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17/03/2016 07:56:09 PM

Special forms of advertising

a. Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM, WOM marketing)

Word-of-mouth marketing, also called word of mouth advertising, differs from naturally occurring WOM, in that it is actively influenced or encouraged by organisations (e.g. 'seeding' a message in a network, rewarding regular consumers to enage in WOM, employing WOM 'agents'). While it is difficult to truly control WOM, research has shown that there are three generic avenues to 'manage' WOM for the purpose of WOMM: 1) Build a strong WOM foundation (e.g. sufficient levels of satisfaction, trust and commitment), 2) Indirect WOMM management which implies that managers only have a moderate amount of control (e.g. controverisal advertising, teaser campaigns, customer membership clubs), 3) Direct WOMM management, which has higher levels of control (e.g. paid WOM 'agents', "friend get friend" schemes). Proconsumer WOM has been suggested as a counterweight to commercially motivated word of mouth

b. Viral marketing

Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords  referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networking services and other technologies to try to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses or computer viruses (cf. Internet memes and memetics). It can be delivered by word of mouth or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet and mobile networks. Viral marketing may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, text messages, email messages, or web pages. The most commonly utilized transmission vehicles for viral messages include: pass-along based, incentive based, trendy based, and undercover based. However, the creative nature of viral marketing enables an "endless amount of potential forms and vehicles the messages can utilize for transmission", including mobile devices.The ultimate goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to create viral messages that appeal to individuals with high social networking potential (SNP) and that have a high probability of being presented and spread by these individuals and their competitors in their communications with others in a short period of time.[

c. Buzz marketing

Buzz marketing is a viral marketing technique that attempts to make each encounter with a consumer appear to be a unique, spontaneous personal exchange of information instead of a calculated marketing pitch choreographed by a professional advertiser. Historically, buzz marketing campaigns have been designed to be very theatrical in nature. The advertiser reveals information about the product or service to only a few "knowing" people in the target audience. By purposely seeking out one-on-one conversations with those who heavily influence their peers, buzz marketers create a sophisticated word-of-mouth campaign where consumers are flattered to be included in the elite group of those "in the know" and willingly spread the word to their friends and colleagues.

The Fundamental Principle of Buzz Marketing

The first thing you need to learn is the fundamental principle of buzz marketing. In a nutshell, this is it: if you want to generate buzz, you need to give people something to talk about. That may seem simple and obvious, but you have to learn how to give people something to talk about if you want to consistently generate buzz.

To do so, you need to learn the types of topics that get people talking. Yes, people talk about a lot of things, but there are particular conversation starters that get people talking more often than other topics. Let’s take a look at those.

The Six Buttons of Buzz

Mark Hughes calls these conversation starters the six buttons of buzz. Based on his research, the following topics are very effective at getting people talking:

1.              Taboo (controversial)

2.              The Unusual (unique)

3.              The Remarkable

4.              The Outrageous

5.              The Hilarious

6.              Secrets (kept and revealed)

Button #1: Taboo

Taboo is the first buzz button. The basic idea here is that, unfortunate or not, people have a tendency to talk about things they shouldn’t talk about. There’s just something in our nature that makes us want to bring up topics that are taboo. In the book, Mr. Hughes gives an example of parents of toddlers who can’t resist bringing up topics like diapers and “accidents” at a dinner with other parents. It’s taboo, but parents can’t resist talking about it.

To take this further, I like to consider taboo to mean controversial. These types of topics are ones that give people something to debate, dispute, or argue about. The obvious example is radio personalities who use controversial topics to get attention and to get people talking about their shows. Rush Limbaugh is very adept at getting attention through controversy. Most of it is on purpose, and even though it can be a cheap tactic, it works.

Button #2: The Unusual

The next button is the unusual button. I like to call this the “unique” button because it’s easier for me to apply.

When it comes to the unusual (or unique) button, your goal is to create a product positioning or content that stands out from the crowd. If you do the same thing as everyone else in your industry, you won’t stand out, and you won’t get people talking about your product or service. Doing something unique gets you noticed and gets people talking.

Button #3: The Remarkable

Another way to stand out and to get people talking is to do something remarkable. Average and ordinary don’t get people talking, but remarkable does.

The goal here is do something extremely well at an extremely high quality. If everyone else is creating average content, you need to create something above the average. People talk about products and services that are significantly better than average. If a hotel gives decent service, no one tells their friends about it, but if a hotel goes beyond what is expected, people will talk.

Button #4: The Outrageous

This button and the next are two of the most difficult to apply in a business context. Outside of business, it’s easy to use them to create buzz, but for businesses, it’s not so straightforward.

One point from the book is that “outrageousness” for the sake of being outrageous doesn’t provide a benefit if there’s no connection made with your brand. We’ve all watched commercials that made us laugh, and after we told our friends about it, we couldn’t remember which company the commercial was for. You may get people talking about you with outrageous marketing, but what benefit will there be for your brand if there’s no beneficial connection?

The lesson: Outrageous marketing content needs to be connected to your brand and promote what you do.

Button #5: The Hilarious

Once again, this is one of the more difficult to apply in a business context. Hilarious videos and articles get shared like wildfire because people like to laugh and to talk about things that make them laugh. But when it comes to business, being funny isn’t the easiest thing to do.

The following examples provide ways to use this button in a business context.

Button #6: The Secrets (Kept and Revealed)

People like to talk about two things when it comes to secrets—the ones that are kept and the ones that are revealed. Baked somewhere into our human nature is a desire to learn about things that are hidden and secretive. We want to know more about something if it’s mysterious, and we want to tell other people about something if we have an inside scoop.

One way to apply this is to provide behind-the-scenes content. Businesses can show people what life is like behind the scenes at their company. Entertainers do this all the time, and it’s a great way for businesses to reveal “secrets” and create a personality for customers to connect with.

Another application is to give some customers a sneak peak of a new product or service. If you’re about to release a product, you can reveal it to a select number of influential customers and make them feel like they’re on the inside. Once someone knows a secret, they’ll be dying to tell other people about it to show that they’re in the know. Companies can take advantage of this by revealing a product before its launch to only a select number of customers, and then unleashing them as brand ambassadors once the product is announced.