WOM: worthy, worth(y)less?

I have a Word doc on my desktop in which I started to reformat Brains on Fire's Spike Jones' yays/nays on some word-of-mouth-marketing ideas...he wrote these in the comments section of his shop's blog. The post was a reaction to the WOMBAT conference, and its resulting 43 WOM ideas. I agree with most, some I am on the fence, some I disagree with. But Spike's input is an important part of a larger discussion on marketers' roles in WOM. It's a fine line. His reaction to these ideas follows a pattern: yay to the buzz created by a great brand story/product/relationship and nay to fabricated/smoke-and-mirros buzz/WOM. My two cents: It's the difference between saying, "Talk about me" and giving folks something freakin' sweet to talk about. The difference between "at" and "with," "to and "for."

In true blog fashion, someone already did the hard work for me, spreading Spike's take in a much prettier format that I started. Check out John Moore's Brand Autopsy post (well, check out more of Brand Autopsy - always good stuff) to get some insight into what works and what doesn't in the world of WOM marketing. Print this out. Use it as a quick debate when considering your role in WOM marketing.

Listening to (and totally recommending): Do Make Say Think. If you dig Album Leaf, Medeski Martin & Wood, Air, you'll dig DMST.