A number of companies are suddenly discovering and laying claim to a form of online marketing called "Conversational Marketing," not to be confused with Word-of-Mouth Marketing. Conversational
Marketing is an advance on WOM, say industry veterans Tom Troja and Tom Hespos, who have teamed to bring structure and standards to the still wild, wild West business of generating market connections.
Word-of-mouth advertising has its own industry association, ROI measurements and conferences but continues to carry baggage that has slowed its acceptance as a mainstream medium. Conversational
Marketing, explains Troja, "is the marketing strategy of connecting directly to the marketplace through online conversation. It is a direct and completely transparent interaction with customers, potential customers, brand fans and brand detractors. The conversation," he says, "is initiated through ad units in blogs, Internet forums, social networking sites, message
boards and any other forum that features two-way conversation. It allows people to talk about themselves in relation to a marketer's products."
As advertisers try to navigate the opportunities that exist within the blogosphere, Troja and Hespos have launched a new product, created by Troja called Can We Talk, a process of listening to and
spotlighting the customers' point of view, putting a human face on a company and brand, and providing marketers with insight and credibility.
Although Hespos and Troja have not yet hired Joan Rivers as a spokesperson, they have applied for a trademark and Can We Talk has been employed by online marketer AccuQuote and
Motorola plans to launch a campaign later this month. Motorola agency Draft/FCBi Worldwide chairman Pam Larrick has become a fan.
Draft/FCBi's Pam Larrick Comments
"Conversational marketing allows you to start the conversation, listen and react," she explains. "Because you are listening you can add layers that make sense to the individual. It's about using
consumer created content to engage in a conversation with an individual." Larrick, whose clients also include HP, Diet Coke, MetLife, and PayPal, believes marketers need to place more emphasis on individualized communications.
"The terminology used in the interactive world is not right for today's times. The word 'user' does not imply a person who is thinking and has feelings. When you call it an individual experience," she
suggests, "it gets you to a different place. You start thinking of more personal experience imbued with context and relevant content."
Hespos, president of Underscore Marketing, and Troja, VP Marketing & Sales for Pajamas Media, have formed a strategic partnership to market Can We Talk as a process for identifying
relevant ongoing conversations on specific topics and engaging marketers with individual consumers who are pre-defined as receptive to a dialogue.
Several companies, including traditional agencies, are actively developing more traditional word-of-mouth marketing initiatives. Firms specializing in WOM include Umbria, Biz360, Nielsen BuzzMetrics, Brand Dimensions, BazaarVoice, M80, BuzzAgent and Wf360, which features a trademarked process they call Brandversation. Oracle provides turn key solutions for large enterprises.
"The individual is in control of the interactive engagement," says Troja. In the Can We Talk model, clients
define specific topics relevant to their consumers and, he explains, "we start the Can We Talk process by advertising on relevant blogs and inviting people to comment about the topic."
AccuQuote
Sean Cheyney, Vice President for Marketing and Business Development for insurance provider AccuQuote, believes "companies are moving toward automation and moving away from community. We're now
moving back toward it" he says, with a corporate blog and the company's Can We Talk campaign slated to begin later this month. Each consumer comment generates a personalized response from the company and invites an ongoing dialogue.
"I look at it as common sense marketing," says Cheyney. "Creating a conversation with the customer through the Internet is an extension of the personal dialogue insurance providers have always
had with customers." Every comment, he claims, receives a personal response from the VP Marketing, PR manager or CEO. "Even people who were not completely satisfied with us appreciate the mechanism to provide feedback. If people are having a conversation, we want to know what they are saying. We want to address concerns and problems individually with the person and uncover areas we can improve."
Ford
Ford's new Bold Moves blog-centric campaign follows principles similar to those outlined for Can We Talk campaigns. "This is a huge step forward in online marketing," Hespos writes in his blog. "Rather than continuing to inundate people with … ads over and over, the approach Ford took is to generate conversation. And it's a fantastic
approach. People all over, Ford customers and prospects alike, are probably wondering why their voices aren't being heard and why Ford is hiding behind the broadcast approach, rather than engaging people directly about its business issues. If Ford manages to pull this off, a lot of minds will be changed with respect to Ford's approach to the market. I venture to say that if Ford executes this correctly, they will get a lot of people jazzed about Ford and what it means to own a Ford.
"Of course, the challenge is now to ensure Ford engages in a meaningful dialogue…, Hespos adds. "They need to have Ford bloggers at the ready to respond to comments and address
everything that gets brought up in the 'Community Buzz' section of the Ford Bold Moves site and elsewhere on the Internet. Already from blog comments, I can see that some people are skeptical as to whether Ford is really listening and whether they're prepared to engage in real dialogue."
Hespos commented to Jack Myers Media Business Report, "advertisers are fearful because they can't control the message in the blogosphere. Conversations will happen whether the marketer is
engaged or not, and when they are engaged, it influences how they do business. They can take feedback into the organization to set goals, and then can go back into the marketplace to get immediate feedback."
FCBi's Larrick believes there is a need to "operationalize and systematize a process, creating platforms where consumers are empowered to engage with brands around some type of structure. Websites
were originally for information. We now see sites that are more emotionally grounded and personal, and that get individuals to express themselves. Marketers need to relate to these consumers in relevant ways."
Hespos adds, "blogs are the original promise of the Internet. It's a group collective where ideas are being transferred
and refined in real time. They help to accelerate ideas in marketplaces."
"Blogs are the tip of the spear," says Troja. "As the spear moves forward, blogs become just a new way to
communicate. They will become more and more important to marketers."
L.A. based Marketingworks Inc. headed by Chas Salmore, has established a partnership with IBM and Public Image Monitoring to search messages on social networks, blogs and message
boards used to shape marketing campaigns. "We take the pulse of the web and determine the most effective strategy for clients," says Salmore. Clients include marketers, agencies, business intelligence forms and others.
Underscore Marketing is a full service independent media agency specializing in emerging media. Before founding
the company in early 2002, Hespos was chief internet strategist at Mussina Brown Agency and headed the media department at interactive shop Blue Marble.
Pajamasmedia.com is a leading blog network, headed by Roger Simon, with 3 million unique readers and 25 million impressions monthly.
