• Off-the-shelf Word of Mouth

    Posted on April 26th, 2007 by and currently 4 commenting.

    Okay. Okay. I know that some ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions are the best way to go. Like when you’re talking about software packages or something of that nature. But I’m fed up with people claiming that they have an off-the-shelf marketing solution ” especially when it comes to word of mouth marketing. Look, each company is as different as each human being. They could be in the same industry, but there are huge differences in culture, identity and leadership from company to company. And, I’m sorry, but what works for one company just isn’t going to work for another. In other words, if you want an off-the-shelf solution, then you better expect off-the-shelf results.

    Unless marketing companies are willing to come down from their ivory towers, roll up their sleeves and dig deep into the culture of a company, then they are either band-aiding a problem for the time being or just plain wasting their time all together with these off-the-shelf solutions. They are just feeding your problem through the machine and hoping for the best. That’s not sustainable. And they are treating your unique problem like a widget. Just like your customers expect you to treat them like an individual, you should expect the same of your marketing efforts.

    Word of mouth movements are born out of the unique DNA within a company. It’s much more emotional than any off-the-shelf solution could ever provide or pretend to create. Custom problems deserve custom solutions. Maybe that’s something to consider.

    Rant over.

  • http://www.rms.biz Joe O

    Well, it’s “Fire-Starters Gone Wild” on this mild Thursday morning. If you are this worked up you obviously didn’t come a John McCain rally as he is in Greenville, SC today.

    Do you think agencies have been rebuffed by the clients when suggesting that digging into the culture of the company is good for business? That is one explanation for the lack of effort. Or is it just laziness.

    I am developing a presentation called, “Uncommon Sense”. I will let you know how it goes but the “rant” falls within the concept of the core of its intent.

  • http://www.catchyourlimit.com Catch Your Limit

    You couldn’t be more on target. Agencies seem to prefer to say “take two ads and see me in the morning” rather than really dig in deep.

    Not surprisingly a study, conducted by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, found that 54 percent of the 350 top marketers surveyed plan to drop one of their agencies this year.

  • http://cobrandit.com owen

    well yeah, it’s like neal at flying dog says:
    for WOM to be successful a brand has to “leverage it’s intrinsic assets.”

  • Detroiter

    I know some companies *coughautomotivecough* that _expect_ you, as an agency, to come to the table knowing their culture.