An introduction to

WORD OF MOUTH
MARKETING
What it is and how to use it. A primer for
software company CEOs and CMOs who need to
drive sales with more credible marketing.
The goal of this white paper is to help you understand the
process well enough to know where to turn for help. Awareness of
word of mouth (WOM) is growing exponentially in the press and in the
marketplace…and yet its application is often poorly understood. There
are currently several versions in vogue. The major word of mouth trade
associations (www.womma.org and www.vbma.net) are still struggling
to define the ground rules for its deployment. This document offers the
author’s views shaped over the past four years by many of the major
resources impacting this powerful approach to new business. It
provides solid case studies and shows how to get started. Many
marketers refer to word of mouth as the world’s greatest sales force. It
could be!

By
Keith W. Bates
keithbates@kbates.com

April 24, 2005, Version 1.7

COMPILED BY SPONSORED BY

www.illinoistech.org
About the Illinois Technology Association
THE ITA MISSION: The Illinois Information Technology Association exists to be a leading change agent that drives
growth, development and retention of IT-focused businesses and talent in Illinois by providing networking, advocacy,
resources and leadership. They serve members in Chicago-land and throughout the State and exist to help grow the
number of successful businesses that create, deploy and utilize information technology as a core part of their
organization. www.illinoistech.org

We represent the interests of our diverse membership at a local and national level, and work to connect member
companies with each other and the resources they need to succeed. The ITA continues on a more than twenty year
tradition of service to the technology community, and in 2005 was renamed from the Chicago Software Association
(CSA). The CSA had a solid program and had been recognized as one of the most important technology
organizations in the Midwest. ITA remains committed to continuing the good programs we began as the CSA.

About Keith Bates

The MISSION of this Keith Bates effort is to offer the members of the Illinois Technology Association a resource
where they can benefit from the past four years of Bates’ research into Word of Mouth marketing. That research was
preceded by 30 years as CEO/Creative Director of Keith Bates & Associates Inc., a high tech ad agency Bates
founded in 1970 to serve exclusively the software industry. He also founded Walker-Bates, a high tech PR firm that
he managed concurrently with the ad agency. Over those years his agency and PR firm supported the sales and
marketing communications needs of more than 150 software/services vendors. www.kbates.com

What is the inspiration behind this seemingly altruistic effort? Bates was inspired by Peter Drucker, the great
management writer and thought leader, who has a goal of learning something completely new, in depth, every
decade. This decade’s learning for Bates (which began in 2001) has been word of mouth marketing and its
application to the software industry. Today the technology industry is being challenged to improve both marketing’s
efficiency and credibility while reducing costs. Word of mouth offers these solutions and Bates wants to share what
he’s learned in hopes of shortening someone else’s learning curve.

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 Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT WOM ………………………………………… 6

Word of mouth marketing defined ………………………………………………………………………….. 6
Viral marketing explained ………………………………………………………………………………….... 6
Benefits to marketers and buyers ……………………………………………………………..…………… 6
Word of mouth stories and case studies …………………………………………………………………. 7
Choose your approach: ……………………………………………………………………………………… 11
y Influencer Relations …………………………………………………………………………………. 11
y The Ideavirus ……………………………………………………………………………………….… 12
y The Shockvirus …………………………………………………………………….…………………. 13
Costs overview ………………………………………………………………………………..……………… 13
Challenges to implementation ……………………………………………………………..……………….. 14
The deliverables from WOM marketing ………………………………………………………..………….. 14
Launching a WOM program ………………………………………………………………………..……….. 14
Understanding network hubs …………………………………………………………………..………….… 14
Warning: Failure to explore all three could be hazardous…………………………………………..……. 16
Random comments from practitioners, authors, WOMMA, and VBMA …………………………..……. 16
Report on the first ever WOMMA Summit ......................................................................................... 19
WOMMA Code of Ethics …………………………………………………………………………………..… 22

WOM’S NATURE AS PRESCRIBED BY ITS AUTHORS/PRACTITIONERS ............................................ 23

Regis McKenna, Word of Mouth …………………………………………………………………………….. 24
Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point ……………………………………………………………………… 25
Seth Godin, Unleashing the Ideavirus ……………………………………………………………………… 26
Emanuel Rosen, The Anatomy of Buzz ……………………………………………………………….…… 27
George Silverman, The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing …………………………………………... 28
Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell, Creating Customer Evangelists .……………………………………. 29
Ed Keller and Jon Berry, The Influentials ……………………………………………………………..…… 30
Paul Rand, Ketchum ……………………………………………………………………………………….… 31
VBMA Global……………………………………………………………………………………………….… 32
Andy Sernovitz, WOMMA …………………………………………………………………………………… 33

CONCLUSION: A ONE PAGE CALL TO ACTION

If you found this white paper provocative enough to study its details…then do something! ……..…. 34

APPENDIX: A ONE PAGE LAUNCH OUTLINE

A KBA Communications Support Plan focused on WOMM …………………………………………….. 35

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 …to add wings to your marketing, spurs to your sales
Executive Overview
Awareness of word of mouth marketing (WOMM) is
growing exponentially in the press and in the
marketplace…and yet its application is often poorly
understood. The goal of this article is to help you
understand the process well enough to know where to
turn for help, or how to launch your own program.
WOMM Defined
For the purpose of this white paper I am dividing word
of mouth into several categories although in reality,
according to Dr. Paul Marsden, WOMM/Viral/Buzz are
all same thing, namely network enhanced Word of
Mouth. For those who want nuances: viral marketing
leverages digital networks; buzz leverages media
networks; and WOMM leverages social networks. Viral
marketing can employ either an ideavirus or shockvirus
approach, while social networking is typically managed
as influencer relations. Keep in mind that pure word of
mouth has no limits on distribution vehicles.
Viral Marketing Explained
And from Justin Kirby, Managing Director of DMC Ltd.,
“In fact the most successful use of online viral
marketing is not as a standalone tactic but as an
integrated part of a brand's overall marketing strategy.
One of the big mistakes brands make is thinking that an
online viral campaign is an end in itself rather than
recognizing that it's a means to an end. Viral marketing,
like PR, is a process not an event. Its point is to create
a buzz in order to help build brand and shift product, not
just to create a buzz full stop. There is no point in 'going
viral' without fulfilling a wider or longer-term strategic
purpose.
Metcalfe’s law, the power behind viral marketing
Metcalfe’s law tells us that the value of a network
4
increases with the square of the number of people
using it. So when you have 10 users in the world, that’s
25 times better than when there were two. And at 100
users your network is 1000 times better than at 10. With
100 user hubs your network has a reach of 10,000
people. 100 hubs seems to be the magic number.
Twenty five years after Regis McKenna published a
brochure touting the value of word of mouth the term
viral marketing was created by the VC firm Draper
Fisher Jurvetson. It was used to describe the
phenomenon of Hotmail, which grew with the rapidity of
a cold virus, from 0 to 12 million subscribers in eighteen
months. Viral marketing was pronounced marketing
buzzword of the year for 1998.
And then not much happened until 2001 when the July
30 issue of BusinessWeek carried Buzz Marketing as
their cover story. That’s also the year when four major
books came into being expanding on the concept of
word of mouth marketing. Those four books are
identified with stars on the Authors/Practitioners page.
Benefits of employing WOMM
Perhaps the first issue to resolve, because of the nature
of the audience for this white paper, is whether WOM
lends itself better to consumer marketing or business to
business. The answer is “both” equally well. In the B2B
world it is particularly well suited to the pharmaceutical
and technology industries because of the need for one
on one conversation about technical aspects.
From the customers point of view word of mouth
emanates from a trusted source, is credible, friendly,
and tuned to the listener’s personal interests. It also
overcomes the four most feared words in advertising,
“I don’t believe you”.
Stories and Case Studies to be estimated before a commitment is made … but
this cannot be accomplished until the planning is done.
From Stanley Arnold’s Tale of a Blue Horse to the
incredible stories of Hotmail, Post-it Notes and a dozen
Challenges to implementation
others you’ll find inspiring success stories. Netscape,
Napster, Trivial Pursuit, and BullGuard software Both WOM and viral marketing can be a tough sell to

security all offer exciting examples of WOM.
Choose the approach that best fits your needs.
There are three, and they range from Ideaviruses to
Shockviruses to Influentials.
management because they reflect a major change in
the typical approach to marketing communications.
However they solve some big sales and marketing
problems … like qualified leads, shorter selling cycles,
and often an overall reduction in the cost of sales.

Ideaviruses are predicated on spreading the word

Deliverables from your WOM marcom group
based on a superior product. Shockviruses are
predicated on spreading the word based on superior Marketing’s deliverables include development of a

advertising. And Influentials are predicated on virusworthy product or story, databases of power

spreading the word based on either evangelists, or the influencers, messaging and assistance with accelerated

mavens and connectors that populate network hubs contagion or seeding.

who are persuaded to spread the word based on either

Launching a WOM program
the user’s enthusiasm for the product or corporate
sponsored relationships. I mentioned earlier that WOM is not a standalone tactic,
but rather a component in your overall marketing
A point of clarification contributed by Justin Kirby,
strategy. So before putting all your eggs in the WOM
“What’s the difference between Viral Advertising and
basket be sure you develop a comprehensive
Viral Marketing? Well any viral advertising campaign is
Communications Support Plan.
doing viral marketing but what is specific about viral
advertising is the use of creative agents rather than the
Understanding network hubs
amplification and acceleration of product
Network hubs are individuals who communicate with
recommendations”. And referencing a recent Marketing
more people about a certain product than the average
Sherpa report, “The reason you focus on the creative
person does. Researchers have traditionally referred to
agents is because the product normally doesn’t have a
them as “opinion leaders.” In industry they’re called
uniqueness that can be leveraged to amplify and
”influencers,” “lead users,” or sometimes “power users.”
accelerate word of mouth. So you make the creative
They are the 10% who influence the 90%.
agent/communications sticky because the product isn’t
necessarily.”
To wrap this up read seven pages of random
comments from practitioners, pioneering WOM
Costs Overview
authors, and my friends from both WOMMA and
You will encounter two sets of costs if you pursue a
VBMA.
WOM program. First will be an ongoing monthly fee to
design and manage the process. These monthly fees
Where to turn then? Help can be found via word of
can range from $5,000 to $20,000 and will probably be
mouth consultants, ad agencies, and PR firms.
based on a one year commitment. Second will be your
out of pocket costs for production services which need

5
 …to add wings to your marketing, spurs to your sales

Everything you ever wanted to know about WOM

WORD OF MOUTH DEFINED $699 recognizing that unless a lot of people used their
Regis McKenna’s explains the difference between word software no one would use it!
of mouth and all other forms of communications with the
WHY GO VIRAL? WHY CHOOSE WORD OF MOUTH?
following. “It is an experienced process, rather than an
BECAUSE TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING IS COSTLY
observed one. The message is tuned to the individual
AND SERIOUSLY LACKING IN CREDIBILITY! And
listener. The credibility of the speaker carries over to
because viral marketing has become the latest
the message immediately. Experts can be used in this
stealth strategy for “qualified” lead generation.
medium without the negative effect of commercializing
his or her position and message. Efficiency… while What’s this viral marketing thing all about? Viral

taking time to disseminate the message is delivered marketing (VM) is defined as managing digitally-

directly to those who must use the information and act augmented word of mouth, or buzz. “Digitally-

on it. Feedback is instantaneous.” augmented” simply means using the Internet to deploy
your VM program and email is the primary tool of
To quote Emanuel Rosen’s The Anatomy of Buzz, “To
choice. Word of mouth has been around since the
create buzz and use it effectively, you should have a
beginning of time but the spreading, without electronic
realistic view of the phenomenon, not glorify it. For
support, is typically both tedious and slow from a
example, some word-of-mouth enthusiasts argue that if
marketing standpoint. The Internet has changed all that.
you get good buzz, you don’t need to do any marketing.
To quote Seth Godin from his Unleashing the
This can be a major mistake. Distribution, advertising,
Ideavirus,”Stop marketing at people. Turn your ideas
promotions and other traditional marketing activities can
into epidemics by helping your customers do the
translate the goodwill surrounding your product into
marketing for you!”
sales. Good buzz is the best thing you could wish for,
but it’s just one component of your marketing mix.” BENEFITS TO MARKETERS AND BUYERS

VIRAL MARKETING EXPLAINED The simplest reason for choosing word of mouth

Conceived in 1996. Born in 2001. It’s the management marketing over traditional advertising is that it can be

of an “ideavirus”, or a “shockvirus” through word of FASTER, CHEAPER, BETTER! But no guarantees! A

mouth online. It’s word of mouth on steroids.
It’s marketing’s response to the educated consumer
and the Internet. As the ability (speed) of customers to
communicate with customers grows stronger, the
credibility of marketers communicating with customers
grows weaker. If charging people for exposure to your
virus is going to slow down its spread give it away!
Apple cut the price of WebObjects from $50,000 to
recent study by advertising giant Euro RSCG
Worldwide states that for generating excitement about
products, word of mouth is 10 times more effective than
TV or print ads. If you can achieve focus on your
product’s virus-worthiness viral marketing will deliver
th
10X the market impact at 1/10 the cost. VM turns your
ideas into epidemics by helping your customers do the
marketing for you. It also overcomes the four most
feared words in advertising, “I don’t believe you”.

6
Why the viral marketing approach to word of mouth? In
a nutshell it’s the speed and low cost distribution
enabled by the Internet. And because traditional
advertising is costly, not terribly productive anymore,
and lacking in credibility word of mouth marketing is
becoming the best way to launch a brand. Today the
speed of information diffusion enable by the Internet is
weakening the ability of marketers to communicate with
customers and strengthening the ability of customers to
communicate with customers.
From the customers point of view word of mouth
emanates from a trusted source, is credible, friendly,
tuned to the listener’s personal interests, very efficient,
and offers instant feedback. In other words, dialogue,
rather than monologue.
WORD OF MOUTH STORIES AND CASE STUDIES
From Stanley Arnold’s Tale of the Blue Horse, 1968
comes the story of United Airlines and how they used
word of mouth to inspire executive secretaries to
choose United over competitors when charged by their
bosses to book a flight. At that time United’s public
image seemed to lack something. Arnold’s suggestion:
send a freshly cut, long-stemmed rose every Monday of
every week for a year to the executive secretaries of the
top 1000 CEOs (fifty-two thousand roses). Plus a bud
vase with the first mailing. The result: doors closed
previously to United salesmen were suddenly open.
Within six months dramatic increases in ticketing
occurred.
dreamed up the idea of a blue horse consistent with
General Foods promise that the new product line would
definitely be “a horse of a different color.”
On meeting day the blue horse had been tethered
to a tree about forty feet from the bar. After the first
round of drinks the salesmen of General Foods could
not believe their eyes. "These drinks are so damn
good," one of the regional sales managers said to me,
"I believe I see a blue horse out there." All the others
said the same thing, but none could believe what their
eyes told them.
Finally the meeting began as General Foods
announced to its salesmen that their company was
going to give them the most exciting line of products in
their company's glorious history. General Foods finally
revealed it was going into gourmet foods. Everyone
quickly had a second drink. The applause was
perfunctory. Some of the applause even sounded like
hissing.
"This is new territory for General Foods," the
speaker went on. You might even say that compared to
what you’ve been selling until now, this is a horse of a
different color.”
At that point they responded. They had seen a
blue horse out there. Now they knew what it was all
about. The meeting finally picked up momentum, and to
the extent that experienced food salesmen can
summon up enthusiasm for gourmet foods, these
salesmen were close to a level of exuberance. The
introduction of the gourmet line was dispatched beyond
anyone's expectations.

Before General Foods could sell (new products) they

In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert
first had to announce this new line of products to their
Waterman. In 1980 Peters and his coauthor Bob
salesmen—the men who would sit down with the buying
Waterman, (McKinsey consultants) put together a 125-
committees of the retails stores and try to persuade
page summary of what later became the classic
them that a demand for (their new products) would be
management book In Search of Excellence. They gave
sweeping the nation (via word of mouth). Young &
it to just a few executives they knew, but very quickly
Rubicam, their ad agency, was therefore asked to
these individuals started discussing with others what
develop an imaginative idea that would help General
they had read. Tom Peters attributes part of the
Foods introduce (the new products) to its sales force
success of his first book to an extensive seeding
with flair and confidence. Y&R turned to Stanley who
campaign.

7
 VIRAL MARKETING STRATEGY: Successful
seeding is an active process. It goes well beyond the
Field of Dreams cliché "If you build it, they will come."
Rather than waiting passively for people to come to
you, you go out and plant seeds all around the forest.
Here are a few guidelines:
VIRAL MARKETING TACTICS: As word about the
coming book started to spread, demand soared, and
the authors decided to seed the market with 15,000
copies of this preliminary report. Their publisher was
worried that Peters and Waterman were giving too
many. Edward Burlingame, who commissioned the
book for Harper & Row, said that the company
expected to sell around 60,000 copies in the first year,
meaning that the 15,000 copies represented 25 percent
of that amount. But Peters believes that these copies
were important in generating word of mouth and sales.
"Within days of the book's launching, supportive
reviews appeared, and the network of 15,000 (plus at
least an equal number of photocopied knockoffs)
hurried to buy the real thing, often in bulk for their
subordinates," Peter recalls in Thriving on Chaos.
RESULTS: In Search of Excellence sold 1.5
million copies in hardcover alone.
The game of Trivial Pursuit sold 20 million copies in
1984 but word about the product didn’t spread by
contagion alone. Buzz was accelerated by a seeding
campaign. Samples were sent to celebrities mentioned
in the game. The helped start trivia parties which in tern
were encourage by more than 100 radio stations asking
trivia questions. They also sent teaser mailings to toy
buyers just before a major industry toy fair. Emanuel
Rosen calls this type of acceleration leapfrogging.
In 1993 people didn’t really understand online services.
AOL had formed alliances with major media but the
masses weren’t responding. Comprehension and
credibility were low. So Jan Brandt mailed 250 million
CDs to seed the market. The program cost $300 for a
new user worth only $124. It worked. After reaching
8
their tipping point costs dropped to less than $100 per
new user.
THEN THE INTERNET ARRIVED
The Hotmail story started in 1995 with two young men
from Silicon Valley, each working for a different
company, but needing to collaborate on a common
project without using their company’s email. Suddenly
they had a bright idea…a free email service that could
be accessed through the web. With only $300,000 in
VC seed money they launched the company. A word of
mouth program launched both electronically and face-
to-face started to spread the word. It was good old word
of mouth marketing at Internet speed. Within two
months they had 100,000 users, and by eighteen
months they had 12 million subscribers. The term viral
marketing evolved from this success story. Microsoft
bought Hotmail for $400 million and as of 2001 was
signing up a hundred thousand people a day.
Napster, a way of networking people’s hard drives so
that they can share music, spread so fast in only a few
months that it threatened the entire recording industry
and appeared on the cover of Newsweek!
The story of Post-It notes is so good it ought to be
apocryphal but it’s actually true. Nobody was buying
the. 3M was going to cancel the whole program. Then
the brand manager of the product persuaded the
secretary of the chairman of 3M to send a case of Post-
Its to the secretaries of the chairmen of the other 499
Fortune 500 Companies. Suddenly, the most powerful
sneezers in the most powerful companies in the country
were sending around memos, all containing comments
scrawled on Post-Its. It took just a few months after that
for it to become yet another successful business
communication device. A classic ideavirus.
From a recent Wall St. Journal article, “Airlines in
bankruptcy usually don’t have the luxury of grinding
through precious dollars with fancy image campaigns to
reassure nervous travelers. United spent some $30
million on advertising in the first half of the year, The e-mail included a link back to the SeeAmerica.org
according to CMR/TNS Media Intelligence. But airlines deals section.
do have an army of messengers in flight attendants, Campaign Insights: The campaign won a gold
gate agents, and ticket-counter people, and the key is medal at the Hospitality Sales and Marketing
to get them plugged in and on board quickly with Association International (HSMAI) annual awards
positive spin on a financial restructuring, crisis specialist ceremony held in New York in January. This is the most
say. United’s ad agency, Publicis Groupe’s Fallon prestigious Tourism Communication Competition.
Worldwide is managing the marketing plans.
Word of mouth makes the front page of the Wall Street
While Starbucks and those offering Wi-Fi at hotels and Journal: On Jan. 13, Shannon Syfrett, a 15-year- old
airports advertise their services online and through local ninth-grader at Central Academy in Macon, Miss.,
promotions, in the majority of cases word about free Wi- launched a chain letter over the Internet. E-mail chains
Fi “hot spots” spreads by word-of-mouth—and fast. that seek responses from around the world are the
latest rage in science-fair projects, as kids set out to
From iMedia Communications, Inc.
learn where and how fast information travels. Shannon
Following the Sept 11 events, travel fell drastically in
called her project "howfastorfar2003@aol.com," and
the United States and the Travel Industry Association of
she expected that in six weeks she "might get 2,000 or
America (TIA) determined that there was a need for
3,000" replies to her note asking people to write back
some immediate action to encourage Americans to
and then pass her message along. That was her first
travel again. The association conceived a "See America
miscalculation.
Day" -- which coincided with Veterans' Day - - and
The next day, Jan. 14, the request she had sent to
asked Ripple Effects Interactive (REI) to propose a
23 people generated 200 e-mail replies, an average of
cost-effective Internet-based campaign.
one every 7.2 minutes. By Jan. 16, messages had
REI determined that a grassroots e-mail campaign
arrived from 47 states and 25 countries, including
leveraging the association's members was by far the
Australia and Zimbabwe. There were 8,768 e-mails on
most cost-effective and impactful means of reaching
Jan. 24, and another 12,013 three days later. They
Americans interested in travel. As such, TIA forwarded
were now arriving one every 7.2 seconds.
to each of its 2,200 members the flash creative and
Overwhelmed and sick with the flu, Shannon shut
encouraged them to forward it to their own e-mail lists --
down her screen name for 2 1/2 days, but 9,455 e-mails
thereby hundreds of thousands of would-be travelers.
flooded in when she reopened it on Jan. 31, her log
Participants included Hotel Operators such as Ramada
shows. Messages from Libya and Iran popped up on
and Travelodge, transporters like Amtrak, and Visitors'
Feb. 2. On Feb. 4. Shannon and her parents emptied
Bureaus such as the Las Vegas CVB.
the electronic mailbox 35 times--it holds 1,000 incoming
Now, of course this all needed to be done with a
messages--but stilI, a man telephoned from France to
very little budget. Hence, the viral e-mail (although we
complain that he couldn't get his e-mail through. On
like to call it "video e-mail). We asked two things of our
Feb. 5, there were another 37,854 e-mails, one every
members:
2.3 seconds. Shannon pulled the plug, 17 days early.
1. Submit a special deal to be posted on
Altogether, she had received 160,478 e-mails from 189
SeeAmerica.org
countries and 50 states.
2. Take the viral e-mail and forward it on to their e-
mail lists (vendors, employees, customers, etc.) From George Silverman: A complicated piece of
machinery required extensive research to buy, usually

9
taking about six months. It then needed to be com-
pared to the alternatives, which also took months. Then
it had to be tried, which took about a year. Then it had
to be rolled out gradually, with training. Another year.
The whole thing was compressed into about eight
weeks by holding a seminar/training program, then
following it up by audio teleconferences. The decision
makers were given the material that would have taken
them months to find, shown how to evaluate it, given
extensive (and flattering) competitive materials, and
encouraged to try one against the other-all in a carefully
structured trial that kept several prospects in touch with
each other and with customers, with a hotline to third-
party experts. This word of mouth, applied to several
critical bottlenecks in the decision process, cut the
decision time by multiples, while at the same time
showing that the company had nothing to hide.
Netscape Navigator: Built entirely upon word of mouth,
Netscape captured about 90 percent of the Web
browser market before it placed its first ad. The
company did it by giving away the first versions of its
product, and by word of mouth, primarily on the
Internet. Netscape has now been overtaken by
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (which stole a process
patented by Eolas Technologies Inc. to achieve this
feat).
BullGuard develops security software for the home user
The following case study is presented by fellow VBMA
member Claus Moseholm of GoViral.com for a
Denmark client of his www.bullguard.com/movies
Background
. BullGuard is a small company operating in a battle of
the giants (Norton & McAfee)
. BullGuard's marketing budget non-existent
. Viral is inexpensive compared to other consumer
advertising
Objectives
. To build awareness and interest towards a global
target group of home Internet users
10
. To brand BullGuard as "the young rebel" in the
security industry
. To generate trial downloads of the BullGuard security
software package
Solution
. Videos communicating overall USP . "Real life" web-,
surveillance- or video-cam shot, making the videos
appear very realistic
. Integrated into BullGuards corporate website
enhancing trial downloads.
. Daily surveillance - clips adjusted and optimized
during the first weeks after launch
Results
. More than 10 million views
. Significant percentage of trial software downloads
. Growth in search engine traffic
. 317% growth in revenue in year one after launch
. Access to retail distribution side by side with main
competitors due to increased brand awareness.
. Plenty of PR and funnier company presentations
WHO ELSE IS DOING THIS?
RECOGNIZE ANY OF THESE NAMES?
From "The Anatomy of Buzz" the listed companies
include: Amazon.com, AOL, Amway, Apple Computer,
Armani, AT&T, Avon, Barnes & Noble, Blair Witch
Project, BMW, Budweiser, Car & Driver Magazine,
Charles Schwab, Cisco Systems, CNN, Coca Cola,
Compuserve, Crisco Oil, DaimlerChrysler, Dell
Computer, EBay, Edison, FedEx, Ford Mustang,
General Motors, Harper & Row, Hewlett Packard,
Honda, Intel, Intuit, Kodak, Lotus, Macy's, McDonald's,
MCI, Microsoft, Miller Brewing, Neiman Marcus, Nike,
Nintendo, Palm Computing, Pepsi, Polaroid, Proctor &
Gamble, Saks Fifth Avenue, Star Wars, Sun
Microsystems, Taco Bell, 3COM, Twentieth Century
Fox, Union Bank of California, Warner Brothers, Yahoo,
Ziff Davis.
From "The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing":
Adobe, AOL, Apple, Avon, Campbell Soup, Citigroup,
Dell, Disney, Eudora, First USA, Google, Hotmail,
McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, Napster, Roche
Laboratories, United States Postal Service, Verizon
DSL, Wall Street Journal, Xerox Parco
From "The Tipping Point"; ABC News, Airwalk
Company, Audi Automobile, CBS, Centers for Disease
Control, Century Wilshire Hotel, Coca Cola, Columbia
Record Club, Glaxo Wellcome, Gore-Tex, Hush
Puppies Shoes, New York City, Prozac, R.J. Reynolds,
Sesame Street, TV Guide, Winston Cigarettes.
From "Unleashing the ldeavirus"; Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences, Amazon, com, American
Airlines, American Express, American Greeting,
Amway, AOL, Apple, Atkins Diet, Audi, Barnes & Noble,
Budweiser, Burger King, Cisco, Clairol, Coke, eToys,
FedEx, Google, Hallmark, Harry Potter, Herman Miller,
Hotmail, Intel, Kodak, Lycos, Marlboro, Mary Kay
Cosmetics, McDonalds, MCI, McKinsey, Microsoft,
Napster, Nike, Palm, PC Magazine, Polaroid, Post-it-
Notes, Priceline, Reebok, Rexall, Schick, Sports
Illustrated, Starbucks, Star Wars, Martha Stewart, 3M,
Time Warner, Tommy Hilfiger, Toyota, ToysRUs,
Tupperware, Twentieth Century Fox, VW Beetle,
Yahoo.
The companies in the foregoing list were referenced in
the four books published on the topic of word of
mouth/viral marketing in 2001. I cannot verify that these
are all case studies of viral marketing, only that they
touched the concept in some manner deemed
worthwhile by the various authors.
Hotmail, Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, GeoCities,
Broadcast.com, Google—all of them succeeded
because an ideavirus was unleashed and spread.
To reach 10 million users it took radio 40 years, TV 15
years, Netscape 3 years, and both Hotmail and Napster
less than a year. Hotmail and Napster got the hang of
viral marketing.
CHOOSE YOUR APPROACH
There are several approaches for launching word of
mouth marketing and they vary substantially so it
seems worthwhile to study them separately. Variations
on the public relations industry concept of Influencer
Relations seems to be one of the more popular but
equally powerful in a slightly different fashion are two
flavors of viral marketing, which I have arbitrarily divided
into the Ideavirus approach and the Shockvirus
approach.
• INFLUENCER RELATIONS
From my friend Patrick Rooney of Expand
Communications come the following thoughts:
“What is Influencer Relations? Influencer Relations is a
program to help ensure clients benefit from the lasting
11
value of their relationships with elite industry
influencers. The buying decisions of your customers are
influenced by a far broader base than media and
industry analysts, although each is vital to the overall
communications mix. Today, the purchasing process is
influenced by a broad array of friends, colleagues and
peers, pundits, academics, authors, researchers, and
many others. What’s more, each market has its own set
of influencers, making it necessary to understand how
to identify, and then to reach, these new influencers.
Simply put, the mantle of thought leadership and
influence has fragmented, resulting in the need to
expand your communications.”
Many years ago I managed the high tech public
relations firm that I founded with Rich Walker. I wish I
had understood influencer relations at that time.
Regis McKenna summed it up well in his 1982 brochure
on Word of Mouth which states, “Regarding the 90-10
Rule – by now one might be saying, ‘Okay, by talking to
everyone in the world we can better communicate our
message. That's not practical or possible, Right!’ But
the 90-10 rule states that 90 percent of the world is
influenced by the other 10 percent. There are probably
no more than 20 or 30 people in any one industry who
have a major impact on trends, standards, opinion and
a company's image or character.
Certainly we know this is true in the media and financial
community. While there may be dozens of magazines
and mountains of analysis covering an industry, only
several have real influence and impact. This is true
within companies as well. A relatively few people hold
the key to power in any organization. This is not to say
that these key influences are easy to reach. A memo
may reach them easier, but credible word-of-mouth
approach will be far more influential and effective.”
LAUNCHING INFLUENCER RELATIONS:
Start by getting management’s acceptance of the
principles of the seminal Ed Keller/Jon Berry book on
influencer relations titled The Influentials.
The following outline is presented to you courtesy of
Ketchum’s recently introduced, proprietary IRM
(Influencer Relationship Management) program. It uses
a highly targeted approach rather than traditional mass
media to identify, target and connect with individuals
and groups that can directly affect buyer’s perceptions
and behaviors.
1. Start the process of market segmentation and
identification of “key three” most critical proponents;
initial influencers, ultimate influencers, buyers and
decision makers.
2. Ecosystem and mapping is based on clearly
determining desired mindset, actions and impact of Key
Three and Initial Influencers
3. Prioritization and Benchmarking.
4. Strategic Alignment (program development)
5. Engagement
6. Measure: With priorities, benchmarks and programs
formalized IRM measures specific agreed upon values.
7. Manage
• THE IDEAVIRUS
An Ideaviruses is about the concept of the product while
a Shockvirus is about the presentation of the product.
One is about good ideas and the other about good
presentations. Traditionally great ideas last longer than
great presentations.
Depending on where you live, although the lines are
blurring today, you may be exposed to either
ideaviruses or shockviruses. Viral marketing in the UK
is a little different than the early efforts of viral marketing
in the US. Their leading practitioners depend more on
powerful graphics than unique product attributes to
convey the power of the product. They focus more on
“shockviruses” than “ideaviruses”, simply two schools of
thought. Both are effective.
The Ideavirus was really the pioneering viral marketing
catalyst and traces the concept of its origin back to
Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm where he
discusses technology adoption, "…any time we are
12
introduced to products that require us to change our
current mode of behavior or to modify other products
and services we rely on … such change-sensitive
products are called discontinuous innovations. The
contrasting term, continuous innovations, refers to the
normal upgrading of products that do not require us to
change behavior."
Ideaviruses represent discontinuous product
innovations. I like Geoffrey Nicholson’s (VP Technical
Planning/Technical Ops for 3M) statement from some
years back that I saved. “If an idea doesn’t stop people
in their tracks, then maybe it’s just an incremental
change and not an innovation at all.” Ideaviruses have
nothing at all to do with incremental change. You must
think long and hard about which approach is best.
So if you don’t have a unique idea perhaps you should
explore a shocking presentation…which is what many
companies in the United States and the rest of the
world are doing these days…
LAUNCHING AN IDEAVIRUS:
To quote Seth Godin, “…to embrace ideavirus
marketing techniques you also have to accept a change
from the status quo. And many of the executives who
are now in charge made their way to the top by
embracing the status quo, not fighting it.”
First, and often the biggest challenge is to get
management acceptance of Metcalfe’s law that tells us
that the value of a network increases with the square of
the number of people using it. So when you have 10
users in the world, that's 25 times better than when
there were two. And at 100 users your network is 1000
times better than at 10. With 100 user hubs your
network has a reach of 10,000 people. For success a
large user base is imperative. 100 Network Hubs
seeming to be the magic number.
The challenge I’ve encountered is with startup
companies who don’t have a hundred users and are
reluctant to give product away, or with established
companies who get a lot of money for their product and
are reluctant to give up any income. These giveaways
should be considered beta sites.
• THE SHOCKVIRUS
Shockviruses are typified by shocking graphics and
tend to rely more on entertainment and visual
excitement for their distribution. DMC and The Viral
Factory were early proponents of this approach.
Ideaviruses traditionally have relied more on unique
product attributes although that is changing rapidly as I
write this. Other issues to contend with have to do with
augmenting your viral marketing. Shockviruses tend to
have a shorter life than ideaviruses. But ideaviruses are
dependent on powerful product discontinuous
innovations while any brilliant creative director can
come up with a shockvirus. Because either approach
will wear out its welcome once the newness and
excitement grow old you must explore ways to
augment, or maintain or reinforce your message.
Augmentation typically uses traditional integrated direct
marketing programs, whether ongoing or of the 90-Day
Blitz variety, and are often supported by public
relations. Viral augmentation tactics also will be heavily
dependent also on the Internet.
What’s a 90-Day Blitz? Simply a deluge of marketing
materials that acts as a quick fix for inadequate lead
flow. Pioneered by Ernan Roman it’s a multimedia, lead
generation activity based on response compression
techniques. It is a fully integrated 3 month program that
combines traditional media with interactive media to
create a sense of event, which in turn produces a
substantial flow of leads in a very short time with
minimal commitment of financial resources. For 20
years it’s been a hot seller at the Bates agency.
LAUNCHING A SHOCKVIRUS:
The first challenge to getting started with the Shockvirus
approach is locate a production firm with the creative
expertise, and experience to build a virus so
provocative that it spreads to epidemic proportions …
like the recent Subservient Chicken from Burger King.
13
And the second challenge is then to assign a viral
marketing / creative consultant to work with the
production company who understands the product and
market well enough to keep the viral creatives on track.
This person could come from the ranks of creative
consultants or ad agency creative directors.
Then you follow these next few steps which have much
in common with the Ideavirus approach.
1. Identify Regular and Mega level hubs within
your Network Hubs databases.
2. Develop virus-worthiness concept/strategy
around which the Shockvirus will be developed.
3. Write copy /design storyboards to support the
Shockvirus and generate buzz
4. Expose the virus through regular/mega hubs.
5. Support the epidemic with accelerated
contagion which can be ongoing ad and PR work or a
blitz tactic.
NOTE: Before considering a viral marketing program
please take a moment for introspection:
What is the buzz that your company wishes to spread,
hopefully to epidemic proportions? In ten words or less,
what makes your product virusworthy? If you can’t
come up with an answer fix the product, or reposition
your marketing differentiation message.
COSTS OVERVIEW
To use the Marcom Engine model I developed many
years ago is to use a six step process that is common
knowledge among marketers. First there’s a Planning
Module that delivers an audit of the market followed by
strategy development which is in turn followed by the
creative process. Second is the Execution Module
which develops the arsenal of marcom tools, the actual
deployment of the strategy/tactics, and finally the
tracking and maintenance of the program.
For the PLANNING MODULE and its three components
typical monthly fees of a marketing consultant, whether
independent, or attached to an ad agency or PR firm
can range from a low of $5,000 to $20,000 or more for Process Reengineering (BPR) with Integrated
large companies in big markets. Marketing Communications (IMC) as well as concepts
from Geoffrey Moore‘s TALC (technology adoption life
For the EXECUTION MODULE and its three
cycle) approach in Crossing the Chasm. It drives
components costs cannot be estimated until the
revenue enhancement by fine tuning the value
planning stages, complete with media strategy, are
proposition into the most compelling reason to buy, and
completed and are more inclined to represent out of
by reducing the waste and inefficiency of the typical
pocket expenses. They can vary dramatically from one
random task approach to marketing. Plus … it is the
campaign to the next depending largely on media and
single most efficient way to manage a product launch.
the complexity of your accelerated contagion plan.
The Marcom Engine typically consists of six modules,
CHALLENGES TO IMPLEMENTATION three for Planning and three for Execution but can be
Both word of mouth and viral marketing are often a shortened for convenience to three:
tough sell to management because it reflects a major
change in the status quo. Budgeting for ads, direct mail, • Audit and Strategy: Do your homework. Build a
and websites is done every day. But word of mouth marcom team. Develop a plan. Identify network hubs
marketing? What’s that? It wasn’t invented here. • Creative and Arsenal: Develop virus-worthiness
Remember also that an ideavirus adores a vacuum. messaging, copy and art. Build the arsenal.
You’ve got to be first. If you’ve got a product and it’s not • Deployment and Monitoring: Define a media plan;
unique, consider changing the product—or the playing expose the virus through mega/regular hubs. Then
field. Your idea needs to be inherently unique, or plan support with accelerated contagion. Monitor.
positioned to appear so.
Start by creating small movements first. The big one
However, viral marketing can solve some BIG
follows. A paradox of word of mouth marketing is that
marketing problems. Like achieving quarterly revenue
before creating one contagious movement you have to
goals. Increasing the numbers of qualified leads.
create many small movements first. This means that
Shortening of selling cycles. Reducing the overall costs
before you can fan the flames you have to ignite the
of marketing. And inspiring employee and vendor
fire.
evangelism.
Igniting the fire means that first you must understand
THE DELIVERABLES FROM WOM MARKETING
the “Law of the Few”. Spreading the word depends on
Depending on whether you opt for influentials,
people who are either experts or possessed with a rare
shockviruses, or ideaviruses the deliverables may vary
set of social gifts. They’re called power influencers and
slightly but from any of the approaches you should
evangelists. And they are found as spokes in your
receive:
Network Hubs and are further refined as Regular Hubs
• Development of a newsworthy product
(non-media people), and Mega Hubs (media people).
• Database of power influencers
• Message development UNDERSTANDING NETWORK HUBS
• An accelerated contagion strategy The following section on Network Hubs was extracted
from Emanuel Rosen’s The Anatomy of Buzz, and
LAUNCHING A WOM PROGRAM
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, and then edited
One approach is the Marcom Engine from which
by Keith Bates.
evolves the Communications Support Plan. The
Marcom Engine blends the disciplines of Business

14
NETWORK HUBS
Network hubs are individuals who communicate with
more people about a certain product than the average
person does. Researchers have traditionally referred to
them as “opinion leaders.” In industry they’re called
”influencers,” “lead users,” or sometimes “power users.”
There are two major types of “Network Hubs”: Regular
Hubs, acting as regular folks who serve as sources of
information and influence in a certain product category
and may be connected to only a few other individuals--
or to several dozens. And Mega Hubs, which refers to
the press, celebrities, analysts, and politicians. Both
these categories have subsets, known as Mavens and
Connectors.
Mavens (those who accumulate knowledge) are
listened to because they have demonstrated significant
knowledge of a certain area (at the very least, they
have convinced others of their authority on a subject).
Mavens tend to specialize in one narrow field of interest
(movies, computers, corporate governance, and
litigation).
Connectors are those people in every group who are
more central because they are charismatic, are trusted
by their peers, or are simply more socially active.
Connectors know lots of the right kind of people.
Let me offer an easy acronym you can use to
remember them: network hubs are ACTIVE. They are
Ahead in adoption, Connected, Travelers, Information-
hungry, Vocal, and Exposed to the media more than
others. Network hubs are usually not the first to adopt a
new product, but they are at least slightly ahead of the
rest in their networks.
The fact is, not much is definitively known about
network hubs; moreover, the nature of network hubs
may differ from industry to industry. You won’t find their
names and addresses in any directory—identifying
network hubs is substantially more complex than
renting a mailing list. But the rewards for paying
attention to these people can be huge.
15
WHERE DOES ONE FIND NETWORK HUBS?
There are four methods commonly used:
1. Letting network hubs identify themselves. This
means capturing the names of those who visit
your website, or ask questions via email/snail
mail.
2. Identifying categories of network hubs.
Responses from ads in trade publications,
or attendance at conferences, trade shows.
However, these efforts primarily gather titles
only.
3. Spotting network hubs in the field. To do this
you must join a community, or solicit help from
those already inside the community.
4. Identifying network hubs through surveys.
Studies can be done online using such
resources as RoperASW, Greenfield Online, or
Opinion Research. Surveys can be subdivided
into socio-metric, informant ratings, or self
designating.
HOW TO WORK WITH NETWORK HUBS
Mega hub tactics—“the media”—are well known by
publicity people, and I have little new to offer here.
What others do not usually discuss is how to go about
reaching the millions of regular hubs who can spread
news about a product. So I will focus here on reaching
regular hubs.
Regular hub tactics first challenge is keeping track of
them. Building a system to record information about
hubs is mostly a matter of making everyone at your
organization aware of them. The database you build
should have telephone numbers, e-mail addresses,
regular mailing addresses, as well as information about
the scope and source of their influence and the nature
of the networks they belong to.
Timing is important, seeding is often required, targeting
hubs first (before PR and ads), give them something to
talk about, stimulate them to teach others, give them
the facts, don’t abuse the relationships, be sure people
see hubs using your product, and beware Mega Hub
bias.
WARNING: FAILURE TO EXPLORE ALL THREE
WORD OF MOUTH OPTIONS COULD BE
HAZARDOUS TO YOUR MARKETING HEALTH.
from Diffusion of Innovations, Thriving on Chaos,
Secrets of WOMM, and Anatomy of Buzz - the books
are full of them.”
Dr. Paul Marsden: “However, I predict that alternative
marketing campaign success will be measured in terms

Each of these approaches, whether Ideavirus, of the impact on customer recommendation rates and

Shockvirus, or Influentials, has different underlying the correlation between the increasing instances of

strategies, tactics and costs. Be sure to explore them these and sales, rather than being based on a simple

carefully before making a choice as they are quite CPM model.”

different in nature.
Justin Kirby in response to Keith Bates request for

RANDOM COMMENTS FROM PRACTITIONERS AND
AUTHORS Plus FRIENDS AT BOTH WOMMA (Word
of Mouth Marketing Assn.) AND VBMA (Viral+Buzz
Marketing Assn.)
B2B examples: “Obviously (your audience) never heard
of Phase IV research in health care marketing where
influentials are seeded with products in the name of
research. It helped Prozac become the biggest selling

Linda Zimmer: “What makes metrics a tough nut to prescribed drug ever. Yes consumers use the product
but the marketing is B2B.
crack is that viral/buzz marketing must focus on all
types of modern media not just web, email, or Internet.
Justin Kirby: As you probably all know by know I
It has to reach the customer where they are, when they
recently chaired the Alternative Marketing & Advertising
want it, and in the manner in which they want it (my
Conference in Melbourne Australia mostly thanks to my
term is liquid media). That can be SMS, a podcast,
colleague Piers Hogarth-Scot at DMC Australia bringing
social networks, or smart tags. If sales is the ultimate
me up as co-founder of the VBMA. I've also chaired
goal, sales/revenue is the final measurement. But, over
Marketing Week's Non-Traditional Marketing
what period of time? During the campaign, 3 months
Conference in London in December, and been a
afterwards, one year? A great viral campaign can
panelist at Ad:Tech New York and DM Show in London
influence me to buy months down the road.
in November. As you can imagine, I've seen a Heinz 57
variety of alternative marketing techniques being
Dr. Paul Marsden: “Keith, hi - the idea that WOM is a
presented as the antidote to the fragmented and
C2C phenomenon is ill-informed and plain wrong. The
business classic Diffusion of Innovations (which author cluttered media landscape advertisers are now faced

Everett Rogers attributes to WOM) is full of B2B with.

examples, as is Tom Peter's Thriving on Chaos. The

Online viral marketing’s three main purposes and
whole area of change management is a B2B offer and
benefits from a strategic viewpoint are:
the entire healthcare industry is based on B2B
1. To maintain or boost a cost-effective level of
programs between drugs companies and healthcare
brand awareness during ATL media spend 'downtime',
providers. All are based around the simple idea that
usually by releasing web-only viral material that retains
product placement research (seeding trials) with
the brand and campaign themes.
internal decision makers is the solution to igniting
2. To kickstart new marcom activity, which often
WOM. There are probably more B2B case studies of
means releasing a web-first viral edit of a mainstream
WOM than C2C. I suggest you liberate case studies

16
ad before it hits TV, in order to create a buzz and
exploit the exclusivity factor.
3. As an effective standalone marketing tool for
brands that either can't afford ATL marketing, or that
require only online distribution to a widespread target
group.
It's also worth bearing in mind that integrating online
viral marketing within the overall marketing mix doesn't
mean making sure the campaign's graphics and
straplines are the same across all media. It means
telling a similar campaign story in slightly different ways
across the media used, depending on the specific
channel and audience. Online viral marketing is simply
another way of telling a story, but in a manner that is
appropriate to the peer-to-peer and file-sharing
activities that web users engage in.
George Silverman, Secrets of Word-of-Mouth
Marketing: Word of mouth among business people
and professionals (such as physicians, pharmacists,
architects, and financial advisors) is very different from
word of mouth for relatively low-ticket consumer
products. The more expensive and complicated a
product is, the more word of mouth comes into play.
This is true because these products are more risky in
terms of time, money, and potential damage to
professional reputation. High-ticket products are not as
easily tried as simple consumer products. People have
to rely on other people's experience to substitute for all
or part of the experience they would get in a trial.
Emanuel Rosen, The Anatomy of Buzz: My own
experience with buzz has been mostly in the software
industry …
For buzz to spread, you need two things: a contagious
product--one that has some inherent value that makes
people talk—and someone behind the scenes who
accelerates natural contagion. Yes, there are cases
where having a great product or service alone is
17
enough, but these typically occur when capacity is
limited.
Technology markets, for example, are almost like
presidential election campaigns, where there's no prize
for second place. Winner takes all. In these markets the
natural spread of word of mouth must be accelerated.
Having a good product is not enough.
Don’t be concerned about boring expert hubs. Dell
Computer Corporation came to realize that network
hubs are willing to spend twenty minutes with an ad and
go through the specs and the features. That’s why
Dell’s ads look like catalogs.
What kind of products lend themselves to buzz?
Products that somehow create high involvement among
customers: Innovative products—like Netscape, and
Complex products—like software.
The more connected your customers are to each other,
the more you depend on their buzz for future business.
To see the full impact of this, look at a company like
Cisco that has always served a tightly connected
customer base. Cisco sells the hardware devices that
glue the Internet together; almost by definition, all of its
customers (network administrators and information
technology managers) are heavy users of the Internet.
"Our company started by word of mouth. There was no
advertising," says Keith Fox, vice president of corporate
marketing at Cisco. Since 1984, buzz about Cisco has
been spreading relentlessly on the Net. Several Internet
newsgroups are dedicated to Cisco's products.
How do you identify network hubs? Use the acronym
ACTIVE. They are Ahead in adoption, Connected,
Travelers, Information-hungry, Vocal, and Exposed to
the media more than others. On the topic of connected
for example…network hubs in the high-tech industry
tend to gravitate toward other network hubs from whom
they can get more information (which they then will
transmit within their cluster). To find these other
network hubs, they go to trade shows, join user groups,
and hang out in on-line forums that discuss the topics
they are interested in. These activities result in
additional links to the outside world.
Gabriel Weimann traces the notion of (WOM) all the
way back to the Bible. When Moses complained to God
that he could no longer control the people of Israel, God
told him to gather “seventy men of the elders of Israel”
and use them to spread the word to the rest of the
people.
If you subscribe to the belief that we’re all connected by
a chain of no more than six mutual acquaintances then
you might want to consider Emanuel’s math: “Even in a
small network that consists of only 100 people, there
are 4,950 possible links among them. In a network with
just 1,000 members there are almost half a million
possible links!”
The spread of buzz, since it is not always easy to trace,
tends to be neglected. To learn how to help create
buzz, you should be able to answer these questions:
• From whom do your clients or customers typically
learn about your product?
• What do people say when they recommend your
product?
• How fast does information about your product
spread compared with other products?
• Who are the network hubs?
• Where doest the information hit a roadblock?
• How many sources of information does a
customer rely on? Which ones are more important?
• What other kinds of information spread through
the same networks?
It’s crucial to understand that buzz about a product
never spreads as simply as the two-step flow model
would indicate—from company to media and mega-
hubs, and from these hubs to the public. Yet the two-
step model has been blithely assumed by countless
18
companies over the years. There are two traps
companies can fall into. The first is thinking that
creating buzz is all about network hubs. If you
exclusively focus on the two-step flow model, you can
leap to the dangerous conclusion that direct
communications with your customers is not important.
The second potential trap lies in a narrow interpretation
of the term “network hubs.” Almost all companies try to
go after network hubs. But there’s a big difference
between going after an elite group of forty influencers
and going after a broad, less visible population of four
thousand of them. Numbers make a big difference in
getting the word out. Many experts agree that the
percentage of opinion leaders on average in the
population is about 10 to 15 percent. But in practice,
marketers sometimes target just a handful of
“influencers”—not the full 10%.
The best buzz comes not from clever PR or advertising
but rather from attributes inherent to the product itself.
Contagious products can be grouped into six
categories, as follows:
1. Products that evoke an emotional response.
For most products and services it is usually the
feeling of excitement and delight you get when
your expectations are exceeded.
2. Products that advertise themselves. This type
of product creates visual buzz by generating
excitement simply by people viewing them in
action.
3. Products that leave traces. These are products
that self-propagate by leaving traces of
themselves behind—paper trails or other
evidence of their passing.
4. Products that become more useful as more
people use them. Telephone, fax, and email
are examples.
5. Products that are compatible. Products that fit
peoples preexisting beliefs spread faster.
6. Products that “do the rest”. Products that are
easy to use spread faster because customers
are hungry for simplicity. Example: Kodak’s
 first camera copy line, “You press the button,
we do the rest.” When a customer has to
explain just one step, her likelihood of
completing the ‘sales pitch’ successfully is
much higher than if she had to describe seven
steps.
ALWAYS EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!
Cisco Systems, for example, serves network
administrators who virtually live online, so you’d expect
Cisco to use online methods to spread the word about
its products. They do. But Cisco doesn’t limit itself to the
online world. The company organizes more than one
thousand seminars every year to meet potential
customers face to face, they organize networking
events for their current customers, and they attend
dozens of trade shows. Relationships with many
customers start via face-to-face communication. The
Net is used to maintain those relationships.
DOES MADISON AVENUE STILL MATTER?
The truth is that very few products can rely on buzz
alone. When used correctly, advertising can help buzz.
However, it’s also worth noting that ads can sometimes
hurt genuine word of mouth. So in this chapter I want to
focus on answering three questions:
1. Can advertising stimulate buzz? Absolutely. A
good ad can help get people talking. (The
shockvirus approach). It does so by jump-
starting the process, reaching hubs, reassuring
buyers, and getting the facts straight.
2. Can advertising simulate buzz? What about
ads that masquerade as word of mouth? This
is a tricky topic. You have to understand that
an ad can hardly ever enjoy the credibility of
buzz. Consider the “friendly” tone, testimonial
advertising.
3. Can advertising kill buzz? Although there are
many good reasons to advertise, advertising is
a tool that should be used very cautiously if
you want to promote buzz. Because
19
advertising can also kill buzz when people feel
that someone is shoving the message down
their throats.
The six rules about ads and buzz:
1. Keep it simple. Message needs to be simple to
be easily passed along.
2. Tell us what’s new. Fluff doesn’t travel well.
Keep it relevant and news worthy.
3. Don’t make claims you can’t support. Don’t tell
customers you care without proving it.
4. Ask your customers to articulate what’s special
about your product or service. Just ask!
5. Start measuring buzz. Very few ad agencies
pretest for conversational impact. Helpful to
ask two questions: Will the ad help network
hubs answer questions they may get from
other people in the networks? Will the ad
stimulate members of the network to seek
information from network hubs?
6. Listen to buzz. Monitor the network. Improve
messaging.
The extensive buzz about high tech products is also
driven by their complexity which makes them difficult to
evaluate. Talking with current users of a certain
software package helps customers reduce the risk
associated with the purchase.
Seth Godin, Unleashing the Ideavirus: Why do some
viruses burn out more quickly than others? The simplest
reason is that marketers get greedy and forget that a
short-term virus is not the end of the process, it’s the
beginning. By nurturing the attention you receive, you
can build a self reinforcing virus that lasts and lasts and
benefits all involved. Admit that few viruses last forever.
Embrace the lifestyle of the virus.
REPORT ON THE FIRST EVER WOMMA SUMMIT
Held in Chicago on March 29, 30 was the first ever
summit meeting for the newly formed Word Of Mouth
Marketing Association. (Reprinted from my weblog at
www.keithbates.blogspot.com on March 31, 2005)
First WOMMA Summit (March 29-30, 2005) a
smashing success. Word of mouth marketing is
obviously an idea whose time has come.
On day one of the Summit, in the opening letter from
my WOMMA folder I found a message, “There’s a
sense of history in the air. Can you feel it?”
I felt it. And what followed was two of the most
rewarding days I’ve had in years.
As I wrapped up my role of moderator for the last two
sessions of an incredible two days I sensed a
reluctance to leave among the 350 attendees who
jammed Chicago’s Intercontinental Hotel. The heart
warming camaraderie was coming to a close as the
world’s first-ever word of mouth marketing conference
came to an end. WOMMA CEO Andy Sernovitz
(andy@womma.com) had just pulled off what seemed
like an impossible, Herculean task.
The closing of the first day’s session, the halfway
point, found nearly 300 people, not at all tired from
a day’s worth of marathon speeches but full of
enthusiasm, hopping onto a bus for a long evening
of storytelling at the beautiful downtown Chicago
Reza’s restaurant on West Ontario. This event ran
until 10:00 (your author, a little older than most of
the crowd, went home at 9:00)
In only a few short months of existence WOMMA (Word
of Mouth Marketing Association) www.womma.com,
generated over 100 charter members and rounded up
attendees from all over the world (Austria, Brazil,
Canada, Poland, Singapore are only a few of the dozen
the author can recall) to fill the Grand Ballroom. With no
advertising, using word of mouth only, WOMMA
outgrew the original venue and had to relocate at the
20
last minute. The last two days represented an incredible
learning experience even to me who has immersed
himself in word of mouth and viral marketing for the
past four years.
One of the things I learned, somewhat to my
consternation, is that Viral Marketing, which is what I
have been pursuing aggressively, is not the end-all of
WOM, but in fact a subset of this awesome
communications tactic. In a very well done hand-out
from Greg Wester of Soapbox Marketing he makes the
point that we, as WOM practitioners, need to go beyond
viral marketing pointing out that VM is “a form of
marketing reliant upon the transfer of a pre-fabricated
marketing message between and amongst consumers,
a form of digital marketing hyped by email technology
providers and advergame developers.” He goes on to
say that “the result of this confusion is that marketers
wise enough to focus on improving word of mouth often
unwisely limit their scope to ‘viral’ marketing. Word of
mouth marketing includes any marketing where
consumers are responsible for the message’s content
and/or message distribution. ‘Viral’ is only one form.”
This WOMMA conference was the forming of a new
industry in America, complete with ethics code,
standards council, education council, and buyers
guide … all readily available at www.womma.org.
A blue ribbon panel of speakers included a stirring
presentation by Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, best
selling authors Emanuel Rosen, Ben McConnell and
Jackie Huba, Ed Keller, George Silverman and Mark
Hughes … plus 47 other luminaries from the world of
marketing, advertising and public relations including my
friend Paul Rand, head of Ketchum’s global technology
practice and developer of IRM (Influencer Relations
Management).
An exhilarating time was had by all. In addition to the
exciting presentations, and very-well done (and brief)
PowerPoints, was an exciting luncheon exercise put on
by Jackie Huba, co-author of Creating Customer
Evangelists. Jackie and Ben have written a small
paperback supplement to their big book and handed out
copies to everyone over a box lunch on Wednesday to
support a little exercise. Each person was assigned a
table and then a chapter within the book to study and
discuss per a round table discussion. The comments
and results were then gathered for review by the
WOMMA group for publishing. It made for a very vocal,
fun filled lunch hour.
One point made repeatedly that I think is important to
share is the issue of whether WOM is a BtoC or BtoB
phenomenon. The answer is both! It is equally effective
whether consumer or business focused. Because the
consumer approach is so highly visible it gets most of
the press (Subservient Chicken, Oprah’s Pontiac’s) but
there were endless exciting BtoB stories covering
businesses ranging from the pharmaceutical industry to
a Chicago area Automotive Consulting Group. When
Emanuel Rosen announced from the stage that I was
developing a white paper on WOM to be published by
the newly formed ITA (Illinois Information Technology
Association-- formerly the Chicago Software
Association), I was approached by innumerable people
offering me their cards with promises of BtoB stories to
share.
Another important point that was made is that WOM
is now a mainstream marketing tool, part of the
total marcom mix, not necessarily limited to the
domain of PR firms, or marketing companies, or ad
agencies … but to anyone who has an interest in
marketing communications that can put the
process in motion. It’s not always the fastest, but it
is by far the most potent. And in fact it is typically
better started by an internal company evangelist
and then supported, or sustained, by outside
professionals.
A title that should soon be appearing on the client side,
in addition to VP or Director of Marketing, should be
Online Community Manager, Customer Evangelist, or
21
perhaps most appropriately traditional Product
Managers should morph into, or assume the additional
duties of, Word of Mouth Manager. I think the key issue
is that full responsibility must reside with a single
empowered individual who should be as close to the
CEO as the CMO … or closer!
Today’s blog is totally inadequate for presenting all the
great material that speakers shared with the audience
but a few that stood out from my own personal
perspective were the following:
From Andy Sernovitz, WOMMA CEO, in his opening
remarks: … there are two visions of the future
concerning what we do, our industry, and our jobs …
and we must make a conscious choice regarding each
as we move forward. Do we, as WOM practitioners,
want to be viewed as the voice of the consumer—or
manipulators? As partners in a unified WOM industry—
or isolated niche specialists? As marketing pros—or
experimenters on the edge? In order for the WOM
industry to grow and flourish it is obvious that we must
vigorously pursue the former alternative in each case,
and vigorously reject the latter.
From Pete Blackshaw of Intelliseek, cofounder of
WOMMA: Consumer-Generated Media (CGM)
describes a variety of new sources of online information
that are created, initiated, circulated and used by
consumers intent on educating each other about
products, brands, services, personalities and issues.
Ever growing in number and format on the Internet,
CGM refers to any number of online word-of-mouth
vehicles, including but not limited to: consumer-to-
consumer email, postings on public Internet discussion
boards and forums, consumer ratings web sites or
forums, blogs (short for weblogs, or digital diaries),
moblogs (sites where users post digital
images/photos/movies), social networking web sites
and individual web sites. Although influenced or
stimulated by traditional marketers and marketing
activities, online word of mouth is nonetheless owned
and controlled by consumers, and it often carries far
higher credibility and trust than traditional media,
especially as media channels become more fragmented
and less trusted. The growth of its influence poses
challenges and opportunities for marketers.
From Emanuel Rosen, ten questions to ask yourself
before your next marcom campaign: 1) Does this
product lend itself to WOM? 2) Are we reinforcing the
concept and the message behind the product? 3) Can
we release information gradually? 4) Are we giving our
customers something to talk about? 5) Do we give them
an opportunity to get involved? 6) Are we making it
easy to spread the word? 7) Can we stimulate
interaction between customers? 8) Can we identify
network hubs by category? By their activism? Through
surveys? 9) Are we seeding the networks? 10) How is
this campaign going to affect the network hubs
credibility?
Another note: For all of us who grew up in direct
response you may want to know that WOM lends
itself particularly well to test marketing. In other
words build a small flame first, and then use it to
fan the flames of a conflagration…after learning
what your market responds to.
And in taking your product to market keep in mind that
while case studies are important, stories resonate
better, because all people are innate story tellers.
From David Ries of DEI, eight simple rules of WOM: 1)
treat people like they’re smart and savvy—because
they are. 2) relate to people as individuals. 3) reach
people on their terms. 4) give people a way to tell you
what they think—and take it seriously when they do. 5)
conversation/test is the new medium. 6) useful
information is the currency of influence. 7) let go of
corporate control of the message. 8) you get what you
22
pay for.
From Rick Murray of Edelman, five words to consider:
Insight, into consumers. Creativity, bellwether of great
campaigns. Integration, of PR, ads, clients.
Measurement, because we need to know what a home
run looks like before we start the game. Courage, to
break with tradition.
From Keith Bates: If you’re reading my blog regularly
you know that it was established almost two years ago
to share my knowledge and experience with both viral
marketing and word of mouth and that it’s goal has
been to help readers understand the process well
enough to know where to turn for help. Awareness of
word of mouth is growing exponentially in the press and
in the marketplace…and now you have the best
resource anywhere ... www.womma.org.
Visit their site, join the organization. Read the
PowerPoint PDF’s soon to be available from the
Summit. Tell Andy that Keith sent you. Participate, and
share your experiences so that all of us who believe in
the power of WOM can do an even better job for our
clients and our customers. A big two thumbs up for
WOMMA, and for Andy Sernovitz.
WOMMA published its draft Ethics Code for the
word of mouth marketing industry on February 9,
2005. This is a first step in the complicated process of
building an industry based on consumer respect and
fundamental ethical principles. The essence of the
WOMMA Code comes down to the Honesty ROI:
• Honesty of Relationship: You say who you're
speaking for
• Honesty of Opinion: You say what you believe
• Honesty of Identity: You never obscure your
identity.
For more information visit www.womma.org
 WOM’S NATURE
as prescribed by its authors
and practitioners
Regis McKenna, Word of Mouth
Ì Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point
Ì Seth Godin, Unleashing the Ideavirus
Ì Emanuel Rosen, The Anatomy of Buzz
Ì George Silverman, The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing
Jackie Huba/Ben McConnell, Creating Customer Evangelists
Ed Keller and Jon Berry, The Influentials
Paul Rand, Ketchum
Viral+Buzz Marketing Association
Andy Sernovitz, WOMMA

Keith Bates is personally acquainted with nearly all of the people above,
many of whom have had a powerful influence in shaping his knowledge and
opinions regarding word of mouth and viral marketing over the past four years.

23
 Regis McKenna,
Word of Mouth

The difference between word of mouth and all other forms of

communication include:
• It is an experienced process, rather than an observed one. The
message in word of mouth is embodied in a living, breathing, emotional
person.
HOW TO START A WORD-
• The message is tuned to the individual listener. It is changed, simplified,
OF-MOUTH CAMPAIGN
The Message. Word of
altered, embellished and verified for each person.
mouth is not appropriate for • The credibility of the speaker carries over to the message immediately.
all communication. The
message itself has to be • Experts can be used in this medium without the negative effect of
developed and analyzed.
Word of mouth is most commercializing his or her position and message.
effective when one wants to
• Efficiency; While word of mouth takes time to disseminate, the message
build credibility and establish
lasting ties or when com- is delivered directly to those who must use me information and act on it.
mitment is most critical. It is
effective when the message • Feedback is instantaneous: agreement, disagreement, understanding,
must carry intangibles such
as commitment, credibility not understanding.
appeal, adaptability and
support.
THE 90-10 RULE
Segmentation. You must
break down the network into By now one might be saying, "Okay, by talking to everyone in the world we
manageable pieces and
identify major influences can better communicate our message. That's not practical or possible:' Right!
within each segment. This
task must be done by
But the 90-10 rule states that 90 percent of the world is influenced by the
knowledgeable, experi- other 10 percent.
enced people. Unlike other
promotional tools, word of There are probably no more than 20 or 30 people in any one industry who
mouth requires someone who
"knows" the influencing have a major impact on trends, standards, opinion and a company's image or
factors.
character.
Analyze the segment. Ask
the question, "How does Certainly we know this is true in the media and financial community. While
information pass within each
segment and how are the there may be dozens of magazines and mountains of analysis covering an
segments linked?" Then ask,
"Who are the most influential industry, only several have real influence and impact.
people within each
segment?" This is true within companies as well. A relatively few people hold the key to
Pick the targets. Make a list power in any organization. This is not to say that these key influences are
of the 20 or 30 major
easy to reach. A memo may reach them easier, but credible word-of-mouth
influences and assign the
most credible members of the approach will be far more influential and effective.
organization to deliver the
message.

24
 Malcolm Gladwell,
The Tipping Point
In this brilliant and groundbreaking book, New Yorker writer Malcolm
Gladwell looks at why major changes in our society so often happen
suddenly and unexpectedly. Ideas, behavior, messages, and products, he
argues, often spread like outbreaks of infectious disease. Just as a single
sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a few fare-beaters
CONTENTS
and graffiti artists fuel a subway crime wave, or a satisfied customer fill the
1. The Three Rules of empty tables of a new restaurant. These are social epidemics, and the
Epidemics.
moment when they take off, when they reach their critical mass, is the
2. The Law of the Few: Tipping Point.
Connectors, Mavens,
and Salesmen
Gladwell introduces us to the particular personality types who are natural
3. The Stickiness pollinators of new ideas and trends, the people who create the phenomenon
Factor: Sesame Street,
Blue's Clues, and the of word of mouth. He analyzes fashion trends, smoking, children's
Educational Virus television, direct mail, and the early days of the American Revolution for
4. The Power of clues about making ideas infectious, and visits a religious commune, a
Context (Part One):
Bernie Goetz and the successful high-tech company, and one of the world's greatest salesmen to
Rise and Fall of New show how to start and sustain social epidemics.
York City Crime
5. The Power of What You'll Learn In The Tipping Point:
Context (Part Two):
The Magic Number Directions for reaching a Tipping Point. You'll learn how the three rules of
One Hundred and Fifty the Tipping Point -- the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the
6. Case Study: Power of Context -- offer a way of making sense of epidemics.
Rumors, Sneakers,
and the Power of How to choose the people who will spread the epidemic. Spreading the
Translation
word depends on people who are either experts or possessed with a rare
7. Case Study: Suicide,
Smoking, and the set of social gifts. You'll learn how to identify mavens, connectors, and
Search for the Unsticky salesmen (persuaders).
Cigarette
8. Conclusion: Focus, The importance of memorable product exposure. The Presentation is
Test, and Believe everything. If your product is not inherently exciting you must position your
message so that it is, and has the ability to move people.

Understanding the power of context. You'll learn to become sensitive to the

circumstances and conditions of times and places, those specific and
relatively small elements in the environment can serve as Tipping Points.
The paradox of the epidemic (viral marketing) is that in order to create one
contagious movement; you often have to create many small movements
first.

25

What You’ll Learn
In Unleashing The
Ideavirus
Why ideas matter. In this
section you'll learn about
the holy grail for people
who deal in ideas, how to
create an environment
where consumers market
to each other, the key
steps to building a virus, 6
reasons why ideaviruses
are so important, 5 things
ideaviruses have in
common, and 7 ways an
ideavirus can help you.
How to unleash an
ideavirus. Learn why you
must focus on "sneezers"
those people best
qualified to start an
epidemic, why unleashing
and ideavirus is more than
simple word of mouth, and
thirteen question ideavirus
marketers must have
answered.
Understanding the
ideavirus formula. How
to tweak the formula and
make it work plus a look
at the eight underlying
variables that impact
success.
Seth Godin,
Unleashing the Ideavirus
If you don't have time to read the whole book, here's what it says:
Marketing by interrupting people isn't cost-effective anymore. You can't afford
to seek out people and send them unwanted marketing messages, in large
groups, and hope that some will send you money. Instead, the future belongs
to marketers who establish a foundation and process where interested people
can market to each other. Ignite consumer networks and then get out of the
way and let them talk.
Why Ideas Matter. The holy grail for anyone who traffics in ideas is this: to
unleash an ideavirus. An idea that just sits there is worthless. But an idea that
moves and grows and infects everyone it touches ...that's an ideavirus. An
ideavirus is a big idea that runs amok across the target audience. Word of
mouth is not new it's just different now. Ideaviruses give us increasing
returns, word of mouth dies out, but ideaviruses get bigger. And finally,
ideaviruses are the currency of the future. While ideaviruses aren't new,
they're important because we're obsessed with the new, and an ideavirus is
always about the new.
The key steps for Internet companies looking to build a virus are:
• Create a newsworthy online experience that's either totally new or
makes the user's life much better. Or makes an offline experience
better/faster/cheaper so that switching is worth the hassle.
• Have the idea behind your online experience go viral, bringing you a
large chunk of the group you're targeting without having to spend a
fortune advertising the new service.
• Fill the vacuum in the marketplace with your version of the idea, so
that competitors now have a very difficult time of un-teaching your
virus and starting their own.
• Achieve "lock in" by creating larger and larger costs to switching
from your service to someone else's.
• Get permission from users to maintain an ongoing dialogue so you
can turn the original attention into a beneficial experience for users
and an ongoing profit stream for you.
• Continue creating noteworthy online experiences to further spread
new viruses, starting with your core audience of raving fans.
26
 Emanuel Rosen,
The Anatomy of Buzz

Emanuel Rosen, with nine years experience as Marketing VP for a Silicon

Valley software company, here illuminates the reality of how "buzz" can be
launched and managed so as to more rapidly reach a critical mass (the
tipping point) of adopters for one's innovation.

CONTENTS What You'll Learn In The Anatomy of Buzz

Part One. How Buzz
Spreads How buzz spreads. You'll learn that buzz is all the word of mouth about a

1. What is Buzz? brand, which it spreads through invisible networks of very special people,
2. The Invisible that we talk because we're programmed to talk, and that nothing happens
Networks
3. Why We Talk without the establishment of network hubs. You'll also learn the structure of
4. Network Hubs these networks and about the energy and credibility required to make it
5. It's a Small World.
So What? work.
6. How Buzz Spreads
How to assure success. You'll learn that some products evoke and
Part Two. Success In emotional response, some advertise themselves, some leave traces, others
The Networks
become more useful as people use them, products that are compatible, that
7. Contagious Products
8. Accelerating Natural "do the rest", and the power of gossip. And you'll learn that there's still a
Contagion need for traditional advertising, promotion and PR to accelerate the whole

Part Three. process but that the timing of this stuff is critical. It's called Leapfrogging,
Stimulating Buzz and it builds momentum.

9. Working with How to stimulate the spread of buzz. You'll learn how to identify and
Network Hubs
10. Active Seeding nurture network hubs, the importance and techniques of "seeding", the
11. The Elements of a importance of having a good story. You'll learn to think of viral marketing as
Good Story
12. Viral Marketing a buzz accelerator and that very few products can rely on buzz alone. But
13. Does Madison ads can hurt as well as help. Plus skills at channel deployment. And lastly
Avenue Still Matter?
14. Buzz in Distribution examples of people who did it and how, followed by a Buzz Workshop
Channels chapter that Seth Godin says "by itself is worth the entire price of the book!"
15. Putting It Together
16. Buzz Workshop Does Madison Avenue still matter? Yes! The truth is that very few
products can rely on buzz alone. Six rules about ads and buzz: keep it
simple, tell us what's new, don't make claims you can't support, ask your
customers to articulate what's special about your product or service, start
measuring buzz, and listen to the buzz. Can advertising kill buzz? Yes, if it's
shoved down their throats, or perceived to be dishonest.

27

CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1-Dominating
Your Market By Shortening
The Customer Decision
Cycle
CHAPTER 2-The Power of
Word of Mouth
CHAPTER 3-The Nine
Levels of Word of Mouth
CHAPTER 4-Harnessing
Word of Mouth
CHAPTER 5-Using Word of
Mouth to Speed the
Decision Process
CHAPTER 6-Delivering the
Message
CHAPTER 7-Viral
Marketing
CHAPTER 8-Researching
Word of Mouth
CHAPTER 9-Constructing a
Word-of-Mouth Campaign
CHAPTER 10-Word of
Mouth, the "Tried and True"
Way
CHAPTER 11-Campaign
Methods That Work Best
t #24. There are many ways of producing and delivering "canned" word of mouth
CHAPTER 12-Practical
Tips and Suggestions
CHAPTER 13-The Secrets
of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
CHAPTER 14-An Allegory:
The Emperor's New
Marketing
CHAPTER 15-The Future
George Silverman,
The Secrets of Word of Mouth
Marketing
Twenty-Eight Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
#1. Selling is mostly an illusion.
#2. By influencing word of mouth directly, sales can routinely be increased three
to ten times or more!
#3. Single most effective method for speeding up decisions is word of mouth.
#4. Word of mouth is as easy to structure and use as traditional advertising.
#5. Word of mouth is literally thousands of times as powerful as advertising.
#6. Word of mouth is paradoxically the most powerful and most neglected force
in marketing.
#7. It is almost impossible for your product to succeed unless it has massive
positive word of mouth.
#8. Word of mouth either explodes at an exponential rate or it fizzles.
#9. There are over a dozen reasons why word of mouth is so powerful. All of
these reasons, once understood, can be turned to your advantage.
#10. The overriding characteristic that gives word of mouth its power: word of
#11. There are many different types of word of mouth, all potentially controllable.
#12. Different types of decision makers need different types of word of mouth at
each stage of the decision cycle.
#13. As important as content is, the sequence and source are just as important.
#14. There are basically two levels of word of mouth, expert and peer, and their
relative power varies at different stages of the decision cycle.
#15. In word of mouth marketing, confirmation and verification are more
important that information.
#16. In word of mouth marketing, you are navigating spheres of influence.
#17. Experts are more approachable that ordinary people, but only through total
honesty.
#18. Credibility is more important in an expert than fame.
#19. There are many reliable mechanisms for delivering word of mouth.
#20. Word of mouth must be approach systematically, as a campaign.
#21. The word of mouth among your sales force can be more important than the
word of mouth among your customers.
#22. There is a specific way to research the naturally occurring word of mouth so
that you can identify exactly what your customers are actually saying.
#23. There is a way to experiment with ways to influence the natural word of
mouth and verify that it is in fact persuasive.
that are almost as powerful as live, spontaneous word of mouth.
#25. Paradoxically, in word of mouth, unlike in conventional marketing,
negatives can be more reassuring than positives about the product.
#26. "Word-of-mouth advertising is a contradiction in terms.
#27. In word of mouth marketing, any perceived attempt to influence the content
will totally invalidate the communication.
#28. The usual rules of advertising and salesmanship are often
counterproductive in word of mouth marketing.
28

From their research into the
best practices of some of
the most forward-thinking
companies, McConnell and
Huba outline and explain
the six basic tenets of
creating customer
evangelists:
Customer plus-delta:
Continuously gather
customer feedback.
Napsterize knowledge:
Make it a point to share
knowledge freely.
Build the buzz: Expertly
build word-of-mouth
networks.
Create community:
Encourage communities of
customers to meet and
share.
Make bite-size chunks:
Devise specialized, smaller
offering to get customers to
bite.
Create a cause: Focus on
making the world, or your
industry, better.
And from Guy Kawasaki…
“Sales is rooted in what’s
good for me. Evangelism is
rooted in what’s good for
you.”
Jackie Huba/Ben McConnell,
Creating Customer Evangelists
You are an evangelist. You tell others what movie to see, which computer to
purchase, what restaurant to visit, which dentist you prefer, which cell phone to buy,
which books to read, which clubs to join. Your recommendations are sincere.
Passionate, perhaps. Perhaps you didn't realize that you are an evangelist-a
bringer of glad tidings-but your sphere of influence, made up of friends, family,
colleagues, and professional communities, realizes it.
HOW TO SPOT EVANGELISTS AND WHAT TO DO WITH TH EM
People talk about you. They talk about your company, your products and services,
and your personality. Many say nice things, and some are absolutely gushy with
their praise. Would you like to know who they are? How do you find your
evangelists? Short of spy cams and hidden microphones, it's not difficult to find
your evangelists. Here are a few ideas.
Scan the Web using your favorite search engine and discover where you are
mentioned online and by whom. Make note of everyone who compliments your
products and services and everyone who criticizes them. For the people who love
you, send them a hand-written thank-you note. Invite them in to a special club with
other evangelists where they get inside information about products and services.
Make them feel extra special. For those who take issue with your products or
services, find a way to contact them via e-mail or ask if it's OK to talk on the phone.
The difference between an unhappy customer and an evangelist is often just a
phone call. More than anything, unhappy customers just want to be heard and
acknowledged. Grant an unhappy customer that wish.
Ask prospective customers specifically how they discovered you. If it was
from a friend or colleague, ask the prospect for the name of the referrer. Keep
detailed records of how people discovered you. With some of our clients,
we create a Buzz Map, which illustrates the actual routes of how they landed
customers via word of mouth. A map of customer connections quickly illuminates
your biggest evangelists.
If you have an opt-in e-mail list, add a field that asks how people discovered
you. Continually refine the quantifiable nature of this field. You want to gather as
much information as possible from this field, especially if the referrals are from
people. Those are your evangelists!
Be an active participant in e-mail discussion lists and online bulletin boards
that your customers frequent. Watch for customers who post recommendations
about you. Cultivate relationships with them. Keep them in your loop.
Use Web site tracking software to understand how Web site visitors discover
you. If customers, prospects, fans, or evangelists link to your site, do not send
them a cease-and-desist letter. This creates customer vigilantes, not customer
evangelists. Do not let your corporate counsel argue that fan sites contribute to
brand dilution. This is pure crap espoused by prosecutorial-minded lawyers intent
on making customers play by ridiculous notions of trademark protection. (Note:
Protect your trademarks against competitors, not customers.) En- courage links to
your site, wherever fans would like to create them. Provide fans with pictures of
your products, logos, movies, animations-anything that makes them feel connected
to you. They are your volunteer sales force.
29
 Ed Keller and Jon Berry,
The Influentials
One American in ten tells the other nine how to vote, where to eat, and what to
buy. They are The Influentials.

Who are they? The most influential Americans-- the ones who tell their
neighbors what to buy, which politicians to support, and where to vacation--are
not necessarily the people you'd expect. They're not America's most affluent 10
percent or best-educated 10 percent. They're not the "early adopters," always
the first to try everything from Franco-Polynesian fusion cooking to digital
cameras. They are, however, the 10 percent of Americans most engaged in
CONTENTS their local communities . . . and they wield a huge amount of influence within
those communities. They're the campaigners for open-space initiatives. They're
1. Who Are The
church vestrymen and friends of the local public library. They're the Influentials
Influentials?
. . . and whether or not they are familiar to you, they're very well known to the
2. The Influential
Personality. researchers at RoperASW. For decades, these researchers have been on a
3. The Influence quest for marketing's holy grail: that elusive but supremely powerful channel
Spiral: How known as word of mouth. What they've learned is that even more important
Influentials Get And
Spread Ideas. than the "word"--what is said, is the "mouth"--who says it.
4. The Message Of
SIX RULES FOR GETTING INTO THE CONVERSATION
Influentials: The Age
Of Autonomy And
The Rise Of Self- WHAT'S YOUR INFLUENTIAL STRATEGY?" If you've not asked yourself this
Reliance. question already, you should. To succeed today, you need to connect with the
5. The Influential people who are at the center of the conversation. Business, government, and
Vision: Seven Trends
nonprofit organizations need to have influential strategies just as they need
For The Future.
marketing, advertising, public relations, promotion, or Internet strategies.
6. Developing An
Influential Strategy:
Specifically, you should make sure you are reaching the decision makers who
Six Rules For Getting
Into The are influential in others' decisions. You should know where the opinion leaders
Conversation.
get their ideas--the kinds of publications they read, the programs they watch,
the radio stations they listen to, and the Web sites they go to. You should make
sure you don't have the door shut when opinion leaders come to you with a
complaint or question. You should be out in the community to make sure you're
listening to opinion leaders' concerns. You should pay attention to what's
happening in opinion leaders' lives, the issues that opinion leaders are reading
up on, the problems they are focused on, and their short-and long-term goals.
Companies should be asking themselves if their products and services,
environmental stance, and corporate practices are consonant with opinion
leaders' expectations. What the opinion leaders say and think about companies
has more of an impact on what their customers are thinking and doing than
companies realize.

30

"In a time when people drown
in information, influentials play
a crucial role in how people
think and act. They serve to
filter and validate information
for people who want trusted
counsel," said Paul M. Rand, a
Ketchum partner and leader of
the IRM development team.
"Ketchum IRM becomes a
marketer's new currency in
strengthening relationships
with its most powerful and
vocal advocates."
Ketchum used to draw up lists
of 2,000-3,000 names, but the
IRM system focuses on 150-
200- "the cream of the crop,"
said Paul Rand, director of
Ketchum's global technology
practice in Chicago and head
of the IRM practice. 'We as an
industry are going through a
big evolution; what typically
worked in the past does not
necessarily work today," said
Rand.
Paul Rand,
Partner, Director, Global Technology Practice, and
Managing Director, Chicago office
Ketchum Public Relations
NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2003 - Ketchum, capturing the growing importance
of influencers in shaping buying decisions, today launched Ketchum Influencer
Relationship ManagementSM (Ketchum IRM). The proprietary program identifies
and reaches that select group of people who, for each company or organization,
mold the perceptions and behaviors of customers and decision makers. The
global initiative features a customized Web-based portal to manage and
measure relationships with these influencers.
Ketchum IRM embraces a proven seven-step process and a proprietary
technology infrastructure. The secure portal database, overseen by a certified
Ketchum team, captures key data on each influencer, making it simple to
manage the program's progress.
The offering reflects Ketchum's extensive experience helping companies
work more closely with the key individuals and small groups that can affect --
positively or negatively -- broad market perceptions and behaviors quickly and
directly. Several Fortune 500 companies have piloted the program successfully
to accelerate the effectiveness of their overall marketing campaigns.
Ketchum IRM extends far beyond traditional influencers such as media,
government and analysts to include others whose opinions and advice people
trust highly. Researchers at RoperASW indicate that consumers and buyers
increasingly look to this mix of key individuals or small groups possessing
specific, relevant knowledge that can help simplify how they think and act.
"Today, a fragmented market has made it possible for buyers and
decision makers to opt out of mass-market advertising, which means a different
route must be taken to capture their hearts and minds," said Ed Keller, chief
executive officer of RoperASW and co-author of The Influentials: One American
in Ten Tells the Other Nine How to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy. "The
Ketchum IRM program is a thoughtful and organized approach to help get
influencers on your side."
Directly reaching consumers, buyers and other key targets is getting
tougher. The typical consumer faces information overload, bombarded by
10,000 to 30,000 commercial messages daily, plus an additional 200 or so
personalized messages in the form of phone calls, e-mails, faxes and memos.
Add recent questioning of corporate credibility to this mix and it's easy to
see why an outbreak of recent books, articles and stories question the value of
simply using current mass-advertising and mass-marketing strategies while
highlighting the growing importance of influencers.
31

viral+buzz
marketing association
The Viral & Buzz
Marketing Association
(VBMA) is an international
group for the
development, validation
and promotion of
consumer-oriented
marketing trends and
techniques.
Our members are viral and
buzz marketing practitioners
and academics who
specialize in consumer-
focused marketing. We aim
to create international
collaborations, swap case
studies, develop best practice
and dispel the myths
surrounding viral and buzz
marketing in order to help it
become more widely
accepted as a credible, key
part of brands overall
marketing activities.
If you would like to apply to
join and help drive the VBMA,
please click on
www.vbma.net
All members of the VBMA
share the conviction that Viral
Marketing, Buzz Marketing
and Word-of-Mouth
Marketing (and other related
marketing approaches that
harness network-enhanced
word of mouth) are based on
the principles outlined on
www.vbma.net/mission.html
VBMA Global
(Viral + Buzz Marketing Association)
VBMA Manifesto 1: Mission and Affiliation
All members of the VBMA share the conviction that Viral Marketing, Buzz
Marketing and Word-of-Mouth Marketing (and other related marketing approaches
that harness network-enhanced word of mouth) are based on the principles
outlined below, and that we work constantly on improving these marketing
techniques:
1) We strive to identify only those people who will be interested in a particular
marketing message; deliver the message to them in a way that makes it an
enjoyable or valuable experience; provide it in a manner that encourages them to
share it with others.
We will therefore be providing a benefit to our audiences and their acquaintances
and in so doing, to the brands for which we work.
2) Our goal is to foster genuine enthusiasm about brands and brand
communications, which can spread through networks in a way that is enjoyed,
appreciated and / or valued.
3) We believe that network-enhanced word of mouth has a critical role to play in
the future of integrated marketing communications. Marketers need to offer
content in the media and through one-to-one connections that the recipients
themselves choose to propagate to those that they deem appropriate, thereby
eliminating irrelevant, untimely and (as a consequence) annoying marketing
messages.
4) We believe that whatever our target, we will always be dealing with educated
people who detect when they are being deceived.
These people appreciate brands that find smart ways to entertain, educate or
inform them. They are well-informed in the area of marketing, peer-to-peer
exchange and consumption, enabling them to function as partners and
stakeholders in marketing communication activities. As partners, we treat these
people with care and respect. We will not only develop or send information or
content to them, but will also listen to their opinions. We value their contributions.
Our audience-centric vision of connected marketing seeks to put the target
networks at the center of marketing.
These positions are unifying principles shared by all members of the VBMA. We
agree that working in this field is considered acceptable, professional and
valuable when these principles are respected.
Companies or individuals who do not adhere to these principles are not
considered to be carrying out viral/buzz/word-of-mouth marketing by the VBMA.
32

WOMMA is Word of
Mouth Marketing, Andy
Sernovitz its founding
CEO.
WOMMA is the official
trade association for the
word of mouth marketing
industry. WOMMA’s
mission is to promote and
improve word of mouth
marketing by:
y Protecting consumers
and the industry with
strong ethical guidelines.
y Promoting WOM as an
effective marketing tool.
y Setting standards to
encourage its use.
WOMMA members are
building a prosperous
word of mouth (WOM)
marketing profession.
Thriving markets are built
on best practices,
effective standards, and
ethical leadership. Those
are the qualities that bring
WOMMA members
together -- and we hope
that you will join us if you
share these values.
You can explore WOMMA
at www.womma.org.
Andy Sernovitz,
WOMMA
(Word of Mouth Marketing Association)
What is Word of Mouth Marketing?
Word of mouth is a pre-existing phenomenon that marketers are only now
learning how to harness, amplify, and improve. Word of mouth marketing isn't
about creating word of mouth -- it's learning how to make it work within a
marketing objective.
That said, word of mouth can be encouraged and facilitated. Companies can
work hard to make people happier, they can listen to consumers, they can
make it easier for them to tell their friends, and they can make certain that
influential individuals know about the good qualities of a product or service.
Word of mouth marketing empowers people to share their experiences. It's
harnessing the voice of the customer for the good of the brand. And it's
acknowledging that the unsatisfied customer is equally powerful.
Word of mouth can't be faked or invented. Attempting to fake word of mouth
is unethical and creates a backlash, damages the brand, and tarnishes the
corporate reputation. Legitimate word of mouth marketing acknowledges
consumers’ intelligence -- it never attempts to fool them. Ethical marketers
reject all tactics related to manipulation, deception, infiltration, or dishonesty.
All word of mouth marketing techniques are based on the concepts of
customer satisfaction, two-way dialog, and transparent communications. The
basic elements are:
• Educating people about your products and services
• Identifying people most likely to share their opinions
• Providing tools that make it easier to share information
• Studying how, where, and when opinions are being shared
• Listening and responding to supporters, detractors, and neutrals
33
 …to add wings to your marketing, spurs to your sales
Conclusion—Call to Action
Now that we understand the concept behind word
of mouth marketing and the various tools required
for its implementation perhaps its time to consider
putting it work for us.
Tell me again why I need WOMM.
It’s not an overnight panacea for inadequate lead flow
but it offers a powerful resource for adding credibility to
your marketing messages … something that is sorely
needed in a world that just doesn’t want to hear it
anymore from traditional marketers. It’s the secret
weapon behind qualified leads.
Why the departure from tradition? Traditional marketing
is just not effective anymore because the speed of
information diffusion, enabled by the Internet, is
weakening the ability of companies to communicate
with customers and strengthening the ability of
customers to communicate with customers. An effective
WOM campaign will establish a foundation process
where interested people market to each other.
Inspired by Metcalfe’s law, case studies, and
practitioner’s comments… where do we begin?
You begin by making an assessment of your product,
your market and your needs. This leads to a choice of
which is best – a corporate contact program to
influentials, or a virals program employing customer
word of mouth.
First, the product. Before considering a viral marketing
program take a moment for introspection. What is the
buzz that your company wishes to spread, hopefully to
epidemic proportions? In ten words or less, what makes
your product virusworthy? If you can't come up with an
answer fix the product or reposition your marketing
message. Next the market. How great is the need? And
34
how will the perception of your message be received,
i.e. is your product/service really innovative or just
incrementally better? And lastly your needs, which are
influenced to a certain degree by marketing dollars
available. Would a low key, slower moving influencer
program do the job? Or do you want to gamble on a fast
return viral effort? Many people do both because there
is a similarity in the startup procedure relative to the
development of a customer and/or influencer database.
Creative is king when launching WOM!
Messaging concepts, copy, graphics will largely
determine the success of your venture … assuming you
have something the market needs, and can get excited
about. But remember to integrate that messaging within
an entire communications support plan … which must
embrace and include the sales force (whether direct,
channel, or OEM) as well.
Understanding network hubs
Without a good set of names, researched through both
primary and secondary research, you have no place to
begin. It’s critical that you understand network hubs, so
perhaps you should reread that section.
If you’re ready to put WOM into action revisit
www.womma.org not only for it’s wealth of information
but for the listings of resources among its membership.
Study the presentations from the recent WOMMA
Summit. Ask Andy Sernovitz, CEO, of WOMMA for
advice. He knows everybody in the business. Contact
him at andy@womma.com.
For do-it-yourselfers read Rosen’s and Silverman’s
books or at least keep copies handy for questions,
and then follow the simple steps outlined on pages
11 through 14. Good luck!
A KBA COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT PLAN FOCUSED ON WOMM
PREFACE: Keep in mind that the
most successful use of WOMM,
whether Influential or Viral focused,
is not as a standalone tactic but as
an integrated part of a brand’s
overall marketing strategy.
Note also that this Communications
Support Plan should be preceded by
the Market Development Strategy
Checklist from Paul Wiefels The
Chasm Companion, a fieldbook to
Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the
Chasm and Inside the Tornado.
Why choose word of mouth
marketing? Because traditional
advertising is seriously lacking in
credibility! And because the ROI
metrics are poorly defined.
Word of mouth marketing, as
defined by Regis McKenna, the guru
of technology PR, is the planning
and use of established person-to-
person relationships.
While WOMM / Viral / Buzz are all
the same thing there are nuances
one should be aware of:
• WOMM leverages social
networks
• Viral leverages digital networks
• Buzz leverages media networks
Be sure to explore each carefully
before making a choice as they can
be quite different in nature.
The differences:
WOM-Influentials is long term and
directed to known influentials within
both social and media networks.
WOM-Viral is short term and
directed to unknown user / prospect
recipients after online seeding to a
small known base.
Deliverables required for both
influentials and viral recipients:
• Prospect database
• A noteworthy product/service
• Powerful creative concepts
I. INTRODUCTION
Program Name, Brief Description,
Definitions, Target Audiences, and
Launch Date, Summary:
• WOM choice rationale
• Influentials: The 90-10 Rule
• Virals: The 3 Rules: stickiness,
law of the few, context
• Developing network hubs
• 7 Steps to an Influentials plan
• 7 Steps to a Virals plan
II. PLANNING COMPONENTS OF
THE KBA MARCOM ENGINE
One: AUDIT
Marketing Focused Checklist
• Target customer / influencer
• Compelling reason to buy /
influence
• Whole product, or a component
• Partners and allies
• Distribution
• Pricing
• Competition
• Positioning
Communications Focused Checklist
• Segmentation of Network Hubs
• External--one voice
• Internal—shared vision
Two: STRATEGY
Communications audience—defined
Reason to buy—the 5 whys
Communications Objective
• Create awareness, interest,
then buzz among key
influentials in client community.
• Generate excitement, then
enthusiasm for sharing of an
online viral presentation.
Communications Strategies
• Develop Strategy Statement
short forms for both Influencer
Relations and Viral Advertising
• Key message / USP
• Reasons to believe
• Accelerated contagion / Blitz
Influencer Relations Tactics
• Segmentation of influencers
• Influencer analysis
• Benchmarking and metrics
• Keeping in touch: personal and
impersonal
• Measurement & management
Viral Marketing Tactics
• Create “viral agent” and how to
spread (text, image, or video).
• Seeding: ID websites, blogs,
people to send email to.
35
• Tracking: monitor effect, assess
the return from cost of
developing viral agent and
seeding.
Three: A CREATIVE REPOSITORY
IS DEVELOPED TO SUPPORT
THEME/IMAGE STANDARDS AND
THE CREATIVE PLATFORM
• Craft messages for influencers.
• Craft integrated ad messages
and images across all
components of interactive and
traditional marketing efforts.
• Craft mega hub/PR messages.
• Craft seminar copy, speeches
to various market segment
leaders, white papers, etc.
III. EXECUTION COMPONENTS
OF THE KBA MARCOM ENGINE
One: ARSENAL
WOM-Influentials
Personalized correspondence, e-
mail, direct response efforts,
samples, info kits, articles of
interest, awards, conferences,
briefings, webinars, road trips, lunch
and dinners, group brainstorming,
testimonials, facilities visit, CEO
summit meetings at HQ.
WOM-Viral advertising
20 to 30 second viral, incentives to
participate, email support
Two: DEPLOYMENT
OF THE PROCESS
Development of Time Lines and
Scheduling
• To seeding resources for virals
• To network Hubs for influencers
• Place ads, mail, email,
broadcast fax, telemarketing,
etc. (elements of 90 Day Blitz)
• Promote seminars
• Plan for trade shows
• Build chat rooms
Dependencies.
Issues to Be Resolved.
Three: TRACKING, TESTING &
KEEPING BUZZ ALIVE
• It’s hard to get it going, still
harder to maintain
• Focus, test, and believe