Edelman Study: A "Person Like Me" Now Most Credible Spokesperson

The irony is truely cruel that recruiting a new person takes a lot of time – and that you can only do this when you dont have enough time to do the work you have.

So, happily, we need to hire …. is this you? Know any one that fits?

Title: Client Engagement Manager

Role:

- to develop innovative, strategic concepts for clients around Vocanic’s Influencer Driven Word of Mouth Marketing principles (see www.vocanic.com)

- working with existing clients including Heineken, StarHub (telco) and Discovery Channel and as a key member of the team winning new accounts

- to lead clients through the execution of Vocanic’s Groundswell(tm) methodology to source, identify and activate Influencers / Opinion Leaders

- to develop and implement integrated activation programs for Influencers consisting of both online and off line activities

- to design and execute tracking and reporting of metrics agreed with the clients

Skills:

A multi talented all rounder who

- has the ability to lead a client through campaigns that are new and untraditional

- has the ability to manage projects using both internal resources and external partners

- has an understanding of on-line areas such as blogs, RSS, Wikkie, Social Networking tools etc:

- recognise good copy and can tell a well laid out page from a mess

- some experience needed, but attitude is equally important

You:

- curious, questioning and challenging

- bright, personable, empathetic

- interested in joining a small company doing something different

To apply please send your CV to jobs@vocanic.com

DataMonitor answers the question "Is word of mouth marketing emerging as the new way to attract and keep customers?"

The Expert’s Answer WOM as a concept has been around for a very long time. However, it is only recently, in the era of information overload and media saturation moreover, that WOM has taken on renewed emphasis. We have identified 7 reasons why it’s a useful approach to attracting new consumers….

Source: Datamonitor

However, the benefits of using WOM orchestrated marketing must be analyzed on a brand by brand basis.The high risk element derives from the fact that V&WOM marketing is not an exact science, especially as consumers become more skeptical of marketers using the tactic.

The success of WOM is also highly dependent on the type of product at stake. High involvement products such as the latest hip tech gadgets are more conducive than mundane commodities because ‘opinion formers/trend-connectors’ are more likely to pass on the message to further enhance their credibility amongst peers.

The possibility of negative WOM is also equally likely. Indeed, few campaigns in the CPG industry have achieved the exponential growth intended, and there is now a growing sense of overkill. Furthermore, whether a message gets spread is often beyond the marketer’s control and results can be extremely difficult to measure.

For WOM to be really effective to generate PWOM the product needs to exceed the expectations of the target customer. In instances where product performance fails to match consumer expectations consumers typically engage in negative WOM. Therefore it is highly important that, at the time when industry players are making increasingly extravagant product claims, expectations are matched by the product offering.

As a final point we also think it is vital that industry players integrate viral and WOM efforts into their overall marketing strategy. Trade literature suggests that marketers are currently failing because they are not effectively combining traditional and new marketing tools successfully. It is important in the long term not to overuse V&WOM marketing as a stand-alone promotion tactic.

From AdAge.com

Martin Sorrell has often warned the ad industry about the threat posed by management consultants muscling into the business. Now his fears have come to fruition as one of his biggest clients, Ford Motor Co., has asked Accenture to put a microscope to its upcoming marketing plans.

It would be interesting to know if this was driven by CMO or the CEO.  My guess is the CEO, whith whome the management consultants typically have their relatioship. 

Next step? Outsource marketing to Accenture? An obvious thing to try –

Would’nt you love to be in those meetings where the agengy pitches and negotiates with a management consultant. Ouch! but Fun!