A generation serves notice: It's a moving target

"The preceding generation may have thought that e-mail, newsgroups, Web forums and even online chats accelerated the word-of-mouth phenomenon. They did. But they are nothing compared with the always-live electronic dialogue among millions of teenagers and 20-somethings."

Full article by Tom Zeller, Jr. of The New York Times as it appeared on Sunday, January 22, 2006 in the International Herald Tribune.

Sunday January 22, 2006 - 01:43pm (EST)

Word of Mouth - To Tell Or Not to Tell?

Extract -

Key conclusions drawn in the study include:

• Participation in an organized word-of-mouth marketing program does not undermine the effectiveness of word-of-mouth communication.
• Disclosure has practical business benefits. It does not interrupt the “natural” flow of conversation.

Key findings include:

• For approximately 75% of the conversational partners it did not matter that they were talking with someone affiliated with a marketing organization. Instead what mattered was that they trusted the agent was providing an honest opinion, felt the agent had their best interests at heart, and were providing relevant and valuable information.
• None of the key outcome metrics were negatively affected by the agent disclosing their affiliation. In fact, the number of people a person told after speaking with a word-of-mouth marketing agent actually increased when the conversational partner was aware they were talking with a participant in an organized word-of-mouth marketing program.

Article by Northeastern University Professor Dr. Walter Carl as published on Newswise (1/18/06).

Wednesday January 18, 2006 - 08:20pm (EST)

... and MORE Word of Mouth news

Press release me2umarketing.com:

Word of Mouth Marketing Service Opens in Portland, Oregon: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Friday January 13, 2006 - 03:59pm (EST)

Word-of-mouth marketing firm BzzAgent wins second-round funding

Word-of-mouth marketing firm BzzAgent wins second-round funding - 2006-01-13

"Word-of-mouth marketing firm BzzAgent Inc. in Boston has received $13.75 million in a second round of venture capital funding from co-lead investors General Catalyst Partners in Cambridge and IDG Ventures Boston, the company announced Friday."

As article appears in the "Boston Business Journal" Friday, January 13th, 2006

Friday January 13, 2006 - 03:54pm (EST)

Making "Word of Mouth" work on the Internet???

As read on the Austin Business Journal January 11, 2006

Internet marketing company collects $4M - 2006-01-11
Bazaarvoice remains in "stealth" mode, but founder and CEO Brett Hurt says the company competes in an emerging sector known as "word-of-mouth marketing." Hurt, a founder of online-analysis software provider Coremetrics Inc., says Bazaarvoice will give companies the power to tap one of the oldest forms of marketing -- telling friends and family what they like and don't like.

Wednesday January 11, 2006 - 04:13pm (EST)

My Take: What is Judy's Book Missing?

My Take: Judy's Book has attracted more venture capital - $8 million more .

But I just don't get it.

What competitive advantage is it counting on in its battle against Yahoo! Local?

I've been a Yahoo fan and user for 10 years. My Yahoo! Yellow Pages stares at me from my tool bar. My Yahoo address book allows me to connect to my friends. Yahoo has an active portal with piles of content.

So ...

- What will drive traffic to this upstart?

- What would compel users to submit reviews (other than free coffee)?

- What will create viral interest and growth?

- How does it connect with any of the natural factors that have been spurring word-of-mouth since the dawn of commerce? Quality products or services? Great customer service? Creative advertising?

- Are they adding proprietary functionality that makes it an attractive acquisition?

- And the really big question - where are these easy VC guys when you need them?

I like your spunk, Judy. But help me to see your unique value.

Good luck.

Friday January 6, 2006 - 03:03pm (EST)

The Value of Local Search

"... about 25% of all web searches are searches for local businesses close to consumers' home or workplace."

TV News in a Postmodern World, Part XXVIII
by Terry L. Heaton

Wednesday January 4, 2006 - 03:12pm (EST)

Unbundled Advertising

"The consumer is now the one with the power, and people with goods and services to sell need to start thinking of them again as customers."

As read on http://english.ohmynews.com
"Economy of Unbundled Advertising" by Terry Heaton

Wednesday January 4, 2006 - 03:12pm (EST)

The Long Tail: Long Tail vs. Bottom of Pyramid

"Both theories are based on the notion that if you break the economic and physical bottlenecks of distribution you can reach a huge, previously neglected market. They both recognize that millions of small sales can, in aggregate, add up to big profits. And they're both focused on ways to lower the cost of providing goods and services so that you can offer them at lower price point while still maintaining margins."

From " Long Tail vs. Bottom of Pyramid" by Chris Anderson

Monday January 2, 2006 - 05:44pm (EST)