When I had the pleasure of working with Andy Sernovitz for a couple of years, one of the things I remember most often hearing from him was along the lines of, word of mouth is the oldest form of marketing - this, to me, makes total sense.  

Here's why: in the WOM industry, many of us have heard the stat that 92% of people say that their purchasing decisions have been influenced by the recommendation of a friend or family member.  Even before the advent of TV, the internet and social media, people talked to each other...a lot.  And *gasp* in person.  Whether it was about the weather, their families or how to prepare dinner, recommendations were involved.  I'd take a guess that brand conversation has steadily increased since then, but recommendations have always existed.  So, how does Sally Hansen fit into this discussion of word of mouth?

Sally Hansen is a cosmetics company that is especially known for its nail polishes, nail tools and the like.  I'm not sure if she's fictional or not - perhaps she's friends with Victoria of Victoria's Secret.  I recently discovered a revolutionary nail polish that applied in one coat.  Other women will agree with me that this is a rare find.  I was so enthused about my pedicure that I turned around in my cube the next day and randomly told my colleague about the polish and my experience with it.  I thought a teensy part of her pedicure experience could be improved by my discovery, so I shared.

And it dawned on us - we were actively sharing brand recommendations through word of mouth.  We were bringing to life a component of today's strategic marketing plans, one that gets so much air time that we often forget what the term actually means.  While there are a lot of fancy (and useful) tools to implement, the most important aspect of creating successful word of mouth marketing programs is to have a good story to tell and products that people want to talk about. 

My advice: Don't get so lost in the tactics that you forget the most integral part of word of mouth - people.