This book is so practical! Even though you may or may not have a job/project where you can work through the activities in Chapter 5, I'm sure you are thinking about talkers and who the best talkers for a brand might be. In fact, you might be trying to identify if YOU are a talker, and if so, what kind.
Here are the questions for this Book Chat:
1. I love the WOM Marketing Manifesto. What are the top three points here, in your opinion?
2. Think of the examples of the Bloomingdale's brown bag or the doughnut holes at Lou Mitchell's, what are the best examples you've seen of similar practices by businesses you patronize?
3. What did you think of the FreshBooks campaign?
4. From Chapter 5, are you a talker? What kind? For what companies/products/causes/ideas?
5. Thank yous are powerful. Has a company every gone above and beyond to thank you or a family member or friend?
1. I think the three top points here are ethics comes first, people are already talking. your only option is to join the conversation, and honest marketing makes more money. I think these three are most important because first of all, ethics is extremely important for all business and unethical businesses will eventually become unsuccessful. this also goes along with honest marketing, if your marketing and advertising is dishonest it will eventually get back to your customers and make your company look bad. Lastly, I think the people are already talking point is really important because its true. No matter what people will talk, you mine as well give them something good to talk about.
ReplyDelete2. An example of this is Lululemon, they have the same idea as Bloomingdales with the iconic shopping bags. Lululemon bags can be noticed everywhere, and they have exactly what the brand stands for written all over them. People notice them, people even just want the bags.
3. I think its a great idea. People love nothing more then feeling appreciated for their business. It shows that the company really cares about their customers. Every little thing counts, even just a thank you can go a very long way. FreshBooks puts a lot of time and effort in showing support for their customers and clearly it has payed off in their drastic increase in the number of customers they have.
4. I am definitely a talker when it comes to certain brands and companies. For example, I am always talking about Target and how awesome it is! I would say that I fit under the category of "fans and hobbyists,” especially for Target. I am so obsessed with Target that I get giddy just talking about it! I even watched the history of Target on CNBC, that's how obsessed I am with the company.
ReplyDelete5. I agree, thank you messages are very powerful. I usually get email thank you messages from companies when I sign up for their fan club or something along those lines. Another time thank you messages pop up is after I take a online survey of some sort. Other than those two instances I cannot think of other time a company went out of their way to thank me.
1. In my opinion I think the most important point is Ethics Come First. I have heard in a lot of my classes of how companies used to (and some still do) use really sketchy, shady and misleading advertising/marketing strategies. I made a decision when I first starting taking classes a while ago that I was not going to work for a company that didn’t take ethics seriously. The second important point to me is Happy Customers Are Your Best Advertising. Make People Happy. We have been talking in class about how important and true this point is. People trust other people’s thoughts and opinions. People go to other people for advice about almost everything and the more people you make happy with whatever your company does, the more people you are going to have talk about your company to new potential customers. And finally, my third choice would be Marketing Is What You Do, Not What You Say. There is nothing worse than having a company say one thing but then do another. Actions speak louder than words, and that rings true the companies too.
ReplyDelete2. I recently took a trip to St. Louis where I ate at a restaurant called Houlihan’s. This was a random place that happened to be close to the hotel but turned out to be quit the great experience! Besides the fact that the service was stellar, the food was delicious! So we are finishing up our meal and we were asked if we wanted dessert and no one wanted any but we thanked our server for offering. Well next thing we knew, we each got a fresh baked, chewy and hot chocolate chip cookie with our checks! I know it seems like the smallest thing but it really just topped off the whole great meal. I had to ask, and I guess they do that to every table. I was impressed.
I'm answering these out of order because my answer to 5 jumped straight to me.
ReplyDelete5. My family and I fly a lot. We visit relatives in Florida every December and more often than not we take a trip over the summer too. My dad flies out to either San Diego or New Jersey several times a month for work, so it's safe to say we're all relatively experienced fliers (especially my dad). Last year when we were heading to Florida, we were waiting to board the plane when the guy in line in front of us starting getting all sassy with one of the airline employees. Apparently she wasn't getting something done fast enough for him or something, and she looked close to tears when he started screaming at her. My dad stepped in and managed to diffuse the situation. The other passenger stomped onto the plane all pouty, and the employee was so thankful she upgraded all four of us to first class for our flight to Florida and back. Does this count? We appreciated it, haha.
4. Am I a talker? Well, mostly no. If I have a particularly good experience with a brand I might tell my friends (the ones who I think would be interested) about it. Otherwise I kind of just remember my good experience and continue to use that brand. An example is my Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner. I love all the different scents, and it makes my hair soft and clean. It's also not abrasive, so I can wash my hair every day (even though you're not supposed to) and my hair doesn't fall out or anything terrible. However, I don't go around gushing about how much I love Herbal Essence. I'm just rather brand loyal since I've had good experiences.
@Michelle - that's an awesome thank you! I would love to fly first class.
ReplyDeleteSorry I thought this comment went through a couple days ago, but I accidentally put it as a google account comment and I don't have one of those. Whoopsies.
ReplyDeleteWord of Mouth Marketing Manifesto:
1. Ethics come first
2.If its not worth talking about, its not worth doing
3. Marketing is easy. Earn the respect and recommendation of your customers. They will do your marketing for you, for free.
These are my top three topics out of the whole Manifesto. I believe Ethics come first, because I believe that business should be honest, respectful, and so on, but I also believe that because people who are talking about you want to talk about someone who conducts themselves in an ethical manner throughout their business. Number 2 spot goes to "if it is not worth talking then it it is not worth doing" because I believe that is the backbone of Word of Mouth Marketing. The whole point is create a product, service, or statement that is gonna cause someone to talk about it. Our job is to create conversation and facilitate that conversation about our company/product and if you are doing something that isn't worth talking about by others is there really any point in doing it from a Marketing standpoint? No. Lastly I picked that people will do the marketing for you if you get them to respect you and recommend you. When something receives something they love, something they think is awesome, or funny they want to share it as much as they can. It is the same way if they are working with a company who treats them like a king or queen and lets be heard, and gives them solid products, they are going to want to share it with others. Our job is to create awareness of our company and what we do and why we do it. People who are already sharing about it are making it easier for us, because they are helping us facilitate the conversation with more people then maybe we had planned.