The 2010 Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) School of WOM wrapped up Wednesday afternoon here in Chicago, and the social media community has been abuzz with conversation about the wisdom that was shared.

The School of WOM conference is designed to help marketers "move beyond tactics" and gain the knowledge necessary to "engage the social consumer across business disciplines." The three day event featured best practices and case studies from some of the world's top brands, including Coca-Cola, Best Buy, Proctor & Gamble, Google, and Kraft Foods. The School of WOM is led by a "faculty" of distinguished industry experts from agencies (such as Zócalo Group's own Paul Rand and Emily Bader) and major corporations.

With hundreds of Tweets and a lot of active discussion circulating around the event, I thought it might be helpful to share some key insights shared by some of the biggest speakers.


 
Key Notes from the Keynote Speakers:

Jeffery Hayzlett - Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company

• Hayzlett asserted that moments lose their power if they are not shared. This, he said, is why Facebook and Twitter are so powerful. As a company that traffics in moments, Kodak realized it was in its best interest to make sharing moments as easy for consumers as possible. This is why the company will be adding a new "Share" button to all of its cameras.
  

Dan Heath, Co-author of Switch and Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

• Heath, whose newest book features the sub-head "How to Change Things When Change is Hard," connected with the audience by challenging them to "obsess about success." He made the case that people spend too much time concentrating on how to change what isn't working in a given situation, when their energy would be better spent focusing on replicating what is working.

Jeanne Bliss, Best-selling Author, Chief Customer Officer

• Bliss has spent years evangelizing for the importance of customer experience in driving positive word of mouth recommendations. A key point she drove home during her presentation was the idea that businesses need to truly think of their employees as partners, not just cogs performing a given task. "Beloved" companies, she said, trust their employees to do the right thing and eliminate excessive bureaucracy that creates barriers between employees and customers.

Andrew Mason, CEO - Groupon

• Groupon's colorful CEO, Andrew Mason (who gave his presentation in shorts and a faded shirt), preached about the importance of customer service. At one point he indicated that he's sometimes tempted to screw up on purpose, just so he has the chance to apologize -- because he sees just how powerful a heartfelt apology can be. He also perceives customer service to be a major differentiation opportunity for businesses, because, frankly, most companies are so bad at it that even being just a little bit better goes a long way.
  
  

Rob Morris, Co-Founder and President, Love146

• Morris, whose organization is dedicated to the abolition of child sex slavery through prevention and aftercare solutions, tugged on attendees' heartstrings while sharing his take on how online WOM (such as Love146's successful Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter programs) can be used to engage and mobilize individuals around a cause.
  

Jim Lecinski, Managing Director, Central Region, Google

• Although Google may be ubiquitous as a brand, the company still puts a great deal of emphasis on developing sound WOM strategies. For brands that aren't as well known, Lecinski offered these four tips: 1. Pose a challenge, 2. Hold a contest, 3. Give a gift, 4. Surprise people. He pointed to Google's recent integration of the classic Pac Man arcade game into its home page logo as an example of a surprise that sparked a tremendous amount of conversation across the web.

There's only so much of a three day conference that can be packed into one blog post, so we'd love to hear from you. Were you able to attend the School of WOM? What was the most valuable piece of advice you took away from the event?





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Which came first, the online chicken or the offline egg?

Where does Word of Mouth spread...online, right? Or, is it offline?

Those who do it best understand that an important relationship exists between on- and off-line Word of Mouth. One drives the other and vice versa.

For example, Joe Consumer reads a review about a restaurant online and then talks to friends about whether or not to try it offline. Or, does Joe hear about that same restaurant from his friends and family and then, refers to the Web for reviews from perfect strangers to reinforce his decision on whether or not to try it?

This delicate "which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg" balance is what separates single-channel buzz campaigns from truly sustainable WOM initiatives that lead to recommendations.

So, what do we do when Facebook and Twitter both announce location-based technology additions to messaging in the same week? Or, when Augmented Reality creates a memorable off-line experience using online technology? And, what about those QR codes that are slowly creeping into local markets, but are only accessed by cell phones with the right technology?

If you recognized this critical yin/yang relationship between on- and off-line WOM early, you're already ahead of the game. But as the digital world evolves, you better believe that this line between the on- and off-line worlds will continue to blur.

Have you seen new approaches that are bringing the on- and off-line conversation closer together? Let us know here...

Image Source: AdWeek "Walk the Talk"





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If you haven't heard, the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference series commences this week in Austin, Texas. These week-long conferences and festivals bring together music, film and media minds alike in a unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies.  The Interactive portion of this event gives its participants a chance to not only shape the direction in which social media is headed, but puts into perspective the vast impact we as a generation have the ability to make by utilizing these channels.

Working in a field engrossed in social media, it is impossible to avoid the chatter surrounding an event that has the digital world doing what they do best - buzzing, digging, blogging and tweeting.  This conference has been around for twenty three years, and the festival that many in the marketing and PR profession regard as a social media conference is much more than that, merging digital media with music and film elements.  In some respects, it is a lot like a modern day Woodstock - drawing massive crowds, and bringing people together to enjoy a common passion and genuine desire to impact the world around them.  It is a stimulating conference that is more than deserving of the buzz it creates.

It's amazing to realize how drastically the Interactive conference at this festival, which was started in 1994, has changed since its inception.  Thousands of bloggers, consumers, and industry professionals come together from all over the world to learn, develop, teach and discuss topics that didn't even exist when the conference was first created; although these have quickly evolved in only a few short years.  With keynote speakers such as Twitter CEO, Even Williams, and discussion panels on topics ranging from "The Broke Diaries: Using Blogs and Twitter to Live Cheaply" to "Crime Scene: Digital Identity Theft," this festival brings together thought-leaders, bright minds and new talent who are the driving force behind this rapid evolution of the social media world.

When you read the many Tweets and blog posts full of passion and enthusiasm surrounding this event, it becomes even easier to connect SXSW with this idea of it as a contemporary Woodstock - not just based on what it was, but on what it meant and what it stood for.  Thanks to the abundant social media tools being - quite literally - at the fingertips of the current generation, we too have the opportunity to be involved in something significant and historic, and we take part in it every day.

The over arching movement and development of the digital world, furthered by events such as SXSW, is a defining moment in this generation.  Social media is a powerful tool that gives everyone a voice and a platform to be heard.  Gen Y-ers have the ability to make the same noise and impact as their Baby Boomer parents; we just have the capability of doing it with a few clicks and typed words.  It's both exciting and rewarding to be a part of a generation that not only has the chance to experience the wonderful world of social media, but to appreciate and utilize this platform as a way to shape and directly affect marketers, brands and the world around us. 

Working in a field where "Tweeting" is  a common verb as well as a daily task, and updating client Facebook pages is second nature, it's easy to become wrapped up and lose sight of the bigger picture of how the world around us has changed and the vastness of what these social media tools have brought to us.  I encourage all of you out there who are still skeptical of why anyone would care about what you have to say on Twitter, or what difference voicing your opinion of a product makes, to jump in and join the conversation.  You will be surprised by the wealth of information you will learn, and may even find the voice you never knew you had.  And at the very least, years down the road you can look back and tell the next generation - "yep, I was a part of that."

 

 

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