Just got back from the WOMMA summit, where I was one of the keynote speakers. It was an amazing event for me and I want to thank everyone who made it such a moving personal experience. I also want to share some of my overall impressions.
First, why it was such an emotional experience: In 1971 or '72, I took a full page ad in Business Week and in the Wall Street Journal, the headline of which was "How to Harness Word of Mouth," in which my colleagues and I described using teleconferences to put influencers together with interested skeptics. Ever since then, I have taken 30+ years of attacks, abuse and skepticism from conventional marketers, particularly advertisers and salespeople. I've given hundreds of talks, workshops and speeches aimed at convincing people that word of mouth (WOM) is more powerful than conventional marketing, and that it can be harnessed. When I speak at a large conference, it is to reach the 2 or 3 people in the audience who "get it." I'm fine with that since they often eventually hire me for large consulting contracts.
This conference was different. There I was in front of 375 people -- when the original estimate was for 75 people -- from all over the world, who did not have to be convinced! It was the greatest moment of triumph that I've ever felt in my life — like waging a 35 year crusade and coming out the winner. Except that everyone in the room was a winner and can say that they were at a truly historical event. Everyone there can count themselves as a true pioneer, even if they were just there because they have the forsight to check out this new “out of control” thing called WOM.
It got even better. It wildly exceeded my expectations, which were pretty high, since I knew many people there either directly or by reputation. These were the people who could see past the obvious, who have the vision to see what isn't there yet, but could be, who can see the invisible and elusive force called WOM. But I had a concern:
I was a little worried that there would be people who would view WOM marketing as another set of techniques to manipulate and control people, as just another medium -- an attitude that SOME (certainly not all) PR people have. I was flabbergasted to hear speaker after speaker agree that WOM marketing requires a total change of mindset. That it's not a way of selling to the customer, it's a way of empowering the customer to decide. That it's not something you do TO the customer, it's something you do FOR the customer: it's helping the customer make a better decision. (The only way you rig the game is to make damn sure that your product IS the better decision.)
I was stunned by the creativity and innovation that my colleagues brought to this arena. People have invented amazing kinds of ways of encouraging and delivering WOM, without deception. I was very gratified with Andy Sernovitz' (the CEO of WOMMA) strong ethical stance. I enjoyed meeting my fellow word of mouth authors. We clearly don’t regard each other as competitors, but as fellow carriers of the torch in a relay race. People took to heart my call for collegiality, open sharing of “secrets” and free advice. It was amazing and it’s going to get better and better in ways we can’t even imagine, because we’ve created a vehicle to share our creativity.
George Silverman,
President, Market Navigation, Inc.
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