Word of Mouth: Madison Ave.--Are You Listening?
Posted by: David Kiley on November 15, 2007
I have sat through two ad agency reviews this year: one for an account in excess of $300 million a year, and another for a smaller account of around $20 million.
I sat through pitches by some seven agencies—from New York, S.F., Boston and Atlanta. One thing that stuck out for me was the over-reliance on…well…advertising. In both cases, the client, and the brand, clearly suffered from poor word of mouth. The spec ads that were pitched in most cases were wallpaper. That was my take anyway.
I’m continually shocked by advertisers and agencies that are afraid to say something that is apt to actually get the attention of the consumer. Sure, you want to have product attributes in the ad. But there is nothing that says you can’t convey the information in a way that will create some buzz, some word of mouth chatter. God Bless TiVo.
It’s actually getting hard to write about advertising, because most of its still so awful that I don’t see it. I began watching Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares last night in my usual manner—taped and 20 minutes into the broadcast so I can blow through the ads. What did I do with the time? I went on Facebook and made my two Scrabble moves in the two games I am playing with friends online.
Marketers spent an eestimated $1 billion on word-of-mouth measures in 2006, according to PQ Media, which is presenting its findings at the Word of Mouth conference in Las Vegas this week. The level of spend is expected to reach almost $4 billion in 2011.
Spending is defined by PQ Media as media “supported by research and technology that encourages consumers to dialogue about products and services.”
A Nielsen survey of over 26,000 people found that nearly 78% of respondents trusted “recommendations from consumers,” a total 15% higher than the second-most credible source, newspapers.
So, that accounts for why Facebook, Myspace and Youtube.com are seen as so valuable.
Here’s an idea to save traditional media. What if marketers and agencies viewed every ad they create and buy as a medium for word-of-mouth.
