to Travis.

Now that’s Old Skool Word of mouth marketing.

Word of Mouth Marketing is Nothing New

We’re so caught up with social media these days. You have to have a Twitter profile. You have to have a Facebook fan page. LinkedIn, Youtube, and on, and on, and on. Follower counts are pivotal. Retweets are currency, et. al. Sure, these platforms can help you reach new potential customers, but focusing on the platform instead of the people is a sure way to fail.

Twitter, Facebook… it’s all word of mouth marketing: People talking about your product or service and referring it to friends.

On paper, my friend Travis has a stark disadvantage against other, more established agents. They have lots of marketing dollars, with their fake smiles flashed across billboards. Travis doesn’t really advertise, has zero “social media presence”, and only relies on friends and previous clients to spread his brand.

Yet at the end of the day, he’s making the sales. Oh, and at night he sleeps soundly knowing that he’s helping people, not looking out for himself.

Word of Mouth is NOT Social Media

With all the focus on social media these days, it feels like people are forgetting what makes the champions of these technologies so great. Organizations like Zappos have successfully used social media to sell more of their product. But if you look deeper, it’s not because of social media, it’s because they intensely care about their customers.

Story after story, (I love this one), has surfaced about how Zappos has gone the extra mile 20 miles and made sure their customers were happy. Sure, social media has helped, but that’s because it’s an extension of how they care, another way to reach out to customers.

And it keeps people talking about their product.

So stop worrying about Twitter followers. Start thinking about how many people you can help, and how you’re going to do it. Use Twitter and Facebook to help everyone, not to flash authority.

And then people will start talking.

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What's the value of Word of Mouth?

While it's true that there are businesses that never spend money on advertising, they do spend it on marketing.

That's becasue of the broad scope of "Marketing" includes anything from the way they answer the phone to signage, etc.

Take a look at this from Warc.com:

Word of mouth has greater impact than ads

NEW YORK: Marketing campaigns that encourage considerable word of mouth among consumers have a greater impact on sales than more traditional forms of advertising, according to McKinsey.

The consultancy argued that word of mouth is the "primary factor" behind between 20% and 50% of purchases, with a particular relevance in relation to expensive products and first-time acquisitions.

It added that an advertising "overload", growing mistrust of marketing and the social media-driven shift in control away from companies and towards consumers have all encouraged this trend.

More specifically, an individual's direct experience with a brand was found to generate something in the region of 50% and 80% of all word of mouth.

"Consequential" word of mouth driven by marketing and "intentional" word of mouth based on formal corporate efforts – such as brands hiring celebrity endorsers – made up the majority of the remainder.

A detailed study of the mobile phone sector showed advertising had an influence score of 30% in mature markets at the "initial consideration stage", with previous usage on 26% and word of mouth on 18%.

Information gathered from online sources played the most significant role in the "active evaluation phase" with a rating of 29%, falling to 20% for shopping and 19% for word of mouth.

These factors retained their pre-eminence at the moment of purchase, although data collected from the internet held an even higher weight of 65%, with shopping on 20% and word of mouth on 10%.

By contrast, word of mouth was the main influence across the entire process in emerging markets, posting 18% at initial consideration, 28% at active evaluation and 46% at the point of purchase.

Advertising took second place during each phase, reaching a peak of 40% at the end of the cycle, with previous usage trailing in third in each case.

When assessing the "equity" of word of mouth, McKinsey said recommendations from a "trusted source" like a friend or family member was 50 times more likely to persuade someone to buy a brand.

Elsewhere, influentials, making up some 9% of the population, produced around three times more word of mouth than the norm, with the 1% of "digital influentials" also boasting "disproportionate power".

McKinsey cited the example of Apple's launch of the iPhone in Germany, where it was the subject of just 10% of word of mouth in the category, a third less than the market leader.

However, this activity was five times more powerful than that for its rival – and six times more powerful than Apple's paid-for media – because of the perceived authority of these "influentials".

"Marketing-induced consumer-to-consumer word of mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising in categories as diverse as skincare and mobile phones," McKinsey added.

Red Bull was also credited with effectively using celebrities and other "opinion makers" to champion its brand, while Miele and Lego achieved this result by involving customers in the innovation process.

Messages passed among consumers that emphasized “important product or service features” were also found to have a more substantial impact than general or emotive comments.

Equally, the sharing of information in small, closely-connected groups delivered better returns than interactions in "dispersed communities" due to the stronger levels of trust between participants.

This even applies on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, where individuals can have hundreds of friends, but still typically only value the input of a limited number of their contacts.

Data sourced from McKinsey; additional content by Warc staff, 21 April 2010

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Clever or Deceptive?

About once a week, I have someone tell me that I'm different from what they expected when we made the appointment to talk about advertising.

See, my main job is to "sell advertising on my group of radio stations".

But I take a big picture approach. I care more about the success of that persons marketing and overall business than I do about making a sale.

It's a long term relationship approach. There are times I could sell an advertising program that would get limited results, but what happens next?

Yesterday I was digging through my email archives and found this piece from Seth:

Gotcha!

A few weeks ago, my tooth fell out (on a cross country flight no less). I managed to get home and then eagerly put some Anbesol ("for oral pain relief, dentist strong so the pain is gone!") on the hole. Yes, that was my screaming you heard all the way from here.

The next morning, my dentist explained that not only doesn't Anbesol work on exposed nerves, it makes them worse.

You can read the label all day long and you won't see that mentioned. But hey, they made a sale (one sale).

Or consider this item on Amazon. How big do you think these "mixing bowls" are? The reviews point out that the smallest one is not big enough to hold an egg. Does that change your perception of the item?

Why not tell the truth? Why not call them "mini bowls"? Why not change the label from "toothache relief"? (Technically, it's not a toothache if you have no tooth, okay, thank you Mr. Lawyer, that's exactly the sort of weaseling I'm talking about.)

There are lots of things you can do to make the sale. They often are precisely the opposite of what you should do to generate word of mouth. I know, you can't have word of mouth unless you have a sale, but a sale that leads to pain is hardly worth it.

My rule of thumb is this: every person you turn away because your product or service isn't right for them turns into three great customers down the road. Every bad sale costs you five.

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One Person at a Time

Earlier this week, I was meeting with a business partner who knows that he needs a better website and he also asked me how to get people to that website once it is up and running.

The Mass Media approach is one way, but requires a lot of $$ and results would be minimal in this splintered media world we live in.

Instead, you should get the ones who care the most about what you have to offer to visit your business and then help them to spread the word.

Take a look at this from my other site:

One at a Time

Business Success is built one person at a time. So is Business Failure.

The key to success vs. failure is to please more people than you annoy.

So, my challenge to you is what are you doing to make sure you do that?

Take a look at how your phone calls are handled, how walk-in customers are treated, how follow up is taken care of and how problems are resolved.

I'm sure you can find some way to make some improvements. Those improvements will make a difference, one at a time.

Do you need more encouragement? Click here and watch this short video.

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The Brand called You

Drew has advice to share:

Have you built a rock solid foundation for your personal brand?

Posted: 05 Feb 2010 03:10 AM PST

Whether you work for someone else, are a serial entrepreneur or anything in between -- in today's world, you can't afford to ignore the idea of personal branding.

A generation ago, employees often stayed with one employer for the lion's share of their career. Today, most professionals will not work for several companies -- but they will most likely change their entire profession.

And even in the unlikely case that you do find the employer of your dreams right off the bat -- you still want to distinguish yourself by standing out from the crowd.

Enter personal branding.

By the way, I don't think personal branding came about thanks to the internet. It's been around for generations. Abe Lincoln certainly created a personal brand. So did Hitler. But, the internet certainly makes it easier for an average joe or jane to create a credible, spreadable personal brand.

But to do it right, I believe it takes intention.

When I speak to college classes, I warn them. What you put out into the world via Facebook, blogs, Twitter, MySpace, FourSquare and whatever comes next -- stays out there. And it's incredibly findable.

Two relevant facts:

1. No matter what we want to know, we Google it. (So imagine what the next generation of managers, business owners and reporters will do).
2. Google never forgets anything.

So given those facts...how do you intentionally build your personal brand?

Decide what you're all about.

Note I did not say...create your brand. Just like with a company -- a brand comes from your heart and soul. So dig deep and figure out who you are -- that is relevant to the world. (We're many things, some private and some for public consumption -- your brand is the world's view).

There are lots of ways to figure it out. Write your own obit, do Strength Finders, Myers Briggs or put together your own little brand task force who knows you well and loves you enough to be honest.

Determine what your personal brand looks like -- off-line:

No matter who you are or what you do, odds are that you spend more time off the computer than on. So be sure that you can live the brand in your daily life, 24/7. How does it come to life (remember, this is from other's perspective).

If your brand is that you're a developer of others -- how would a developer behave? Think of all the touchpoints you have with other people -- meetings, networking, on the phone, in an employee review, etc. How does the developer brand come to life?

Evaluate your existing on-line presence:

Google yourself. Does your brand show up? Is it the most prevalent message? Scan through your old Facebook updates. Is your brand there? Are the other themes complimentary to your brand or do they feel off? What types of things are you retweeting? What do your recommendations say on LinkedIn?

Don't just look at the subject matter. Look at language, tone, replies to others, what you do and don't talk about, play, share with others and the online/social media tools you do and don't frequent.

Step back and be as objective as you can. If a stranger Googled you -- what would they think and know about you? Does it align with your brand?

And don't forget your traditional old website. It may be the most content rich place for your brand to live. Do you own your own domain (like www.drewmclellan.com). If not -- grab it quick if it's still available.

Decide where you need to be online:

Depending on your brand, your presence might be expected on a certain social media tool. Should you be writing guest blog posts for a specific site? Is tweeting resources a part of who you are/want to be perceived to be? If you're the developer of others...how does LinkedIn figure into your plans?

Don't overdo this. Most people do not have the time or patience to establish a deep presence on every social media site, so don't try. Be active where you want to invest the time and where it makes sense.

Live it:

Off line, on line. Be your brand. Think about your choices. If your brand is about being the consummate, buttoned-up professional, should you be playing mafia wars or farming on a Facebook account that links you to your customers?

If your brand is about being very intellectual and deliberate -- should you be firing off emotional responses to negative comments on your blog?

If your brand is about being gregarious and generous, should you be the wallflower at the networking event?

Like most things, if you did the prep work -- it shouldn't be difficult to live your brand, once you've gotten in the habit of keeping it top of mind. If you find that you can't live your brand consistently or it feels fake -- you probably have to go back to the drawing board and dig deeper.

Be consistent and be patient:

This isn't going to happen overnight. The more consistent you are, the quicker your brand will not only rise to the surface but stick. But it takes time to influence opinion and influence Google. Remember...we're living in the age of cynics. Don't try to be something you're not. Don't try to force it.

Your genuine brand will come from within. All we're trying to do is make sure that brand stays in the spotlight so you can do and be all that you're capable of.

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Why Reputation Matters

The reputation of you, your company, your service and your products.... from RBR.com:

WOM influences most electronics, apparel purchases

Retailers will spend millions of dollars on advertising this holiday season, but many shoppers won’t commit to buying some gifts until hearing from people just like them that it’s worth it. According to a Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) survey conducted by BIGresearch, word of mouth remains the biggest influence in people’s electronics (43.7%) and apparel (33.6%) purchases, though advertising inserts, articles and in-store promotions also sway buying decisions.

“Hearing what other people have to say about a product gives shoppers the satisfaction of knowing what they purchased is peer-reviewed and worth their money,” said Mike Gatti, Executive Director, RAMA. “Whether it is based on a conversation with a friend or a customer review on a website, people put a lot of weight in other shoppers’ opinions.”

When it comes to apparel purchases, shoppers say in-store promotions (31.8%) are nearly as important as word of mouth. Given the economy, it’s also not surprising that coupons (31.2%) were ranked near the top of the list. Interestingly, shoppers said that advertising inserts (28.0%), direct mail (24.2%) and email advertising (22.4%) were more influential than television ads (21.8%).

Second to word of mouth when it comes to buying new laptops, GPS systems, high definition televisions or any other electronics, more than one-third (33.9%) of consumers say articles written about the product influence their decision. Advertising inserts (26.0%), in-store promotions (25.9%) and coupons (22.8%) also sway shoppers’ electronic purchases. In addition, technology plays an important role, with 4.7% saying they are influenced by blogs and 5.1% using online video game advertisements as a factor in their final purchase decision.

The survey found people still prefer traditional media to get their daily dose of news and information. Nearly nine out of 10 (88.9%) people said they watch television throughout the week, 77.9% read what arrives in the mail and 70.2% listen to the radio. New media preferences include reading and sending emails (86.5%), surfing the internet (82.0%), instant messaging (26.1%) and blogging (9.6%).

“Traditional media still plays a big role in consumers’ everyday lives, but technology has paved the way for people to have instant access to sales events, promotions and even customer reviews,” said Phil Rist, EVP/Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch.

Retailers eager to get consumers’ attention through television or online ads should consider casting a wider net as well. When asked what they simultaneously do while watching TV, nearly three in 10 (29.3%) go online, 12.2% read the newspaper and 21.3% participate in other activities. While surfing the internet, 40.1% said they simultaneously watch television and 22.5% read the mail.

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One Person

In the days before easy internet communication, word of mouth spread relatively slowly. The saying goes, a happy customer will tell his friends about you, but an unhappy customer will tell EVERYONE about you.

In our modern social media world, the speed of word of mouth has grown at the speed of light. And take a look at the difference One Person can have on your marketing.

This is from Scott Stratten:

The Three Billion Dollar Cleaning Man

Wes is the three billion dollar man to me. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

It’s no secret I “enjoy” Las Vegas. After going there 14 times in the past four years I consider myself an unofficial tour guide and resident of Sin City.

A place you can’t miss on the strip is the Wynn. Very fancy, very pretty and very expensive. Since the place cost 2.7 billion dollars to build, I assume selling 99 cent hot dogs isn’t gonna make that money back.

I really didn’t care about the Wynn. Not in a negative way, it just wasn’t on my radar. After getting comfortable staying at MGM, Venetian, etc, I didn’t really see a need to change, until last Saturday.

I had a meeting at Wynn during the BlogWorld conference, and strolled in through the majestic doors with a friend of mine. As soon as we walked in we spotted a man (Wes) using a large carpet cleaning machine. Since he wasn’t in our way, we really thought nothing of it, but he thought differently.

He stopped what he was doing. Looked up…… and smiled. Not one of those “it’s part of my job to smile” ones, but a genuine, warm, authentic smile.

And then he said “Good afternoon, and welcome to the Wynn, please enjoy your day” all the while looking us right in the eye, like it was his mission to ensure we knew he meant business.

And that alone changed my entire perception of the Wynn. Almost 3 billion big ones went into making this mega casino resort, and it was one guy that made me want to stay there. Made me want to tweet about it. Made me want to blog about it. The carpet cleaning dude. I have passed hundreds of people cleaning in casino’s in Vegas, I’ve rarely been given eye contact, and not once felt welcome.

As a matter of fact… I have never, ever been greeted like that by anyone in Vegas.

It’s wonderful and sad at the same time. That this gentleman making us feel welcome at his place of employment was not only exceptional, it was extremely rare.

Casino’s (and probably most of you in business) all have the same “stuff” for the most part. The 5-star resorts all have fancy smells, spa’s, and pretty patterns. But only one resort has Wes.

Marketing is not a task.

Marketing is not a department.

Marketing is not a job.

Marketing happens everytime you engage (or not) with your past/present/potential customers.

(Thanks Wes, and yes, I did enjoy my day, and will even more when I stay at the Wynn, because of you)

Any place in Vegas that really impressed you with their engagement? Can one person really change your opinion of a company? Let me know in the comments below.


Scott Stratten
http://www.Un-Marketing.com
Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.

Scott Stratten Companies, 102-1230 Marlborough Court, Oakville, ON L6H3K6, CANADA

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Advertising, Social Media & Word of Mouth

Before heading to the 2nd day of our annual district conference of the AAF, I read this article and have a few disagreements with it.

Word of Mouth is Still Sexier Than Social Media

Social Media is sexy. Word of mouth is still sexier. Yea, I know, everyone wants a date with sexy social media right now, but trust me, word of mouth is the one you want to take home to meet your parents. Word of mouth is that long-term relationship that can turn into marriage. And I have the sexy numbers to prove it.

Photo Credit: Tiago Ribeiro

Yesterday morning at the Austin Social Media Breakfast, WOM Enthusiast John Moore, of Brand Autopsy, gave the numbers to about 40 marketing and social media students.
(*John Moore graciously sent me his cheat sheet with all the stats you see here.)

- 76% of consumers believe companies are untruthful in their advertising.
(Source: Bold Mouth’s “Perceptions, Practices, and Ethics” report 2006)

- 78% of global consumers say recommendations from other consumers are the most credible form of advertising.
(Source: Nielsen’s “Truth in Advertising” report 2007)

- The typical American takes part in 125 person-to-person/voice-to-voice conversations per week that discuss products and services.
(Source: Keller Fay Talk Track study)

- Specific brands mentioned 90 times per week in person-to-person/voice-to-voice conversations
(Source: Keller Fay Talk Track study 2009)

- 90% of brand-related conversations take place offline versus 10% online.
(Source: Keller Fay Talk Track study)

- Ranked from highest to lowest, the most common activity where word of mouth (WOM) occurs:

1. Face-to-face conversations - 75%
2. Voice-to-Voice conversation - 15%
3. Text message - 3.2%
4. Email - 3.1%
5. Social media - 1.3% <----- Are you stunned by that figure?
   (Source: Keller Fay Talk Track study 2009)

- Positive WOM comments out-weigh to negative comments by a ratio of 6:1
(Source: Keller Fay Talk Track study)

- 22% of all brand-related conversations are sparked directly from advertising.
(Source: Keller Fay Talk Track study)

- 78% of brand-related conversations are sparked by something else:

1. Great customer service
2. Explaining how something works
3. Remarkable and entertaining stuff

At this point, you may be wondering why social media seems like it's so much sexier than word of mouth. After all, social media gets all the press these days, and social media gets all the dates with the a-list marketers. In my opinion, that's precisely why. The a-list marketers and bloggers are heavy users of social media, and consequently, social media seems sexier. I believe it's borne out by this statistic:

- 5% of Twitter users account for 75% of all activity on Twitter. And 75% of Twitter users joined in 2009. 94% of users have less than 100 followers.
(Source: sysmos “Inside Twitter” report 2009)

How to Score a Date with Word of Mouth

Social media looks good on your arm when you walk into a marketing meeting. All the other marketers will wink at you and tell you how good your Facebook page looks, how clever your tweets are. But you'd better pay some attention to traditional word-of-mouth, because that's where you can really score. How? John Moore had some relationship advice for those trying to court word of mouth.

1. People don't want to do business with a boring brand.
What's exciting about your brand? It's not enough to deliver good customer service and sell quality products. Anyone can do that. Create a little excitement by doing something unusual and unexpected.

2. A brand's personality is the best form of advertising.
Let your personality shine in your business. Are you outgoing, gregarious? Maybe you have a great sense of humor and you like to be playful? Whatever your personality, make it evident in your brand. Your brand is an extension of you.

3. Remarkable things get remarked about.
Customers don't recommend the ordinary. Add some magic spots to your business; products, services, and experience, that customers have to talk about.

4. Create an experience that sparks conversation.
Creating a remarkable customer experience may be the best way to earn word of mouth. Think of interaction with customers as the opportunity to write a customer story that they can re-tell to their friends and family.

Now that you know, who do you want to date? Sure go out with social media for some good times, meet some new friends. But now that you know the numbers, don't you think word of mouth is sexier? How will it affect the way you market your business?

If you liked this article, please consider subscribing. For updates on new articles: Receive The Marketing Spot by Email or Get The Marketing Spot in a blog reader

Me again. The very best social media efforts result in Word of Mouth Conversations. Twitter is an excellent example of this in my opinion. If you treat Social Media as a self-serving broadcast of why you and your business is hot stuff, then you are doing it wrong.

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Turn it Around

Good words of advice from Marketing Profs:

Oh, No, Not Her Again!

"Eighty-seven-year-old Gladys has a reputation among her fellow retirement community members," write Marilyn Shuttle and Lori Jo Vest in the first chapter of Who's Your Gladys? "She's known as a cranky complainer who is impossible to please." But when she called Professional Movers for a quote, the company's sales rep, Chris, decided to treat her spunk and tenacity with respect. "By the end of his visit," they continue, "Gladys had bonded with Chris and booked the move."

As always seems to happen with our most irritable customers, though, something went wrong: During the move, an employee accidentally cracked Gladys' marble tabletop. Andrew Androff, a co-owner of Professional Movers, braced himself for the tongue-lashing he knew would come. "[He] felt compassion for her while she vented," note Shuttle and Vest, "and assured her that his company would have the table repaired, and this if she wasn't satisfied with the results, he would replace it."

Chris followed up by visiting Gladys at home—rather than making a phone call—and promised a satisfactory resolution, no matter what it took. So when repairs to the tabletop fell short of expectations, he volunteered to drive Gladys to the store, where she chose a replacement.

The extraordinary customer service cost the company time and money, but it impressed Gladys so deeply that her word-of-mouth recommendations have made Professional Movers the number-one choice in her retirement complex. "High and persistent praise from such a hard-to-please person attracts attention," conclude Shuttle and Vest.

The Po!nt: You just might turn your most difficult customers into your greatest advocates by handling them with compassion and thoughtfulness.

Source: Who's Your Gladys? Click here for more information.

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Word of Mouth Marketing?

Chuck McKay:

There Is No Word-of-Mouth "Marketing."

Pay close attention to Stephanie's story:

“Roger's feet get cold easily, so I bought him a pair of sheepskin slippers. He loved them, but it wasn't long before the wool lining started wearing off. So I called Lands' End to see if I could get them replaced under warranty. The lady I talked to was very nice, but she couldn't find any record of my purchase, and she couldn't figure out which slippers I was describing. But, she cheerfully told me that she'd be happy to exchange them, and gave me a return authorization. I was pretty excited when I told Roger that Lands' End had agreed to replace his slippers even though I couldn't find the sales receipt. He told me that was because I bought those slippers from LL Bean.”

Stephanie tells her story well. People laugh at it. It's the kind of story that people tell each other daily. It's the kind of story likely to be repeated by people who don't know either Stephanie or Roger.

There's a critical lesson, though, in Stephanie's story. Did you catch it? No problem. We'll come back to it in a minute.

Stephanie's story is an example of Word-of-Mouth.

It's not, however, an example of Word-of-Mouth “marketing.”

And apologies to WOMMA aside, I'm not convinced that Word-of-Mouth marketing exists.

Why? Because adding the word “marketing” assumes that it's something the business causes to happen. Word-of-Mouth may be influenced by business, but by it's very nature it can never be controlled.

Go back to Stephanie's story for the critical distinction. Is she telling a story about customer service at Lands' End? No. She's telling a story about her own experience as a customer. People love to tell stories about themselves.

Exactly how important is your product or your service in the telling of any customer's story? If the stuff you're selling fits into her narration, it might be included. But whether it is or not, Word-of-Mouth in any of its forms is always about the experience of the buyer. Only indirectly is the seller even involved.

Which makes Word-of-Mouth "marketing" a misnomer.

Word-of-Mouth is not marketing for several reasons.

Marketing becomes cost effective when there are efficiencies of scale. Word-of-Mouth takes place on a one-to-one basis.

In marketing, a company sends its message directly to prospects. Word-of-Mouth is farther removed from the company with each iteration of the story. People who know the story teller will be influenced. People who know those people may be slightly influenced. At three degrees removed there will be minimal effect, if any. (And yes, I'm fully expecting a few e-mails pointing out "Viral Marketing" as an example to the contrary. Can anyone even predict what goes viral? I thought not).

Finally, people may get your message wrong, and you can't stop it from happening. In a few more tellings Stephanie's story could easily mutate into a tale about a lady who had a funny interaction with Sears.

Word-of-Mouth is not marketing. It's not advertising.

Word-of-Mouth existed long before advertising. When most people lived in smaller communities, walked to the market, talked to their neighbors, and gathered in churches or meeting halls, Word-of-Mouth was simply conversation.

Advertising became important communication when our communities got too big for the people selling stuff to personally know their customers. Mass media carried the message from the manufacturers of goods to the new post-war middle class.

But for the last century, probably due to over exposure, we've all become less susceptible to advertising's claims. Customers now are more likely to believe the opinions of total strangers than the advertising messages of local companies.

Ouch.

Word-of-Mouth is now more critical to business success than at any time since the dawn of mass media. And yet, you can't make a customer talk about you. You can't make her not talk about you. You're going to be mentioned when you're part of her story. No more. No less.

Change your role in her story.

Although you may view Miss Customer as a purchaser of the things you sell, she sees herself as the protagonist in her own story. When you try to make the story about your company, Miss Customer will dismiss your whole effort as irrelevant.

But if your business is willing to become the secondary character in Miss Customer's personal narrative, is willing to engage Miss Customer, and indeed to make her story possible, that's when she'll take you along for the ride. Your business "character" will be portrayed in much the same way as her interaction with you happened in real life.

Treating her well may be the only influence you have in the creation of positive Word-of-Mouth. Treating her badly ads drama to her story. This not only makes your appearance in her story more likely to be negative, dramatic stories tend to be told more often, and over a longer period of time.

Which leads to what may be the most important question: when she does business with your company, do you treat Miss Customer as the star she is?

__________

Chuck McKay is a marketing consultant who helps customers discover, and choose your business. Questions about Word-of-Mouth may be directed to ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com.

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6 Social Media Marketing Lessons

It is untapped, unproven territory. Social Media Marketing.

But just because it is new, doesn't mean we shouldn't be using it.

As a matter of fact, the internet is where the biggest percentage of increased spending is likely to occur.

And the innovations are coming at us fast and furious.

Some marketing and advertising folks are sitting on the sidelines because they are waiting for proven methods and measurements.

Don't be one of those left behind. Instead look at the case studies, learn and create. This story is from FastCompany.com:

6 Lessons From the Best Marketing Campaign Ever

By Rohit Bhargava

Last month an unlikely underdog stunned the marketing world at the International Cannes Advertising Festival [1]. At the show, a single marketing campaign took home a Grand Prix award in three categories simultaneously--direct, cyber and PR-- something that had never happened before in the 50+ year history of the show. Contrary to what you might expect, the unanimous winner of this unprecedented victory was not a Fortune50 brand with an advertising budget of millions, but a small Tourism board promoting a little known island off the Great Barrier Reef.

The winning campaign was called the "Best Job in the World [2]" and was essentially a big online job search conducted through social media for a new "caretaker" for Hamilton Island in Queensland, Australia. Done on a comparatively paltry marketing budget of just $1.7 million dollars and reliant on fortuitous PR and word of mouth, the campaign achieved stunning results, including over 34,000 video entries from applicants in 200 countries, and more than 7 million visitors to the site who generated nearly 500,000 votes.

Just two weeks ago on July 1, the winner of the competition [3]--a 34-year-old British man named Ben Southall [4] started blogging and touring around Queensland, finally bringing the competition to a close. For the next six months, he will be touring around Queensland, sharing his adventures through a video blog, writing, Twitter account [5] and Flickr photos [6]-- generating even more interest in Hamilton Island and all of Queensland in the process. The tangible results for the island are rolling in as well: Amway Australia chose it as the site of their upcoming annual conference, and domestic Aussie airline Virgin Blue just started flying a direct flight between Sydney and Hamilton Island [7], due to the rise in demand from travelers wanting to get to the island.

I realize that tourism and the travel industry may seem far removed from your business. Unfortunately, we don't all have the natural beauty of Hamilton Island to fall back on when starting our marketing campaigns. Still, a big part of the reason for the amazing success of this campaign was not what they were marketing, but how they used social media to do it. In that, there are some lessons anyone trying to promote a product or service could use:

1. Make it believable. Many marketing groups would never make a claim if they can't provide substantial evidence. How might Tourism Queensland prove that their job is the best in the world? They can't. But it is believable because it is a beautiful place and fits what many people's definition of a dream job might be.
2. It's not about how much you spend. One of the major benefits of smart public relations and social media is that it scales in a way that advertising typically doesn't. In other words, you don't have to pay more to get more. The real trick is to have something worthwhile to say that people can't help talking about. You need a good story.
3. Focus on content, not traffic. The typical marketing campaign focuses on traffic to some kind of site. For Tourism Queensland, the biggest payoff of this campaign was having over 34,000 videos on YouTube from people around the world talking about how much they love Queensland. Aggregate the views of all those videos, and multiply them over the long term and you'll start to understand the true impact of their campaign.
4. Create an inherent reason for people to share. Another element of this campaign that worked extremely well was the fact that there was voting enabled on the videos. What this meant was that after someone submitted their video, they had an incentive to share it with everyone in their social network online to try and get more votes.
5. Don't underestimate the power of content creators Most recent statistics point to some number between 1% and 10% of the user base of any social network are the active content creators. Though these percentages may seem small, the potential impact of some of these individuals are vast online. It could easily become the secret weapon for your next marketing campaign.
6. Give your promotion a shelf life. The best thing about this campaign may just be the content yet to come. Ben, the winner, just started blogging and sharing videos and photos, but the content is already engaging, high quality and inspires you to dream of making it to Queensland yourself. Over the next six months, his itinerary will take him across the state of Queensland and unlock many other unique opportunities. Best of all, this content will live on far beyond the time span of the campaign.

Read more of Rohit Bhargava's Influential Marketing blog [8] on Fast Company.

Rohit Bhargava [8] is SVP of Digital Strategy at Ogilvy PR [9] and author of the award-winning book Personality Not Included [10], a guide for brands to be more authentic. He writes the popular non-obvious marketing blog Influential Marketing [11] and speaks frequently around the world on social media, marketing and the power of personality. Follow him on Twitter at @rohitbhargava [12] or become a fan on Facebook [13] before July 31 to be among the first to get a free download of his new ebook on August 1.

Article location:http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/rohit-bhargava/influential-marketing/7-lessons-best-marketing-campaign-ever

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Word of Mouth Part 2

Click here for Part 1 from Drew:

Word of mouth: What will they talk about?

Posted: 06 Jun 2009 01:34 PM PDT

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to Andy Sernovitz's Word of Mouth marketing book and his five T's.

• The first T = Talkers
• The second T = Topics

You've got to give your customers something to talk about. And guess what...doing a good job is not enough. Customers don't even notice when you meet their expectations. You've got to grab their attention.

This isn't about force-feeding them your tagline. This is about doing something they don't expect or going far beyond their expectations.

We serve warm, homemade cookies at every client meeting. At the first meeting -- our guests are floored and delighted. And then, when they become clients...they love the smell of those cookies baking as they walk into our space.

On average, about the third time they're dining on our cookies, they realize that the M&M colors match our logo colors. Purple, green and orange. And that's it. Now...they can't stop talking. And they begin to understand that building a brand is filled with little details that take it to a new level. (It's fun to watch them realize we special order the M&Ms just for their cookies.)

Another excellent topic is anything that lets your customer look like they're connected or the big man/woman. How about a "give your buddy twenty bucks" coupon (make it easy to pass along..maybe they just enter in e-mail addresses)? Or a special invitation that allows them to bring a friend to an exclusive event.

Make your customer look like a star...and they'll take you right along with them.

What do you think your clients are saying about you? What about your business or product gets them talking?

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The Big Deal about Word of Mouth

from marketingcharts.com:

Real-Life WOM Beats Online by Wide Margin

In spite of increased online activity and news coverage about the growing influence of blogs and social networks, new research from Mintel continues to show that real-life referrals are more influential to consumers than those received online.

The survey, which echoes prior research from Rubicon, found that 34% of American consumers bought a product or service based on a recommendation from a friend or relative, while 25% bought based upon a recommendation from their spouse or partner.

In contrast, only 5% bought a product based on a referral based on what a blogger had to say about it. The number was the same for a recommendation from a chat room.

“It’s interesting to find that as much time as we spend online, we still prefer a personal recommendation from someone we know and trust,” said Chris Haack, senior analyst at Mintel. “Young adults are somewhat more likely to turn to the internet for advice and referrals, but even they listen to their peers first.”

Price Drives Recommendations

Most people base a recommendation on price and convenience, according to Mintel. This is especially true in the current economic climate, where shoppers are increasingly intent upon finding deals. More than 64% of respondents say that price drives them to recommend a product or service, while quality (55%) and convenience (33%) rate second and third.

Mintel also reported that Asian and Hispanic respondents are considerably more likely to recommend a product they saw advertised. Asians (14%) and Hispanics (10%) are also more likely to report being influenced by bloggers to purchase a specific product or service.

While the study confirms the importance of personal word-of-mouth, it does not negate the importance of online reviews in the purchase-research process, especially during the economic downturn. Other research has shown that shoppers are increasing their due diligence by looking at online reviews, and that nine in 10 shoppers steer clear of e-tailers with bad reviews.

“The sheer number of people that purchase based on recommendations proves marketers need to pay attention to word of mouth,” said Haack. “It’s becoming easier for businesses to lose control of their marketing messages, so companies need to carefully monitor and respond to consumer conversations about their brands.”

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Does Coffee Advertising Work?

10 years ago, I hardly drank it.

Then I met my wife, who has a passion for a good tasting cup of coffee, although she usually drinks decaf.

She introduced me to a couple local coffee shops where we would try different drinks and deserts and check out the entertainment.

Starbucks had not yet invaded Fort Wayne, Indiana.

We would sometimes have days off in the middle of the week and travel to find new coffee shops.

After a couple of years, I was hooked on the coffee shop experience and I was also back in the advertising and marketing business. Advertising did not persuade me to drink coffee. My wife did. Classic Word of Mouth.

Earlier this month, we took a trip to the New England States and found very few Starbucks but lots of Dunkin' Donuts. I also could judge a small town's fortunes by whether or not they had a McDonalds.

All three are battling it out in the coffee biz these days along with the local Mom & Pops that I will visit when I am in Fort Wayne, even though we have the Big 3 available too.

AdAge released a report on the results of the advertising that the Big 3 have been brewing up the past few months. Be sure to read the last paragraph:

All That Advertising Brings Buzz for Coffee Marketers

Brand Index: Consumers Saying More Positive Things About Starbucks, McDonald's, Dunkin'

By Emily Bryson York

Published: June 11, 2009

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- The coffee wars generated a flurry of advertising in May. McDonald's launched its first McCafe blitz, Dunkin' Donuts made its first concerted doughnut push in more than a decade and Starbucks began its first pure branding campaign. While it's too soon to say what the impact on sales has been, all three marketers saw a major uptick in buzz, as measured by Brand Index.

Dunkin' led McDonald's and Starbucks in buzz and value perception.

Brand Index, which tracks more than 1,000 brands by conducting 5,000 daily interviews from a panel of 1.5 million consumers, monitors key brand attributes, including buzz, value perception, quality ratings and customer satisfaction to compile its index (which has a range of -100 to 100).

Dunkin' began May with a 24, peaked at 33 mid-month and settled at about 32 this week. McDonald's started with a 15, peaked around 24 and had dropped off to 16 by June 9. Starbucks' campaign, which has been confined to newspapers and select outdoor markets in its initial phases, has been more cyclical. The company began May with a score of 1, shot up to 11 within a week and plummeted again. In the past week, the chain's buzz has shot up to double digits again.

Those numbers may seem low, but ratings vary dramatically by category. Within the fast-food sector, a good buzz rating is considered to be anything above 10. Ratings closer to zero mean consumers have heard an even number of positive and negative things about a brand.

"Over the last few weeks, Starbucks has generated buzz through a variety of channels, including our national 'Coffee value and values' campaign hitting its stride, beginning our sponsorship with 'Morning Joe' on MSNBC and being named No. 1 best coffee by the Zagat survey," Starbucks' senior VP-marketing, Terry Davenport, said in a statement. He added that the retailer's online activity, including using Facebook and Twitter to tout its efforts, has also built excitement among baristas in its stores.

Dunkin' did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

McDonald's spokeswoman Danya Proud said the burger chain has been "extremely pleased" with the results of its coffee push. In particular, she said, the chain's "McCafé Your Day" online competition with Visa has gotten more than 10,000 entries. That response rate makes it "by far the most successful online sweepstakes in the company's history," Ms. Proud said.

Starbucks tries 'a different tack'
But all three companies got a pretty strong jump in buzz, said Ted Marzilli, global managing director at Brand Index. Starbucks' jump, he said, had the "highest magnitude," especially because it was coming from about zero. He said Starbucks should be heartened that it not only made a splash when its competitors were outspending it but got a second spike in interest as McDonald's and Dunkin' were leveling off.

"They're probably going to be outgunned by McDonald's and Dunkin'," he said, noting that those brands spend more on advertising. "Starbucks is trying a different tack in last couple of months, getting people to think about bigger concepts. How expensive is a $3 latte when you think about other things like providing health care, working with farmers in areas where coffee is imported? That slightly different tack seems to be making a mark."

Mr. Marzilli said an increase in buzz can trigger shifts in other metrics, but not always. And as it stands, Starbucks is still struggling with its "value" perception, or whether consumers view the brand as giving them the most bang for their bucks. The chain has been hovering around -26, with a small spike last week that seems to have already corrected. McDonald's is just behind Dunkin' in value perception, around 25 to Dunkin's 26.

But when consumers want to treat themselves, all these numbers may go out the window. According to Brand Index, 43% of adults asked where they were most likely to purchase a "premium coffee drink" said Starbucks, 15% picked McDonald's, 11% sided with Dunkin' and 31% had no preference.

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Testimonials

Recently I touched on this subject. Click here to read what I wrote.

This is from MarketingProfs.com:

The Two-Edged Sword of the Testimonial

Holly Buchanan opens a post at the FutureNow blog with a pair of seemingly contradictory ideas: that testimonials work very well and that they don't work at all. Both are true, she argues, because customer praise can be a two-edged sword: If it appears inauthentic or doesn't offer true insight, it can actually have a negative impact.

According to Buchanan, effective testimonials:

• Are specific in their commendation. A generic testimonial like "I enjoyed my time at your hotel" won't grab the attention of a business traveler in the same way as, "I was impressed by the 24-hour concierge service, especially when they found an all-night printer at 3 am."
• Address possible objections. You gain credibility when a happy customer explains how her initial skepticism was unfounded. "[B]y addressing and voicing what many perspective [sic] customers may be feeling," says Buchanan, "these testimonials are powerful persuaders."
• Are shown in a proper context. The testimonials on your website's landing page, for instance, will be different from those on product pages or order forms; each should be appropriate for where a customer might be in the sales process.

The Po!nt: Not all testimonials are created equal. "Testimonials hurt you when people don't think they're real," says Buchanan. "Anything that sounds vague or cliché can smack of insincerity."

Source: FutureNow. Click here for the full post.

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