Millward Brown's POV, January 2008

What's The Word?

Spurred on by the realization that no advertising can match the impact of an unsolicited testimonial, marketers around the world are seeking ways to leverage the power of word of mouth. But if they go too far in trying to manipulate this form of communication, they risk not only negating its benefit but turning it against their brand. So how can the power of personal recommendation be managed effectively for brandbuilding?

People talk to each other. That’s nothing new. But increasing numbers of marketers are now seeing an opportunity for word of mouth (WOM) to play a more prominent role in their communications plan. Why?

First, there is little doubt that word of mouth does relate to sales and brand performance. Projects conducted by Millward Brown find WOM to be one of the most influential touch points in creating brand demand and informing the decisions of people actively shopping a category.

Second, there is good reason to believe that word of mouth has more influence today than it did previously. Three factors have increased the relative impact of WOM in today’s marketplace: increased consumer distrust of traditional marketing communications, a multiplicity of brand choices in most product and service categories, and increased speed and breadth of dispersion of information via new communication technologies.

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