The Basement

Over the last week or so there have been some really interesting posts over at WOMMA's WOM vs. Advertising blog. Af ew folks have pointed out that WOM and Advertising work together and not in opposition. This is a valid point, but I think there is a bigger point that this often missed – there seems to be a common misconception that WOM (word-of-mouth) is itself a promotional strategy. It ain't. In fact, anything that a companies does to promote itself is marketing and by definition is not WOM.

To examine this, let's play a game: WOM or Marketing?

Let's say a company makes products designed for the elderly. Over the summer they hire a college student intern in the mail room. Over the course of the summer, the intern learns about the products and the company and develops a sincere belief in the value and benefit to the customer. Without prompting, the young intern emails her grandmother about the company and their products and encourages her to consider purchasing.

Okay, for all the marbles and bragging rights at the water cooler, it's time to play...WOM or Marketing?

Did you say WOM? Well, you are WRONG!

Some folks, of course, will disagree with me. And I know that my scenario has lots of attributes of WOM and it is not doubt wonderful for a company to inspire its interns to this level of personal recommendation, but at the end of the day I would call this marketing. But it didn't come out of the Marketing department and it wasn't prompted, you might say. So what. In the world of neo-marketing, this qualifies. If everyone at a company is a marketer, then everything they tell anyone else about the company is marketing... and is therefore not word-of-mouth.

Why not? Because word-of-mouth is in the customers domain, not yours. Here's a diagram to help further illustrate...

If a message crosses The WOM Boundary then it is not WOM. In other words, any message that travels from company to consumer is marketing. Messages that move from consumer to consumer are WOM.

So then, what is WOM Marketing if not a marketing strategy that creates WOM. This is where WOMMA comes in. In fact, in their Word of Mouth 101 online tutorial, WOMMA says it better than I can...

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.

And there you have it, the comparison of WOM and Advertising is really a little silly in this regard. It does remind me though or a similar age-old comparison – The pen is mightier than the sword. This is a nice idea, but in reality, the pen and the sword are in mutually exclusive domains – just like WOM and Advertising.

Now WOM Marketing and Advertising... now that is a different story altogether.