THE LIFE AND DEATH OF WOM

There has been a lot of talk around our office recently about ethics in word of mouth marketing and what implications unethical practices can carry. Don’t worry, we aren’t trying to launch an unethical campaign, but there have been some instances we’ve seen that have struck a nerve and thrown up the ethics red-flag for us!

The reason social media and word of mouth marketing works is that it is honest and transparent. You can give me 100 more reasons why it works, but I guarantee that if you take away the honesty and transparency of your campaign – it will fail.

Social media is about openness and showing who you really are. That is the power behind it. Sure, you can get ahead (temporarily) by faking love for your brand, but it will catch up with you. People are smart, and will begin to see through it.

This is what sets WOM apart from all other forms of advertising. It is real people discussing your brand openly and honestly. It relies upon real relationships being built. Of course, you as a brand want to foster those relationships as much as possible, but you cannot manufacture them!

I guarantee the effectiveness of social media will die just as fast as it has come into relevance if more brands betray consumers’ trust. Sites like Twitter will become overrun by nothing but corporate identities hocking their products. Taking the real socializing out of social media just makes it media.

To serve as a reminder, here at MGH WOM, we are bound by the WOMMA code of ethics. The essence of this code comes down to the Honesty ROI:

* Honesty of Relationship: You say who you’re speaking for
* Honesty of Opinion: You say what you believe
* Honesty of Identity: You never obscure your identity