Branding

Blogs are the New Word of Mouth Launching A New Brand: JotSpot Case Study Communicating in the Data Dodging Consumer 2.0 World

Yesterday I was noodling on some ideas about blogs influence consumer buying decisions.  I thought I'd share some rough thoughts with you on the topic, in the hope that you might add your comments, ideas, etc.  This theme will come up in the Forum in a few places, and I think our discussions will be even more fruitful if we start thinking about them now.

Blogs are the new word of mouth, because they are written with an authentic human voice, creating trust. Through visit after visit, you feel you become to know the person writing the blog, and trust his or her judgment/opinions.  Therefore, you become more likely to act on their recommendations.

For example, say I am very interested in a specific category of product (cameras, bicycles, ski gear).  Maybe I prefer a brand, maybe not. But, before I make any decision about what to buy, I visit official corporate websites, read the trade magazines (most likely online), then do a Google search to see what comes up on blogs.  I may run a search on Technorati or Feedster too.  Before, maybe I did a search of newsgroups, but not so much anymore.

Here's a new scenario:  If I buy a lot of a category of product (say, wine, for example), I may already have a set of oenophile blogs I read.  In this case, I would probably not visit many other spots, because I trust that the blogs I read have already done their homework.  So, I may make a decision without ever visiting the vineyard website or reading the Wine Spectator.  This is a crucial thing for marketers to understand.  Their frequent buyers may be completely disassociated from their traditional channels.  They need to reach out to the bloggers as they are the persuaders for me, not the wineries.

From a consumer standpoint, having a trusted circle of blogs that I read means I save oodles of time.  I don't need to do primary research, but rather visit just a few places to find out what I need
to know.

From a marketer's standpoint, I need to target those few bloggers and make sure I am part of the conversation.  And that requires new skills.

So, what do you think?  Comment away.

Ever wonder how to launch a new brand - whether that's a new product or service within your existing company or a new company - in a cost-effective biggest-bang-for-the-buck manner?

I took at look at the JotSpot case study a little closer. They are effectively integrating traditional PR, technology evangelism and blogging to consistently deliver a word-of-mouth marketing wallop that resonates with prospective customers, employees, press, partners and other constituents.

Read: A Look at JotSpot: WOM Marketing in a Blog World

Bonus Links:

• Steve Rubel's tips on launching via PR and blogosphere
• David Balter's ChangeThis Manifesto on The Word on Word of Mouth

I'm one of the panelists on the Blogging & Branding panel. This was the conference introduction I wrote up on my blog, Crossroads Dispatches.

I noticed at this weekend's Accelerating Change Conference that I was speaking to people that are thoroughly bored by television and much of mass media in general - and have entirely switched TV/newpaper time over to Internet and gaming activities. I'm in that camp myself. Trifle minority? Fine, but watch kids - even big college-age ones - they spend an inordinate time in story-forming and story-dwelling media (breakdown of the three narrative types).

As Richards Marks, Special Projects Manager for R&D, Sony Computer Entertainment (see AC2004 Day 2 notes) put it:

My 4-year-old walks up to the TV and waves his hand and he expects it to turn on. He's a little confused if it doesn't. He has high expectations. He probably expects in a year that he can talk to it.

Today's kids will never grow up to be passive Consumers 1.0. They expect interactive media as the minimum. The bar is even higher with networked media - it's possibilities are fully participatory.

Jim Banister, an entrenched "linear media" person (think Hollywood) who saw the light, in his book Word of Mouse: The Age of Networked Media, says the Consumer 2.0 (yes, yes, I know that word doesn't fit) takes on all the five roles in traditional media value chain: Production, Distribution, Marketing, Vending, and Consumption. (Formerly we were relegated to solely wearing the Consumer hat.) He calls these five roles Be-Bits and states you must engage all five for success.

There is a different dynamic occuring in networked media that still befuddles and endangers institutions mired in linear, traditional thoughts of mass-production, consumerism and paternal capitalism. - Jim Banister, at LA Futurists meeting, part of the Institute of the Study of Accelerating Change many monthly salons

All marketing and communications "best practices" today are centered on the story-telling media and applying story-telling techniques to everything under the sun. We need to evolve to be better able to deal with these other forms of media.

In a world of increasing transparency and competition for attention, blogs, wikis and RSS feeds are quickly becoming crucial tools for your communications toolkit. - New Communications Forum site

I know a lot of folks think I'm a radical. I am. But I'm not like any other radical you've met. Perhaps one day you'll meet me and see I'm not exactly an anti-capitalist, granola-hippie anarchist. But I am definitely not a middle-of-the-herd gal either. I just don't dig in my heels and deny the present and future - and I'm very straightforward.

Sixty percent report that even when the TV is on they don't pay attention as much as they used to and mostly use it for background noise. The Yankelovich Report on Generational Marketing states the dilemma quite clearly: "Browsing will begin to characterize the way all age groups relate to all media. Yet our marketing strategies are still based on them watching and reading."

Once the remote control came on the scene, we became a nation of data dodgers, with highly specialized skills for ignoring vast stretches of the information terrain. We can walk down the street and never notice the change of a billboard right above our office. We have an incredible talent for thinking about something else the moment a radio ad comes on and tuning back in when the music returns. The remote control no longer rests in our hand. It has become part of our brain, allowing us to screen out uninvited information with incredible accuracy and effectiveness. - Digital Aboriginal by Mikela and Philip Tarow

Thus I'm very excited - I've known about this for weeks and was dying to share but the details were still being fleshed out - to announce the first face-to-face gathering for communications and marketing professionals exclusively focused on this exact topic: the  New Communications Forum. My friend (another testament to the power of blogging as we met via blogs) Elizabeth Albrycht is the program chair. She does a wonderful job of describing the impetus and motivation (the "why") for the workshop/gathering.

I couldn't help notice that it was like pulling teeth to get PRSA to finally relent to have even one session on blogs and participatory media. It underlines what Jim Banister says in frustration above (this said to a small audience, beware of bloggers in your midst ;-)): there is a different dynamic with network media that befuddles linear media folks. In contrast, this conference isn't being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. It's created intentionally around communicating and marketing for the networked media age via blogs, wikis and RSS feeds. A pre-conference feed is available and all the speakers (including moi) will be blogging over there (in addition to our own blogs). I hope to see you at NewComm January 26-27, 2005 in the heart of wine-tasting Napa Valley (oui, Parisian version follows in Feb 2005).

Posted by Elizabeth Albrycht on December 1, 2004 in Branding | Comments and Trackbacks are closed