From Advisory to Advocacy:

Consumer Insights and Word Of Mouth Marketing Have More in Common than You Thought

October 19th, 2009

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Agenda

• The changing face of consumers as advisors

• From advisors to advocates

• CASE STUDY: General Mills

– MyBlogSpark

– Pssst…

• Key takeaways

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Consumer role goes beyond Consumption

• Trends show increased involvement of consumers across product and service lifecycles:

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Consumers are in control

• The Trust in Advertising survey of 26,000+ found that Consumer Recommendations are the most credible form of advertising.

("Social Media Marketing: The Right Strategy for Tough Economic Times" Awareness, 2008)

• Online reviews are second only to personal advice from a friend as the driver of purchase decisions; user reviews are more influential than third-party reviews. ("Web users and web community," Rubicon Consulting, Inc. October 2008)

• 81% of online holiday shoppers read online customer reviews (Nielson Online, December 2008)

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Consumers matter across the enterprise

• Market Research / Consumer Insights

• Marketing

• Public Relations

• Product Development

• Distribution

• Human Resources

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Bring consumers together

ADVOCATES access resources to usethemselves, share with others, and

rate/review/recommend through external existing networking sites / blogs

ADVISORS share opinions by answering direct questions, taking surveys, chatting…

community

An integrated platform that includes:

Recruitment

Communications

Quantitative & Qualitative data collection

Incentive management

Plus

Online ethnography

Collaborative, real-time, product innovation

Advisory communities

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Rapid turnaround

Low cost

Longitudinal insights

Consumer empowerment

Reliable results

Advisory communities

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To be successful, proprietary panels require care & feeding

More panels die of neglect than overuse

Panelists need to be kept engaged & involved

Companies that enable feedback across multiple departments see exponential increases in value

Don’t go it alone! MR agencies have all the skills necessary to add value to your proprietary panel

It takes a researcher…

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Don’t be afraid to move to advocacy

• Two rules to play by:

– Allow opinions to be expressed, don’t try to prescribe them

– Don’t bias your quantitative research

• Separate streams

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CASE STUDY: General Mills

• David Witt

• Word-of-mouth marketing and consumer network lead to

– Known bloggers

– Self-identified brand advocates

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CASE STUDY: General Mills

• David Witt

• Word-of-mouth marketing and cultivating direct relationships with consumers

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INVITEINSPIR

EINCLUDE

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Background

• Increasingly fragmented communication environment.

• Consumers have more control over choices.

• Consumers continually list WOM and advice from friends and family as one of their main influences.

• Great opportunity to engage directly with consumers.

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Fiber One Bars Launch: Consumer Conversation was Critical

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2007

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2/3/

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3/3/

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73/

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007

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007

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2007

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9/1/

2007

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79/

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007

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/27/

2007

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2007

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During launch, the number of consumer-generated messages (as measured by Nielsen Buzzmetrics) closely mirrored unit sales of Fiber One Bars. Something is going on here…

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• 2,500+ bloggers (primarily women) have agreed to receive news and information; engage in concept tests, etc.

• Opportunity to “Join the Conversation” with influential consumers online. • It’s about the bloggers – their opinions, their interests and what is relevant to them.

• More than 170k influential consumers who have agreed to receive new product news, behind the scenes looks at General Mills and special offers.

• Members interested in new products generally and most in food specifically.

• Influential consumers tend to talk with others about their new discoveries.

Two Consumer Networks

• Direct relationships with consumers.

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Landscape

• According to the 2007 Double Click, Searcher Moms-A Search Behavior and Usage Study, 89% of household moms use the Internet at least twice a day

• According to BlogHer (one of the largest online communities of women bloggers) and Compass Partners, more than half of women consider blogs a reliable source of advice and an influence on their purchase decisions

• According to an August 2008 study by BuzzLogic and JupiterResearch, there has been 300% growth in monthly blog readership over the past four years. In fact, nearly one-half of the online population reported reading blogs– The study also found that blogs have more impact on purchasing decisions than social networks

• According to a study by DEI Worldwide, two thirds of people agree that recommendations from other people online are valuable, credible and could influence their perceptions of a brand and, hence, their purchase decision

Landscape

MyBlogSpark Press

“Moms get access to products they and their kids will probably like, while General Mills gets some positive social media press. This is social media done right.”

MyBlogSpark Homepage

MyBlogSpark Personal Page

“Hey everyone, I am so excited to be part of this new network called MyBlogSpark. It’s a network where bloggers can get the scoop on new products to sample, prizes to give away …Yeah!”

MyBlogSpark Example

Date: March, 2009http://freebies4mom.blogspot.com/2009/03/yoplait-yo-plus-giveaway.html

“I love yogurt and one of my favorites is Yoplait Yo-Plus!

MyBlogSpark Example

Date: September 26, Comments: 445http://islandlife808.com/giveaways/giveaway-pillsbury-savorings-flaky-pastry-bites//

Kailani of Mommy Goggles said the following:

“…when I had the opportunity to sample Pillsbury Savorings Flaky Pastry Bites, I jumped at the chance. I mean, who doesn’t love Pillsbury?”

MyBlogSpark Example

163 Blog Posts: 7,822 Comments

Start of outreach

Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories

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“If we ran out of Cheerios, the children would revolt! I don't mind, because I believe Cheerios are a great, healthy breakfast or snack. I also love that Cheerios encourages reading through the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program. ”-Northern Cheapskate, Christina Brown

“What's been wonderful about the books is the quality of the stories - they've really been enjoyable, and introduced us to new favorites like Olivia.”-Cathy Kohm, Chief Family Officer

“I loved that there was a book that appealed to my 2 year old, as well as a book that reached my 4 ½ year old. I also loved the fact that two of the books included were also written in Spanish, so my children can experience a different language. Each book was fun, creative, and entertaining.”- IN Good ‘Cents,’ Beth Montgomery

Involving bloggers increased consumer participation by 150%.

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MyBlogSpark

It’s about the bloggers – their opinions, their interests and whatis relevant to them.

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Landscape

Landscape

• Increasingly fragmented communication environment.

• Consumers have more options and more control over information they receive.

• Consumers continually list WOM and advice from friends and family as one of the main influences on their decisions.

• Many are recommending marketers focus more strongly on a new mix: • “Make your consumer an advocate: Shift marketing objectives from sending a

message to facilitating conversations with and between consumers.” – Marketing and Media Ecosystem 2010 (ANA, IAB, AAAA, Booz Allen Hamilton)

• “Word of mouth marketing is changing the brand-building game -- to the point where even long-established brand giants are calling their traditional branding techniques into question.” – Harvard Business’ Discussion Leader

• Opportunity to have a more direct relationship with consumers.

Website Welcome Page

Individual Web Page

Progresso Broth

Pssst… Example

Online and Offline Coverage

Progresso Broth

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Pssst…

Direct relationships with consumers.

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• Gravitational pull to niche

• Consumers are willing to be inspired and included

• Provide meaningful, and relevant, brand experiences for consumers.

• Provide content in a format and in a location that they find useful and familiar

• Align organization with efforts

• Integrate social media efforts with traditional PR and Digital plans for synergistic support

• Test, learn, optimize

• To have remarkable results, the brand experience must be remarkable

Key Learnings

Best Practices

• Listen & learn, then participate

• Be prepared to commit for the long term

• Be authentic, overtly transparent

• Provide value

• Be respectful of your audience

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INVITEINSPIR

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Questions?

• David Witt, General Millsdavid.witt@genmills.com

• Daniel Coates, GLOBALPARKdaniel.coates@globalpark.comtwitter.com/globalpark

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