BY govinda Gyawali

 Why does a spoken word command more value compared to the same word written in paper? It is because the spoken word has more life and energy in it.

Modern marketing pundits have exploited the power and strength of spoken words in advertising and communication, which is known as “Buzz Marketing” or “Word of Mouth Advertising.” And such advertising has proved an effective tool of marketing. It helps in the brand building by various ways such as arousing patriotic feelings among the customers and creating whims in the market in favour of a product or company. And it is a weapon to highlight negativity in the products of competitors and to create negative rumors in market place against competitions.

What is Word of Mouth Advertising?

Word of Mouth Advertising involves direct communication about a service, product, business or event between individuals who have had some experience with the item and who know or have something common with the people to whom they tell about it.

Word of Mouth Advertising is not an indirect talk or communication. If people are not talking directly but communicating by written, electronic, symbolic means, it is not a Word of Mouth Advertising. To do ‘Word of Mouth Advertising’ people have to have something common, personal experience, reason to discuss about or talk about a particular product, service, business, event or program.

So we have to be very clear that Word of Mouth Advertising is not an indirect type of communication. Indirect communication can be done through body language, TV, radio, V-sat, TELEX, fax, telephone, e-mail, symbols, letters, newspapers and the Internet. Word of Mouth is a direct communication that connects the people at personal level. Though it is a direct communication, the organization may not involve as direct implementer of Word of Mouth Campaign. This campaign originates with the best quality of product or service. The company can activate consumers for Word of Mouth by good quality in the product, service, business, performance and event.

Why is Word of Mouth Advertising so effective?

While conducting the Word of Mouth Advertising we go for direct communication regarding the product, business, service or event from the distance of intimacy zone. The intimacy in conversation makes Word of Mouth Advertising so valuable. Flowing the words from personal level impacts highly on needs, perceptions, desires, experiences, expectations and thought process that reflect on an act. The Word of Mouth delivers trust, faith, and knowledge of the communicator about the product, service, business or event. This is why Word of Mouth Advertising is so effective.

At the same time, we also have to remember that Word of Mouth Advertising could be very dangerous if it is not understood and used properly. It could be taken as a mere rumor in which case it may damage the image of the product, service, business or event. However, in underdeveloped countries Word of Mouth becomes much more effective because very few people read newspapers and therefore formal corporate communication may go unnoticed. But it doesn’t mean that it has less importance in developed countries.

In Nepal organizations have rarely used Word of Mouth Advertising. Very few of them know about it. Even those firms that are using this concept are not proficient in its application. In fact, they may not even know that they are doing Word of Mouth Advertising. A good user or originator of Word of Mouth Advertising is always aware of reverse Word of Mouth.

A good Word of Mouth campaign is an unending advertisement process where the personnel are not required directly at the field level. Reflection of positive Word of Mouth stretches as a chain encircling huge number of consumers, trade, people and institutes and helps earn faith from them. A positive Word of Mouth is a long-term advertisement asset.

Word of Mouth Advertising can be associated with brand building and positioning in a specific way. It depends upon the implementation. Let’s take an example of Dettol soap. The brand has been positioned as an antiseptic. The people using other soaps also start using Dettol soap when they suffer from skin diseases. The brand is not generalized. It is specific. The soap is for those who are health conscious and seek antiseptic. Due to effective Word of Mouth Advertising the brand has achieved the peak. If we think about protection of skin we definitely go for Dettol. This is just an example of positive, specific and effective Word of Mouth.

What is negative Word of Mouth?

Negative Word of Mouth is discussion about what is wrong with a particular enterprise, business, product, service or event. A positive word of mouth can be stimulated by competent professionals to increase business and faith on the business whereas in-attentive management and conservative managers’ acts can generate negative word of mouth.

Management people should understand that negative Word of Mouth normally generates from sloppy service, poor quality of product, unsafe conditions, unnecessary suppressions and low understanding of business or not utilizing the total quality of product, business, service or event. Negative Word of Mouth results also from the precocious talk of managers, their procrastinate behavior and conservative thoughts like “I am all in all and I know everything and who is this to teach me?” Disrespecting and underestimating subordinates are other factors triggering negative Word of Mouth.

Sometimes misinformation and inaccurate reporting regarding the business, product, service or event could create Negative Word of Mouth. Negative Word of Mouth develops automatically if the customer is disappointed. Customer changes his/her anger into nasty comments about product and conveys such comments among friends, colleagues and relatives.

The famous Word of Mouth campaign consultant and author Godfray Harris sums up positive Word of Mouth and negative Word of Mouth as under:

Level of expectation + added benefits = positive word of mouth

Level of expectation – unfulfilled benefits = negative word of mouth

Stimulants to Word of Mouth

Successful Word of Mouth Advertising results from some type of stimulation. To stimulate one individual into communicating Word of Mouth, one or more of the following key forces are required.

a) Surprise & Excitement

Something that occurs suddenly and is successful at generating spontaneous comments originates forceful Word of Mouth.

b) Reality & Authenticity

If the comments come from people who are actually using the product and who are experienced with facts in real life situations then the World of Mouth Advertising will work successfully.

c) Difference

Doing something differently always becomes a subject of talk among people. As we all know, solving common problem by an uncommon approach always becomes the matter of discussion and spreads fast. While the competitive bar is continually being raised in the battle for attention, difference is the stuff that people always talk about.

d) Meeting Expectations

Another force to build up Word of Mouth Advertising is to reach beyond the customers’ expectation. Whenever a product, service or business goes beyond what customers expect that becomes unique and special. This marks the origin point of positive Word of Mouth. While the product, service, business or event falls lower than the customers’ expectation that marks the origin point of negative Word of Mouth. To avoid Negative Word of Mouth the stuff should at least meet the customers’ expectation.

Godfray Harris has however cautioned that Word of Mouth Advertising is not a magical promotional bullet. It cannot make up for a poor product, bad service or need for accurate information. While campaigning the Word of Mouth, we have to be aware of time value and features of the product. Affordability also plays a vital role in the success of Word of Mouth Advertising. Likewise, lack of proper attention by the management may result into a failure of Word of Mouth Advertising.

Furthermore, word of mouth is not a form of speech. It has nothing to do with how articulate customers are or how quick they think on their feet. It has only to do with the positive or negative nature of what they eventually say or indicate to their friends, relatives, colleagues and associates about a product, service, business or event.

(Gyawali is Marketing Officer in Surya Nepal (P) Ltd. and he can be reached at ggyawali@yahoo.com)