Word-of-Mouth Marketing from the US Hits the Streets in the UK

Word-of-mouth marketing, which is the latest trend in the US, is crossing The Pond to the UK.But how many people would be willing to use a nice friendly chat with their friends as an opportunity to slip in a product endorsement? The average Briton is bombarded with over 3,000 adverts every day. Almost every aspect of life is covered. Adverts are cleverly injected into everything that people see, do and use in their everyday lives.

According to Marketing Week, only 14% of regular campaigns have any effect on consumers. People are starting to just tune out and not pay as much attention to products as advertisers would like. People are more cynical and have grown tired of the tactics that advertisers use to draw people in and encourage them to buy their products. However, people tend to prefer personal recommendations. Advertising author Tom Himpe said that word-of-mouth advertising is viewed as more credible and is successful in getting the advertising message across.

Word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing is firmly established in the US and Canada. Now it faces its next challenge as it is being exported to the UK. The Friday night banter down the pub with friends could soon turn into a sales pitch! The way it tends to work is that unpaid volunteers are sent new products to try out as they go about their everyday lives. They are encouraged to pass on their views on the products to their family, friends and even complete strangers. The products could be anything from cell phones to sausages.

Marketing companies are keen to stress that this is not viral or buzz marketing because the volunteers, who are known as agents, advocates, ambassadors, or transmitters must tell people they talk to that they are part of a marketing campaign. Companies say they are making use of "honest word of mouth" to help promote their products.

WOM agents are not provided with a script to follow, or even told that they must spread a positive message. They are volunteers, who receive free samples, in place of payment for advertising the products.

In America, 43% of Fortune 500 companies adopted this marketing technique in 2007. Some industry experts believe that WOM advertising is set to become one of the most powerful forms of advertising. BzzAgent, a leading US company, is set to join forces with a UK based ad company, called GroupM. It is believed that a handful of the UK's biggest companies have signed up to WOM advertising, including one FTSE 100 firm.

It is unclear just what motivates people to become WOM agents. It is easy to see the reason why when the new products are phones or the latest style of jeans. But it is not so clear when agents are given razors, toothbrushes and sweeteners to test out. In the US, BzzAgent said that it recruits an average of 5,000 new agents each week. The company has an estimated 250,000 agents.

While some people view this as just another form of aggressive advertising, some experts said that WOM is actually the result of consumer power. According to Dave Balter, CEO of BzzAgent: "For the last 50 years consumers have been told every product is better, cheaper, faster, cleaner, that they will love it. They just don't buy that sort of message any more, they want to find out for themselves. Using WOM agents allows consumers to feel involved in the products they are being sold and companies to connect with them."

What seems to matter most in WOM advertising is the fact that the agents are known and trusted by their friends and family. They often think of the WOM agent as a person who has their best interests at heart, according to the sentiments of Professor Walter J Carl, of North Eastern University, in Massachusetts.

Mr Himpe said that: "The beauty of WOM is that it's open, raw, real and direct. Negative or positive, at least the message is genuine. It's not just the brand talking."

Rani Schlenoff, who is an advocate for BzzAgent in the US, has tried 28 products. She believes that WOM is simply an extension of one of the most "natural things to do", and that is to talk about our lives. She has had a positive reaction from people she has spoken to, even from strangers. She said: "After the initial shock of me injecting myself into their lives, they are usually very happy to hear what you have to say."

But questions still hang over the industry. There is a very fine line between recommending a product that someone has been given for free, and a product that they have bought. Some commentators believe that when this line is crossed, it is no longer genuine word-of-mouth. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) does not have any rules covering the industry. So even though there is a code of ethics in place, the industry is self-regulating. People must therefore take its word that agents used by the industry are being honest.

The continued success of WOM in America and its beginning in the UK depends a lot on the amount of positive word-of-mouth to make an impact in people's lives. Research shows that positive word-of-mouth goes out to five people, but negative goes out to ten. So next time you go out to lunch with your best friend, don't be surprised if your casual meal turns into a sales pitch!

Source:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6478889.stm