The Aim of the Organisation
It’s really simple – WOMANZ shares best practice in terms of Word of Mouth Marketing both in its own right and the best way WOM can interact with other channels. The end benefit is to ensure members know when to use WOM (and when not to), how to use it and lastly ensure that the ROI is longterm versus short term.
WOMANZ has been formed following the success in the States of WOM marketing which is now used as a discipline by key corporates. The US site is called womma.org – womanz is about taking principles tried and tested in the US and ensuring they are glocalised.
Some Background on the rise of Word of Mouth Marketing in the US
As we all know word of mouth is the oldest form of marketing, in fact before the rise of mass communication, it WAS marketing. It’s strange that ultimately we measure the effectiveness of many communication mediums but not the one that has infinite return on investment and, arguably, the highest level of trust, Word of Mouth.
There is now a science to WOM, it’s a formal channel in its own right.
In the US Word of Mouth Marketing science was hidden in academia and it is now being applied. 80% of WOM happens offline and 20% on line (Word of Mouth Marketing – Andy Sernovitz a Professor of WOM marketing) – so the concept of ‘viral’ is still very much a real world phenomenon and better still when the two work in harmony.
These are some of the increasing list of companies using word of mouth in the US:
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We want to make it clear that not everyone is a fan of WOM, some people think its overhyped.
In “Is Word of Mouth All It’s Cracked up To Be?” Jack Trout argues that “How many people really want to chatter about products? Do you really want to talk about your toothpaste or your toilet paper? Even people with prestige products tend not to chatter about them.” And he goes on: “There’s no way to control that word-of-mouth. Do I want to give up control and let consumers take over my campaign? No way.” Who is Jack Trout – well he invented positioning among other things…
At Womanz – we believe that any new technique needs to be thoroughly understood and evaluated. It’s early days for Word of Mouth – we believe its too early to make definitive judgements – but we believe we owe it the marketing community to have a balanced look at this new discipline and give our community the knowledge to make decisions.
In a recent survey of senior US marketers 81% of respondents “believed that in five years they would be spending as much if not more on conversational marketing than on traditional marketing” (Source Joseph Jaffe, Join the Conversation – Data supplied by New Media Research Agency of the US.)
Whether this claim represents the desire for marketers to be seen to be ahead, a crisis in marketing, an overclaim or a reality – what it does show is the saliency and importance of this new channel in the US.
So WOMANZ is here to provide a balanced view on best practice, to cut through the hype and deliver practical knowledge to members.
Nothing is more annoying than joining an organisation and they being bombarded by communication as if you are suddenly their best friend!!! That’s why WOMANZ has three levels of membership, the aim is to reflect our community’s level of interest and tailor the offer around that.