At an industry conference last year I saw a fantastic live keynote presentation on buzz marketing from Steve Knox, CEO of P&G’s Tremor division. Steve’s keynote highlighted the emergence (and critical importance) of word-of-mouth marketing in the CPG sector, and how brand franchises are benefiting from a groundswell of loyal consumers who behave as self-appointed ambassadors.
These “connectors”, as Steve calls them, form the fabric of word-of-mouth and social media in general. These are the folks that tend to be early adopters (but not always), have distributed groups of friends and acquaintances, and just generally like to be heard. The key message that Tremor has for brand marketers is to identify these connectors and nurture real relationships with them. From there, good things will happen. Sounds easy to do, but there is clearly a lot more to it than that.
But once you do identify the right group of connectors, how do you forge meaningful relationships? Bring them into the product development process. Let them have a real say on which line extensions, flavors, colors, varieties and form-factors are on the roadmap. Let them be the first on their blocks (and in their social networks) to try a product pre-launch. Allow them to critique advertising. Communicate with these folks often and early, and they will pay you back many times over.
One of the key take aways that Steve shared with the audience has stuck with me. It was something to the effect of: “Don’t confuse word-of-mouth marketing with the internet. The internet can be an enabler to this discipline, but is not a requirement.” Great advice from someone who is clearly deep in the trenches.
On an interesting side note, it’s important to recognize that Tremor serves not just P&G’s portfolio brands, but also brands from non-competitive CPG organizations. The Tremor business website highlights customers from Hershey’s, Del Monte, Ford, Kellogg’s and more. Good news travels fast.
Tags: interactive, p&g, social media, viral
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