Word Of Mouth Marketing To Women

WOM Enabling- Moving From Traditional to WOMtastic Marketing

Daily, I read about the launch of campaigns using traditional media to promote products and service. In today's YouTube, Consumer Generated Media (CGM), mobile & Instant Messaging (IM) world, one has to ask...what would be the result if these same campaigns were WOM-enabledTM ?

What Can Product Development Learn from a Purse?

Over the long holiday weekend, I took time to catch up on a number of articles that have been piling up on my "to read" file. Over the next few posting I will be talking about a wide variety of topics, but today I want to mention a comprehensive study which was done on the inside articles found in your average women's purse. Part ethnography, part qualitative and very informative, this hands on activity can teach us plenty.

Using Time To Differentiate

Mix one part necessity (getting your hair done), one part convenience ("after hours" service) and one part social networking event (live DJ's, cocktails...) and what do you get - a company that is earning word of mouth praise from the busy Manhattan business woman and the trendy, late party goer who wants to look her best for that same night, late night happening.

Using Education to Build WOM And Sales

How do you get people interested in products that they have little experience with? What do you do when the cost of your products represent a real monetary risk if your buyer is makes an uneducated purchase? And what if your product requires an environmental condition to deliver the experience that you are selling? Educational based WOM strategies may be your magic bullet.

Personas & Second City

I read an article in AdAge on 4/9 by Lisa Sanders discussing Persona building, their origin in the web design arena and Cooper's "The Inmates are Running the Asylum". Like many articles over the last two years which discuss the use of personas, Best Buy is mentioned along with its customer centricity push, AKA Jill, Barry and a host of other personas that guide their buyer segmentation and customer centricity efforts. So, with all this effort to build personas, why is it when I get with a group of fellow business women and our discussion turns to our technical needs the comments about Best Buy turn ugly?

Lawn Mowers + Female Home Buyers - A Missed Opportunity

Cub Cadet, a brand and division of MTD, proudly announced the launch of its Cub Cadet's rider mowers. The effort, targeting "time starved Gen-Xers" is the company's goal. Its media buy is focused on ESPN, ESPN2 and exposure during the NBA games and Nascar. One of their spots uses the star power of Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James. So what did they miss - the majority single home buyer for 7 years running - Women!

Cultural Insensitivity- A Recipe for Negative Word of Mouth

Why would a campaign to promote the Year of the Pig in China cause such a stir when it uses pigs in the creative? Why is Starbuck's doing damage control in Beijing because of the location of one of its stores? In two words - cultural insensitivity - or put another way, cultural ignorance.

Training- The Missing Link In Electronics Marketing

CES 2007 (the annual Consumer Electronics show) is over. Anyone that has read a paper or listened to the news knows that Apples, iphone was  THE hit of the show. Yesterday, Michelle Miller, from WonderBranding did a post women and technology. The data clearly points to women's purchasing power regarding technology, now Radio Shack has taken a first step to turn women from just interested, to evangelistic about technology.

What the Fashion Industry Can Learn from Dove

The fashion industry is finally looking at the role they play in creating a view of beauty that sometimes can do great harm to their employees and customers. How could this new awareness gain global support in the designer, female fashion retailers and female buyer communities? Taking a page from Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty could be a great place to start.

Bikini's and Dinner............

I have to vent a little this morning and give my Lose-HerTM award to Riese Organization and its newest entree into the restaurant business - Hawaiian Tropic Zone. Why? a restaurant themed on Bikini Clad waitresses and nightly beauty pageants. What is so frustrating about this is that they are doing a lot right to capture the women's market - smaller portions, sharing meal options without any up-charge and lean menu selections - something all women and men for that matter need and want.