WOMM-U Reflection

It was a great conference if you are newbie to word of mouth marketing. I am not, so it was a mediocre learning and networking experience. Much of the content was repackaging on familiar ideas and concepts.

A few superior things did standout.

• “Word of mouth marketing is the butt crack of the marketing spend”, says NYTimes.com Jeff Graham. Translation: in the marketing pie, womm gets but a tiny wedge of the budget. Draw the pie, you'll see it.

• Carla Hendra, Co-CEO Ogilvy North America opens her presentation with, “Brand marketing IS word of mouth marketing.” She also makes the statement, “With the fundamental speed of marketing today, marketers need to let go of certainty.” She's smart and understands CMOs very well.

• Dell has a team that on a daily basis goes online looking for people that are posting problems with their Dell products and reaches out to help them. Dell has learned and recovered well from Dell Hell.

• Houlihan’s Restaurant found that customers are surprised when companies listen and react. They now have a nearly ten thousand HouliFAN’s who are active in helping word of mouth.

• Location – Miami doesn't suck.

• Cocktail Reception – outdoors on the water at the Big Fish restaurant. Excellent. Great dinner too with Sonya and Robin too!

There was much live Twittering about the conference. Read Tweets here.

WOMMA's take on the event found here.

AOL City's Best

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AOL City's Best

Marketing driving WOM

Seth points out in his blog post, Why word of mouth doesn't happen, that for word of mouth to occur, a product or service needs to be “worth making a remark about.” I agree, but not completely. I'd add that a brand and the marketing support for a brand can be worth making a remark about. I think Seth would agree because he goes on to say that “people talk about you (or not talk about you) because of how it makes them feel...” Isn't brand the essence of how people feel about a company?

Consider Dove. It's soap (unremarkable product), but the Real Beauty campaign got people to feel differently and talk, a lot. Or Geico – it's insurance (unremarkable service), but the Cavemen and Gecko are fun to talk about.

Granted, if a product or service is dull, a marketer has a bigger WOM challenge to overcome, but it can be done without a major experience overhaul.

Lessons from Mom

Seth has an incredible way of bringing out the humanity that sometimes is missing in marketing.
Lenore Godin's son

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is here - a special day reserved for mom. How are you going to say "Thank you" to your mom?

Since moving to New Jersey eight months ago, I've only seen my mother, who still resides in my home state of Massachusetts, twice. This year, I'm taking a trip back home to celebrate my mother, and enjoy a special day filled with quality time.

A year ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about a trip like this for mom, but with increasing gas prices, I actually had to contemplate my decision, falling back on the idea that spending nearly that much online could get mom something wonderful – shipped directly to her, and the whole transaction would take a fraction of time it would to drive there.

That being said, I know this weekend will be special. And, although I'm not coming empty handed, I know the time spent with my mom this weekend will be the best gift I could give her.

If you toggled with what to get mom like I did, you might find the following interesting http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006263

NBC Today Show profiles Mom Bloggers

And mom bloggers respond.
A Mommy Story
BusyMom
SVMoms

Number of Mothers Online

Sometimes the obvious needs to be stated and eMarketer's How Many Moms Are Online? was the reminded.

ComScore Media Metrix, estimates there are 30 million moms between the ages of 25 and 54 with one or more children at home. Mothers represent 44% of all adult females who go online.

As a parent it is practically a requirement to have Internet access. Pew and the US Department of Commerce both report that 87% of households consisting of a married couple with children under the age of 18 have Internet access. Among non-family households, it drops down to only 58.5%.

Moms are online and in a big way.