New paradigms for Brand Activation: “word of mouth” and “word of mouse”

Image not recoveredWoM Those who follow developments online realize that the great paradigm shift these days turns out to be exactly the fusion between worlds. Although there is an “online” and “offline”, it no longer makes sense to think about “worlds” or “borders”. The world of advertising and communication is probably one of the first worlds to reflect this “evolution”.

If at the end of 80, on the American market, it was enough that an announcement was in the air three times to reach 80% of the population, today it is necessary to be on the air 150 times. Although television remains a relevant advertising medium, maintaining previous levels of efficiency has a much higher cost.

On the other hand, the consumer is much more sceptical, more informed, questions everything and finds intelligent ways to look beyond marketing and advertising actions. Online has offered these new consumers tools to unite and share ideas and knowledge. Tracking a Web 2.0, we now have a Consumer 2.0.

They changed the means and changed the consumer. Advertising and Marketing are now required to change methods and approaches and take advantage of this new “Consumer”.

Following this “Consumer 2.0′′ a new trend emerges in Marketing called “Word of Mouse” (WoMo), defined as “the act in which the consumer receives, creates and/or distributes relevant marketing content through online channels (textual or audiovisual)”.

WoMo is a part of the buzz required for any Brand Activation action, creating conditions for the consumer himself to provide information about brands, products and services to third parties in an informal and non-commercial manner. WoMo represents the online component of “buzz”, extending the offline component “word of mouth” (WoM), i.e. mouth-to-mouth.

Today’s Marketeer and Publicitarian, in the creation of “buzz”, is obliged to think about the unification between online/offline. In fact, this unification presents new challenges for the entire market in communication and advertising as it requires not only to exploit new campaigns but also to measure their efficiency.

Traditional online and offline metrics are not enough. We are obliged, rather than evaluating audiences and clicks, to measure behaviors and attitudes. Not creating the buzz, we cannot ignore the dynamics created. The success of a campaign depends on a global analysis involving content generated by the consumer himself. We need to measure what happens in the “post” campaign; to value visualizations, diffusion and creation.

We need new methodology and analysis frameworks.