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Here is the problem with word of mouth experts or word of mouth marketing companies. In my opinion they have little to absolutely no knowledge of branding. Here’s a great example from self proclaimed word of mouth marketing guru Andy Sernovitz, he writes:

A great word of mouth topic has to be interesting, fun, and easy to repeat.  It doesn’t have to be about your product or product features.

In fact, trying to turn your brand message into a word of mouth viral phenomenon will almost always fail–because real people don’t repeat brand messages.

What people like Andy don’t understand (in my humble opinion) is that a company should be true to it’s brand identity first and foremost. For instance, Nike stayed true to it’s brand identity of performance when it developed the tagline “Just Do It”, one of if not the most memorable taglines in the history of business. And I’m pretty sure that was quite a word of mouth phenomenon, dare I say it went “viral” as well.

The point is using “fun, gimmicky” efforts to try and spread word of mouth is a big waste of time and money. Hell, Andy will have you selling 10lb candy bars if you listen to him.

Word of mouth marketing just like any other TACTIC should always be on brand and leverage your brand identity. Someone dressed in a gorilla suit passing out lollipops ain’t gonna get er dun.

But just to visually show you the difference between gimmicky word of mouth and leveraging your brand I give you two examples. Example one is from Andy Sernovitz. Example two is from me, the BIG Kahuna.

Andy Sernovitz demonstrating “A great word of mouth topic has to be interesting, fun, and easy to repeat.  It doesn’t have to be about your product or product features.”

The BIG Kahuna demonstrating the power of delivering on a brand identity:

Vote, which one do you like?

Give it away.

When all else fails just give your products or services away. That’s what word of mouth guru Andy Sernovitz suggests. In Andy’s latest article “Give away your buns” he suggests that when you have a product or service left over (never going to sell) that a company should just give it away to spread positive word of mouth.

Let’s look at this from a big boy branding perspective.

Andy:

*Unused hotel rooms: Use every empty suite for an upgrade or give empty rooms to families with kids

My brand perspective: Let’s say the Ritz Carlton has some unused rooms. Everyones pretty clear on the brand image the Ritz has, right? If the Ritz started giving rooms away to help spread happy thoughts do you think it could negatively affect their “luxury”, high priced image? Furthermore would non typical Ritz guests start waiting to the end to see if they can get a freebie? Are those the people the Ritz wants?

Andy:

*Car rentals: Reward someone with an unused upgrade

My brand perspective: Sure, maybe to loyal renters but once again it ultimately sends the wrong brand message. Basically you’re devaluing your product/service.

Finally Andy closes with this statement:

Give it away before you throw it away.  It’s worth a dozen referrals.

Yea, you’ll have people running around telling their friends and family to wait to the last minute so they can get it FREE as well.

Here’s a thought. Develop loyal brand ambassadors who understand the value in your product/service. They’ll run around telling everyone they know and you’ll actually get paid for it. Just my thoughts as a branding guy.

Hey, we’re still fighting hard to win this thing, please give us your vote.

At Brand Identity Guru we suggest social media as a tactic over and over. Social networks, blogs, twitter, Facebook to name a few are all in our branding bag. We suggest them based on our client’s market and situation. Not everyone should go to Ning and start a freakin network.

That said I’m so tired of these one track mind word of mouth guru’s, identity specialists, buzz firms etc. that discard integrated marketing. They think you build a social network, throw up some tweets and you’re good to go. Wrong.

I’m coming out of the brand strategy closet and saying it. Don’t do business with any marketing company, branding agency, Identity Firm, advertising agency or especially a word of mouth marketing company if all they recommend is Social Media or word of mouth. Just say no. You will waste whatever little marketing budget you have left.

Now, all these companies mentioned above will show you examples of why TV advertising, radio, billboards, direct mail, telemarketing, search engine optimization etc. etc. don’t work. And they will be partly correct but only in a snake oil salesman kinda way. They don’t work because 95% of the time these things are done wrong. Cheesy. Off message. Off target. You get the point.

What’s right? Here is a simple step by step method:

1. Define your target markets (exclude all those not in it and never try to sell to them). This is usually where much fault lies. You can’t be afraid to lose a few sales to make the right sales.

2. Ask who you want to be (how do you want to be perceived-Brand Identity). Branding reserach is strongly recommended. This is the soul of your company and why you exist. Volvo exists to keep people safe. Why do you exist?

3. Create a MYRIAD of strategies and tactics based on your brand identity in #2.

4. Execute your tactics through the right communication vehicles (word of mouth, social media, seo, trade ads, events etc.). Don’t be afraid of telemarketing and or direct mail because some whacky word of mouth guy says they’re nor good. Done right any tactic can and will be successful.

5. Deliver your brand identity message each and every time you communicate externally and internally. Volvo always seems to mention their safe. And when they don’t their brilliant tagline “For Life” does. It’s built in brand identity leverage. 

You’re done.

Now obviously there is a lot more to talk about but it can be broken down that easily.

Happy branding!

1. They make you look small

2. They make you look desperate

3. They don’t work

4. They are a budget waster and if they are free see #5

5. They are a time waster

6. They turn customer off

7. They are nothing more than a short term band aid if they work

8. They break trust with your clients/prospects

9. They most likely will make you look goofy

10. Here’s an example of using gimmicks in marketing (by Andy Sernovitz - an expert marketer):

Do you think that was an effective word of mouth marketing tactic?

Why do word of mouth marketing folks hate on traditional advertising? Today Seth Godin writes:

This is why the Journal’s report that Google is flirting seriously with a big advertising buy is so troublesome. Once you start buying TV time, you just added another tool to your marketing belt. Now, plenty of your development and marketing team will say, “Oh, we’ll just buy ads. People will use it!” Suddenly, you don’t focus so much on building word of mouth and remarkability into your products, because now you can easily use TV to spackle over less remarkable products.

Think about that for a bit. Here’s what I say, that’s freakin ridiculous. Sure, running bad TV spots won’t work but a good strategic integrated branding strategy will. What these Kool-Aid drinking word of mouth marketers never seem to understand is the impact of a strategic integrated branding approach. One tactic lifts up another, they work hand and hand. They all leverage the brand identity. Bingo, it all works.

But, if you do crappy stuff you get crappy results. Don’t hate on any one tactic it’s just shortsighted. Word of mouth marketing can be fantastic, I agree. But great TV ads (insert Mac vs PC here) can also do great things and Apple’s TV ads certainly hasn’t taken away from their word of mouth marketing, has it?

Last week I defended direct mail when word of mouth marketing company Brains on Fire dismissed the entire tactic (read about that here). Today I defend TV advertising. I do this if and only if it’s part of an integrated, strategic branding approach. Focusing on just any one tactic is not something I will ever recommend to a client.

I would be wary of any marketing company that only promoted one tactic, because it’s most likely the tactic they’re selling. Brand Identity Guru is not tied to any tactic, we only use the tactics that are best for the client based on their brand identity goals. BIG difference.

Here’s the latest thing in word of mouth marketing (I guess): These monkeys (if hired) will do something freaky (creative, they call it) stuff to build “buzz” for your brand. In this episode they color themselves with magic markers and tool around town. Genius.

If you’re really looking to waste some valuable marketing budget then this word of mouth marketing gimmick is for you:

First, did you notice how people looked at them? Looked like disgust for the most part.

What message is the brand that hired these guys sending?

How many people saw these guys and actually went to eat at the restaurant they were “promoting”?

It’s been a while but Andy Sernovitz has made the branding blunder blog again, as WaMu used to say… Whoo Hoo! As you know Andy Sernovitz is a self proclaimed “word of mouth marketing guru“. Today in his post titled ” The “Great Green Marketing” Issue” he informs his readers on the right way to market using green tactics. Some snippets of his advice include:

1. Create an amazingly cool shopping bag. Something that is reusable and so cool that people will want to carry it around. For $1 you can have all of your customers become walking billboards all over town (and be happy to do it).

Yea, Andy…that makes your company instantly green. I like the amazingly cool idea as green people will only use it if it’s “cool”? And here is the rub with me. “Green marketing” isn’t something you try to do, it’s a conscience decision a company makes, not to help spread word of mouth or trick consumers into believing they’re green. They do it because it’s part of the brand identity and has a real true meaning. But keep telling your readers how these silly tactics (in my opinion) will help change their brand image.

2. Remember the jelly jars you got as a kid that turned into collectible drinking glasses? No waste, lots of fun — and fantastic marketing. When you get someone collecting your packaging you get instant brand loyalty until the customer completes a set.

Obviously (in my opinion) Andy does not even know the basic definition of brand loyalty. But I’m pretty sure even if this simplified tactic did work a customer would NOT develop brand loyalty. I certainly don’t consider brand loyalty to be collecting a set of anything only to leave the brand after said set is collected. I like my customers coming back all the time, where I’m the ONLY choice, hence brand loyalty. Not brand gimmick loyalty. BIG difference.

Andy doesn’t like me much. He thinks I’m out to get him, so I’m told. But it’s not true. I don’t even know Andy but when he and others advise potential marketers with these silly suggestions (in my opinion) I think it’s important to point out the branding ramifications. And there are definitely brand image concerns if you follow advice from people who clearly don’t know branding.

Producing a “green” shopping bag is not going to help move your brand forward. All it’s really going to do is make you look like a green hypocrite if you’re not fully committed to being green. And that’s all part of your brand identity. In my opinion these gimmicky tactics that Andy recommends could really work against most companies brand identity. Don’t do them unless it leverages your brand identity.

Remember, a word of mouth marketing company will always promote (sell) what they do best. They can’t help it, otherwise they don’t make sales. If you’re looking for a marketing company to help support your efforts try and find one that doesn’t have any bias against specific tactics. A word of mouth marketing company will obviously promote word of mouth and most likely will not understand the branding strategy.

Readers of my blog know (in my humble opinion) I’ve been critical of word of mouth marketing companies as I think most of them miss the boat on branding. I see lots of gimmicks and smoke and mirrors. Then I came across this post:

Keller Fay/OMD Study Finds Offline Word of Mouth More Positive and Credible than Online Buzz

Here’s a quote:

On average, there are 3.5 billion word of mouth conversations that occur daily in the U.S. Offline WOM accounts for 92% of conversations (75% face to face; 17% by phone), and email, IM/text messaging and chatroom/blogs account for 7%.

What does this research tell us? I perceive it as word of mouth marketing is directly tied to and dependent on how one feels about a brand. The more positive you feel about a brand the more one talks. And according to this research people are talking offline.

How do you get people to feel a certain way? Well a remarkable product or service is a good start. And of course proper positioning and brand identity development are crucial. You need to differentiate your company or product and focus. Apple products are not for everyone for a reason. They do a great job of excluding people and selling into their core target market. I am not an Apple brand ambassador. I own an old iPod, that’s it. But my graphic/web designers all use Mac’s and would NEVER switch to a PC, ever. they are part of the Apple cult.

So if you’re considering word of mouth marketing remember one thing. It’s part of branding, treat it as such.

It’s my first, I popped my blogging cherry. Andy Sernovitz has banned me from posting on his blog site Damn! I Wish I’d Thought Of That!. Not only did he ban me but he reported me as a spammer. That’s so uncool. And simply not true. We all know what a spammer is and leaving comments that are different than your opinion is not spamming.

Sorry Andy that in my opinion I find you to be a charlatan.

But now you’re a coward as well.

Many people think Andy is a word of mouth genius…I find him to be more of a smoke and mirrors, marketing gimmick kind of guy. Of course that’s just my humble opinion.

Apparently he didn’t like my opinions of him:

Andy Sernovitz Wants You To Let Him Steal Your Logo?

Marketing Gimmicks Vs Branding Strategy

Can You Build A Brand Around Gimmicks?

High Point University - Hot Tubs and Ice Cream

Andy Sernovitz Branding and Word of Mouth Marketing

Hence I’m banned from learning about how a handwritten smile on a receipt is great word of mouth or like his post today where putting out cookies and candy at a Fantastic Sam’s “makes the difference”.

My day is ruined, I’m banned by Andy Sernovitz.

1. It “sells itself.” I don’t need to market

Okay, you might have a solid product or service. You might even routinely satisfy your customers. They might even send their friends and family to you. But wait. Is that your product or service selling itself? No (that is, unless your widgets have learned to speak). That’s one of your customers playing out-of-the-goodness-of-my-heart salesperson for you. Yeah, word-of-mouth is nice, and if it’s happening for you, congratulations! It’s a sign of a great product or service. But relying on it exclusively can hurt you. Yes, six degrees of separation and all that, but counting on those connecting conversations to consistently mention you, especially down the line, is a bad gamble. Word of mouth needs help. A kick in the butt: a reminder to your customers of their good experience with you and an enticing offer to potential new customers to give you a try. 

2. “One of these things…looks just like the other”

You might sell red cars, and Johnny Big Wheel down the street might sell a similar blue car. But what’s under the hood? Even better question: what’s under the hood that makes yours better than the blue car? This is the essence of differentiation in the marketplace, and if you’re not playing up the things about you that make you different-and better-than your competition, your marketing is driving nowhere.

3. Liar, liar, your business is on fire and up and smoke

If you think word-of-mouth is powerfully working for you, it’s just a fraction of the punch a bad buzz can pack. The best way to a bad buzz? Over promising and under delivering. It will kill you. That’s why it’s important to be truthful in your marketing. Say what you can do. Not what you wish you could do, or might be able to do. If you must err, do so on the side of under promising and over delivering.

4. One-trick marketing is like a no-trick magician

It won’t do anything, and people won’t pay to see your show. To get your message to resonate in today’s market, you need to make your appeal in every corner the market looks. Print advertising, direct mail, online, telemarketing, public relations, and in person. In every place, a consistent brand image and message.

5. Microsoft Word clipart is for junior high book reports, not corporate identities

A logo is the face of your company, so it must be unique and memorable. Not available for millions to place into whatever bake sale flyer they’re working on at the moment. But a corporate identity is more than a logo. It’s your company’s unique value proposition and its products and service…all instantly recognizable on sight of your logo, name and tagline.

6. Don’t be visually absent

Talk can be cheap if it’s not paired with a strong visual presence. Well-conceived visuals connected with your market makes your message stick, no matter the medium.

7. The typewriter and telegraph are cool machines, but not to use today

A business owner by nature has to have a little bit of Evil Knievel in him, but when it comes to technology, he or she is often more of a cowardly lion. That’s understandable. You got into your business because you know it, like it and can put food on the table with it. Not because you like to tinker with every new business technological innovation that comes down the pike. However, cutting edge technology can be a powerful profit-generating tool for your business, especially when it comes to marketing.

8. If an employee’s 14-year-old son designs your website, it will be painfully obvious

A website must have a nice look, but that’s a small part of a good web presence. You have to give your prospect information they need and close the sale fast. Otherwise, they’ll surf on by to a competitor’s website. In today’s digital marketplace, your website must be an integral part of your overall sales strategy. Not just a token presence. More than ever, prospective customers are researching their buying decisions on the web. If your site doesn’t substantiate who you are and your offerings, educate, inspire and finally motivate your visitors to buy, your online presence isn’t strong enough. 

9. You have a website, but don’t tell anybody

Having a website is pointless if no one sees it. That’s why it’s just as important to drive traffic to your website as it is to have one. How do you do that? A great way is through traditional advertising like billboards, print ads, signage and printing the web address on all your marketing collateral. Online, there’s search engine optimization, banner ads, online advertorials, keyword purchases, links and cross-promotion strategies. A good mix of online and offline traffic strategies along with solid branding will drive traffic to your website.

10. “I don’t need to be in the paper”

On the contrary, editorial coverage carries more credibility than any kind of paid advertising you can do. Getting it, however, is difficult. Only a well-conceived public relations strategy that targets media outlets your prospective customers frequent will get the job done. But it’s not just about writing press releases. It’s about providing relevant information to the media outlets you’re trying to get into and cultivating relationships with key editors and journalists. If you’re successful, you’ll see your name in print and a bigger number on the bottom line.

11. Branding done yourself is branding done badly

Given the choice of doing branding yourself and not doing it at all, you may be better off not doing it all. There are few things worse for a business than an “amateurish” image, and that’s usually the result with DIY branding. Even if you know how to do some graphic design work or are a decent writer, good branding takes strategic know-how and the finesse and time to get it just right-things only a good branding agency can offer.

12. If you think your employees aren’t part of your brand…

You’re wrong. Your brand is the face of your company in every interaction with the outside world, and your employees interact with it quite a bit. On the phone, on sales calls, at schmoozing and networking events, or in informal settings, you must train your employees to represent your company in a way consistent with its brand image. Doing so can ensure you have an army well-groomed brand ambassadors out there.

13. Failing to track your branding campaign’s success can lead to future failure

If you don’t make your market’s reaction to your branding effort your business, your business will suffer mainly because you won’t know where to go next. Successful branding is a constantly evolving process, and if you don’t learn from your mistakes, you’ll continually repeat them-and make more! On the other hand, once you know what your most successful strategies are, you can build off of them. Any branding agency worth its salt will be able to effectively track the success of your campaign.

14. Don’t forget the clients who got you here, keep good relations

As businesses grow, they sometimes forget the little people who contributed to their success. Don’t. Those who got you here can be an invaluable resource to you even if their business isn’t as important as it was. Since they’ve known you for a long time, they can offer valuable counsel as to the future direction your company, such as offering their opinion on new products or services. They can also continue singing your praises as another satisfied customer. Plus, you never know when a little fish might eat a big lunch and become a big fish to you again.