Word of Mouth

How many ads do we have to see before we actually believe and decide to give a chance to a new shampoo brand? In most cases, a lot.

How many times must a friend recommend you something before you try it? A lot less, and in many cases, just once.

It's amazing how powerful is a recommendation or suggestion from a friend can be, and how it can influence our consumer habits.

If your product or service is good - people will talk about it , because we love to talk (and as we've seen in previous posts - women especially). It is believed that product information communicated in this way has an added layer of credibility.

As most of you I had heard of this concept, but until today, I had no idea that there are actual companies that offer Word of Mouth marketing strategies to interested clients in order to spread the word about their products. Today a Word of Mouth Marketing company came to the office to make a presentation about their services: trnd (www.trnd.com). I must say I was surprised that something like this existed. I thought it was very curious and interesting, and that I had to share it with you.

Trnd is a German company that has developed a method to spread the word about your products. I'll explain roughly what they do, but please feel free to correct me if I leave something out. From what I understood today, people interested in WOM register on their site and can ask to participate on a project that they may be interested in - because they like the brand, the product,.... They may also be suggested to participate by trnd beacause of their interests. If they are chosen to be part of the project, they will receive a package with product samples, not only for themselves but to share with family, friends, co-workers and whomever they believe might be interested in it. They talk about the product, take pictures, get imputs from their close ones, and send the information gathered to trnd. Trnd analyses results and WOM spread. What do these people get in return? Nothing - except the fun of trying new products, sharing them and being part of the marketing process. Pretty cool.

They work in collaboration with the WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association), a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing and advocating the discipline of credible word of mouth marketing.

Here's what they say on their website (www.womma.org/about/history#1):

Word of mouth marketing is the most effective form of marketing in existence as it combines the newest strategies, tactics, and channels with the most basic human behavior: People like to talk! But the word of mouth marketing industry is incredibly fast-paced and fluid with important new practices, debates, and trends continually emerging. WOMMA is a coalition comprised of hundreds of top marketers who are learning how to encourage and amplify this natural phenomenon while respecting and protecting its honesty and integrity. 

Research shows that individual are more inclined to believe WOM than more formal forms of promotion methods because they believe the communicator is speaking honestly and is unlikely to have an ulterior motive. For this reason in trnd they don't compensate economically the participants.

I just registered and I'll keep checking if I find a product that might be great to share with Family and Friends ;)

Curious, isn't it?