Selling or Selling Out?
Word of Mouth Advertising is coming to Britain, according to the BBC.
I was cynical, but reading on, this seems to be what I do anyway, except that someone will actually buy me the toys I’ll be ranting about.
I can cope with that.
March 26th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
It’s already surprisingly easy to get hold of free stuff from PR agencies, especially if you’re willing to blag a little
The main problem is that the type of products that rely and work well with WOM advertising are the sorts of products that are small and cheap that you can afford to give away for free. You’re never going to get a 50″ 1080p TFT or an Audi A4. And few of these review products are going to be that good. In fact, I’d almost be willng to place money that most of them are going to be totally crap (this is based on my experience of reviewing things for Refresh many years ago, you wouldn’t believe the amount of crap promo CDs I had to wade through to find something that made the whole experience seem vaguely worthwhile).
In many cases WOM is that “free sample” that shops already give away in-store to customers, except because the volunteer has said they’ll talk about it they now feel obliged to say something, rather than eat the free chocolate bar and never mention it again (or, in the case of the Co-op’s Fair Trade milk chocolate bar, buy them regularly and tell all your friends). And now you’re paying postage costs too, and probably a commission/fee for using the WOM service. Plus if you’re giving it to people that specifically ask for a certain type of product, how do you know that they wouldn’t have bought/talked about it anyway? How many are simply freeloaders that like getting free stuff but will never provide return on investment?
In the BBC News article it says “Rani Schlenoff is an advocate for BzzAgent in the US and has tried 28 products, including candy bars and a toothbrush” - were those really the highlights? I think I can choose my own sweets and toothbrush without having to rely on someone else’s opinion. Occasionally it’s nice to take a gamble and realise something for yourself. Live life, not someone else’s.
March 28th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
//Co-op’s Fair Trade milk chocolate bar, buy them regularly and tell all your friends//
My god, they got to you already!