In his viral_marketing.pdf on Viral Marketing, digital media expert David Meerman Scott recites the story of Cindy Gordon, Vice President of New Media and Marketing at Universal Orlando Resort, and her groundbreaking effort to successfully launch a new Harry Potter themed attraction…

Going against the well-entrenched standard of big budget media-centric investments stuffed with TV ads, billboards, promotions and stunts, she places the go-to-market approach squarely in the hands of seven digital gatekeepers. Dubbed the “AP of HP” by author J.K. Rowling these Potter-heads attract a fan-base of citizen Muggles who love all things Harry. Her strategy was pure Word of Mouse.

Importantly the featured menu of communications tactics acknowledged the shift in how and where consumers choose to involve themselves. And whether or not you’re marketing a product with a deep fan base like Harry Potter, the lessons here are enormously important for clients and agencies alike.

Word of Mouse…

In the end, Cindy’s launch yielded an audience of over 350 million. The path though was indirect, content focused, based initially around “opt-in” engagement and fed from the inside out through respected third parties. From the top evangelists took the excitement to their enthusiast audience and then further down throughout the Internet, word spread by mouse click. Eventually the story was driven to mainstream media properties who picked it up and ran with it.

The genesis was a well-crafted, top secret exclusive Webcast arranged for the seven gatekeepers, followed with a compelling micro-site. Stripping this down to the core elements you find content creation and a different form of outreach.

So how does Word of Mouse work? What does this mean for CPG brand stewards – essentially, how does it impact the price of (marketing) milk? Virtually every aspect of common consumer engagement technique is based on various forms of outbound, “talking at” forms of media that encapsulate a message and move it out through various channels and media properties. There’s speculation throughout marketing literature that consumers simply tune out most of it.

Getting others to tell your story…

Interesting, appealing content that exudes intrinsic value to the recipient is key to making this work right. Opt-In forms of communication are focused on publishing and producing content the audience decides to participate in and propagate. Examples of the tools include:

* Viral video –uploads to YouTube and other platforms
* Customer created video
* E-books and other forms of on-line digital publishing
* VLOGs, BLOGs, and Wikis – sites rich in syndicated content
* Social media platforms and communities
* Simple evaluative tests, comparison quizzes and other ways consumers can rate themselves and compare scores with their friends

Point being Word of Mouse is based on building momentum, in part because the content comes to the table with pass-along value already embedded. Are these ideas finding a path into the annual marketing plan or are we still stuck on doubt about these techniques delivering measurable or impactful outcomes? What do you think?