Unleashing the Power of Word of Mouth:Creating Brand Advocacy to Drive Growth

ED KELLER

Keller Fay Groupekeller@kellerfay.conn

The evidence is abundantly clear: word of mouth (WOM) is the most important andeffective communications channel. Now, the search is on for strong, quantifiableresearch to help marketers navigate this new terrain, where control rests with theconsumer and not the marketer. This article lays out important insights drawnfrom Keller Fay's continuous monitoring of America's offline and online WOMconversations.

WoRD-OF-MOUTH CONVERSATION is retaking the

throne in the social order. As a result of societalchanges, such as declining trust of those in au-thority, to the explosion of the internet and otherforms of digital media, the communications land-scape that companies face today is being funda-mentally restructured. The evidence is becomingabvmdantly clear: word of mouth (WOM) hasnow become the most important and effectivecommunications channel.

McKinsey says WOM drives two-thirds of in-dustries (Dye, 2000), while Bain & Company (Reich-held, 2003) and the London School of Economics(Marsden, Samson, and Upton, 2005) have pub-lished research that finds that strong customeradvocacy on behalf of a brand or company is oneof the best predictors of top-line growth.

This phenomenon is not a fad, it is a long-termtrend, and advertisers such as P&G, Coca-Cola,Apple, Harley-Davidson, and Starbucks, to namejust a few, increasingly recognize the importantlinkage between WOM advocacy and the growthand vibrancy of their brands.

As just one example, among many, A. G. Lafley,P&G's CEO, spoke at the October 2006 Confer-ence of the Association of National Advertisersand exhorted his fellow marketers to "let go" oftheir brands and bow to consumer needs andwants: "Marketers need to stop trying to controlwhat their brands stand for, and listen to their

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customers. We are operating in what is very mucha 'let go' world," he said (Wasserman and Ed-wards, 2006).

At the 2006 Advertising Research Foundation(ARF) Annual Conference, Jean-Louis Laborie ofIntegration gave a plenary session paper aboutengagementa hot topic for many marketers andone that has been championed by the ARF since2005 and whose official unveiling was at thatconference. The ARF defines engagement as "turn-ing on a prospect to a brand idea enhanced by thesurrounding context" (Plummer, 2006). But whichform of contact with a consumer produces thestrongest levels of engagement? That was the ques-tion Laborie addressed. Integration's Market Con-tactAudit (MCA) measures the impact of manydifferent forms of contact that a consumer canhave with a brand. After reviewing data fromhundreds of MCA studies across multiple con-sumer category areas, Leborie pronounced "wordof mouth" to be the form of consumer contactwith the highest capacity to create consumer en-gagement (Laborie, 2006).

No wonder, then, that for a growing number ofmarketers, WOM advocacy is becoming an increas-ingly important pursuit. This rising interest bringswith it a search for strong, quantifiable research tohelp guide marketers' efforts to increase both thequantity and quality of WOM, and to help eval-uate the success of marketing efforts that seek to

DOl: 10.2501/S0021849907070468

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POWER OF WORD-OF-MOUTH

increase and improve the WOM advocacyfor the product or the brand.

It is for that reason that this issue of thefournal of Advertising Research is so timelyand is certain to make an important con-tribution to this growing area of market-ing practice.

WORD OF MOUTH: NOT A NEWPHENOMENONThe importance of WOM in the consumermarketplace is not a new phenomenon. Infact, in 1967 Professor Johan Arndt, of theColumbia Graduate School of Business,authored a detailed monograph for theARF entitled, "Word of Mouth Advertis-ing." In it, he reviews and comments on147 studies from the literature of sociol-ogy, psychology, and marketing. It was,according to the editor of the ARF's Ad-vertising Research Monographs, "the firstcomprehensive analysis of research in animportant area." The author concludes,"[W]ord of mouth emerges as one of themost important, if not the [emphasis inoriginal text] most important source ofinformation for the consumer" (Arndt,1967).

Confirming the long-standing impor-tance of WOM, research by The RoperOrganization in the early 1970s found thatacross multiple category areas WOM wasthe most important factor in consumerdecision making, with a small advantageover advertising as well as editorial con-tent from the various mass media. Thispattern continued largely intaJ:t throughthe mid 1990s.

Beginning in the 1995-1998 time pe-riod, however, WOM began to grow dra-matically in importance, while the relativeimportance of advertising and editorialmatter began a slow decline. WOM grewin importance by about l\ times, and bythe start of this decade was twice as im-portant in the consumer's eyes as theother alternatives (Keller and Berry, 2003).

If WOM and brand advocacy is becoming an increasingiy

important marketing objective and the new metric ofsuccess, tiien iiow do we measure tiie conversation

worthiness of both brands and communications surround-

ing them? And how do we itnow if our efforts are, in fact,

ieading to greater WOM and more brand advocacy?

So while WOM has always been impor-tant, its importance today is higher thanever. As the credibility of "official" mar-keting messages is waning, the power ofone consumer recommending a productto anotheror to manyis waxing. Theimperative is for marketers and commu-nicators to understand the dynamics ofhow their brands are being discussed byconsumers in consumer-to-consumer com-munications, and to use insights from thisunderstanding to find ways to engage ina true two-way and meaningful dialoguewith consumers, rather than pushing mes-sages out to them in a one-way flow.

THE WOM MEASUREMENT IMPERATIVEIf WOM and brand advocacy is becomingan increasingly important marketing ob-jective and the new metric of success,then how do we measure the conversa-tion worthiness of both brands and com-munications surrounding them? And howdo we know if our efforts are, in fact,leading to greater WOM and more brandadvocacy? Can there become a standard"currency of conversation," as there are"currencies" that allow us to measure theaudience for other types of media?

The Keller Fay Group's TalkTrack^M re-search program seeks to provide such acurrency, as well as to provide strategicand tactical insights for marketers about

the dynamics of WOM and how theirbrands fit into the WOM landscape. Bycontinuously and consistently measuringconsumer conversations about brands,TalkTrack helps marketers (a) to under-stand how WOM truly works (separatingmyth from reality), (b) to plan marketingactivities in a manner is most likely toproduce positive WOM, and (c) to trackthe effectiveness of marketing activity tosee whether the desired WOM and brandadvocacy is being achieve.

TalkTrack is an ongoing survey of Amer-ican consumers ages 13-69, who report tous about the WOM conversations aboutproducts, services, and brands that theytalked about "yesterday." TalkTrack''" usesa single-day diary methodology to aidrecall of conversational brand mentions,and data are collected via the internet.(The weekly samples are demographi-cally balanced for age, sex, educationalattainment, and race/ethnicity to matchthe U.S. Census Bureau for Americansaged 13 to 69. Respondents were re-cruited from a large, national panel ofindividuals who have agreed to partici-pate in occasional survey research projectsand are rewarded with redeemable points.)Every day, a fresh sample of 100 respon-dents participates in the study relatingtheir conversations over the last 24 hours,and findings are reported on a weekly basis.

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collects data related to themedium (mode of conversation, venue, and"sender" demographics), to the message(positive/negative polarity, perceived cred-ibility), and to the audience (demograph-ics of "receivers" and relationship to"sender"). It also identifies the drivers ofbrand mentions, including customer expe-rience and marketing communications, andthe outcomes of those mentions, such asintention to purchase, to get more informa-tion ("inquiries"), and to pass along to otherconsumers what was learned ("relays").

By using this methodology, TalkTrackprovides a nationally representative per-spective on the extent and nature of WOM;it studies both the people who are leadingWOM conversation as well as investigat-ing the impact of WOM on people whoare on the receiving end of advice andrecommendations; and it measures (andhelps to size) the extent and nature ofboth offline WOM (face to face andphone-based conversations) as well asonline WOM (emails, texting or instantmessaging, blogs and chatrooms, etc). Theresults are comparable over time, and be-cause the study investigates WOM acrossmultiple categories and thousands ofbrands, it provides benchmarks againstwhich brand marketers can evaluatethemselves.

WOM BASICS: FIVE IMPORTANTINSIGHTS ON HOW WOM "REALLY"WORKSFindings from this ongoing tracking ofWOM conversations (which was launchedin April 2006) help answer some of themost profound questions relating to WOM:How much occurs, what drives it, andwhat are the market outcomes? To helpset the framework for articles that followin this issue, it is instructive to lay outfive key findings from TalkTrack that pro-vide perspective on how consumer WOMworks in today's marketplace.

Over the course of a typical week, the average American

consumer participates in 121 WOM conversations, in

which specific brand names are mentioned 92 times.

In other words, Americans participate in 3.5 billion WOM

conversations every single day.

1. "Billions and biiiions" of WOMconversations each dayThe most basic finding fromconcems the sheer volume of WOM amongconsumers. Over the course of a typicalweek, the average American consumer par-ticipates in 121 WOM conversations, inwhich specific brand names are men-tioned 92 times. In other words, Ameri-cans participate in 3.5 billion WOMconversations every single day! Brandsare discussed 2.3 billion times per day.Brands, it is fair to say, are a major cur-rency of conversation in America.

The leading categories for WOM arefood and dining, media and entertain-ment, sports and hobbies, beverages, andshopping and retail, with about half (ormore) of the American public talking aboutthese categories each day. Telecom, tech-nology, health and healthcare, and auto-motive all generate conversation by about40-50 percent of Americans per day. Thecategories that generate the lowest vol-ume of WOM are financial services, homeproducts, personal care/beauty, travel, andhousehold products. Even for these, be-tween one-quarter and one-third of Amer-ican have at least one conversation perday. So virtually every consumer categoryfinds itself a part of America's conversa-tion and should be interested in tappinginto the power of WOM. (The reason thesecategories fall as low on the list as theydo is because they tend to be focused

among narrower market segments suchas adult women or parents of young chil-dren. When one looks at results for womenand parents, the number of conversa-tional brand mentions is about twice ashigh as the national average.)

2. Face to face is the predominant modeof WOM conversationHow and where do these WOM conver-sations occur? Fully 76 percent of themoccur "face to face," while another 17percent happen by phone and 10 percentare online. Among these online "conver-sations," 3 percent occur via email, 2 per-cent via instant text, and 1 percent occurvia blogs/chat rooms.

These findings are significant and surpris-ing to many, because for many marketers,their thinking about WOM is dominatedby the consideration of how to use new,digital media to create conversation, or par-ticipate in consumer conversation. Thesenew technologies are certainly growingquickly and becoming increasingly impor-tant as tools in the marketers arsenal, butthese data point to the need for marketersto consider both offline channels as theyseek to drive WOM and brand advocacy,as well as digital media approaches.

3. WOM is generaiiy positive towardbrandsPerhaps the most unexpected finding inour research concerns the "polarity" of

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WOM. Overwhelmingly, consumers havepositive things to say about brands, by amargin of more than 6 to 1. Across allbrands in all categories, 63 percent werementioned in a mostly positive light, andjust 9 percent in a negative one. Another16 percent of conversational mentions ofbrands mixed both positive and negativecomments, while 12 percent of the timethe conversation" had neither a positivenor negative tone.

Our research does find important dif-ferences in the polarity of WOM by in-dustry. In general, WOM is most positivefor consumer packaged goods of variouskinds, and least positive for telecommu-nications. But for all categories, the "mostlypositive" comments outweigh the "mostlynegative" by a healthy margin.

The overwhelmingly positive nature ofWOM is extremely important for market-ers, for several reasons. First, it meansthat we should think of consumers asprimarily supportive of brands and com-panies, in the sense that they want to helpconnect good brands with good friends.While it is true that stopping a friendfrom making a bad choice is a helpful act,the most helpful recommendation also of-fers a replacement choice, and perhapsseveral.

Second, these findings suggest that theoft-cited "risk" of participating in WOMis likely overblown. The greater risk formarketers likely resides in not engagingin a conversation that is happening withor without the marketer's participation.

4. WOM brings with it high impact:Credibiiity, pass aiong, purchase intentWord of mouth is not only mostly posi-tive toward brands and companies; it isalso extraordinarily believable, accordingto the "receivers" of WOM advice. Itspower comes from the personal trust re-lationship that exists between most con-versational partners. This is particularly

Among media channels, television is the most powerful

WOM medium, with references during 16 percent of ail

branded conversations, and TV advertising more often

referenced than programming. The internet is the next

most often cited media source at 12 percent. Point of

saie (8 percent) and newspapers (7 percent) follow.Interestingly, for some particularly strong WOM brands,

the reference to media and marketing rises to as much

as 65 percentindicating just how powerful media canbe in creating great and powerful WOM.

the case in face-to-face conversationsamong family, personal friends, co-workers,and other trusted acquaintances.

Asked to evaluate the believability ofWOM about specific brands, using a scalefrom 0 to 10, a 55 percent majority ofconsumers who were the "receivers" ofadvice and opinions from another personassign a credibility score of 9 or 10. An-other 25 percent of the "receivers" assigna credibility score of 7 or 8, for a grandtotal of 80 percent of consumers rankingWOM advice as credible at a level of 7 orhigher on the 0 to 10 scale. It is hard toimagine these kinds of credibility scoresbeing assigned to advertising or other tra-ditional marketing communications. Thatis the power of a personal relationship.

Beyond having credibility to the personwho receives information or recommen-dations via WOM, these consumers arealso moved to share that information withothers. Forty-nine percent of all "receiv-ers" of WOM say they are highly likely (9or 10 on a 10-point scale) to relay theadvice they have received to someone else.

Word-of-mouth marketing is valuableonly to the extent that it drives the ulti-mate behavioral outputs that marketersseekbrand purchases. Here too, we seethe power of WOM. On a scale of 0 to 10,nearly half of all "receivers" of WOMadvice say they will likely make a pur-chase based on the conversation (50 per-cent give a 9 or 10 rating).

So not only is there a very large volumeof WOM, we see that the impact it has isquite strong as well.

5. iViarketing communications driveWOiViAmid the recent growth in popularity ofWOM marketing, the field is often de-scribed as an alternative to "traditional"media and marketing channels. WhileWOM does represent a philosophicalbreakaway from a one-way, top-down com-munication model, it does not necessarilymean the abandonment of traditional me-dia and marketing channels. Rather, itsuggests the opportunity for all forms of

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consumer contact to contribute to or stim-ulate WOM, which brings with it (as wejust saw) high levels of credibility andpurchase intent.

In fact, 50 percent of branded conver-sations include a reference to some kindof media or marketing that was seen orheard by at least one conversation conver-sational partner.

These media and marketing referencesrun a wide gamut: advertising, editorial,and programming from various types ofmedia, company websites, marketing ma-terials at the point of purchase, coupons,and other promotions, etc. Indeed, as mar-keters become more skillful at developingtargeting and messaging-to stimulateWOM, the percentage of conversationsreferencing media or marketing could growsubstantially.

Among media channels, television isthe most powerful WOM medium, withreferences during 16 percent of all brandedconversations, and TV advertising moreoften referenced than programming. Theinternet is the next most often cited me-dia source at 12 percent. Point of sale (8percent) and newspapers (7 percent) fol-low. Interestingly, for some particularlystrong WOM brands, the reference to me-dia and marketing rises to as much as 65percentindicating just how powerful me-dia can be in creating great and powerfulWOM.

Hence "traditional" media and market-ing channels must be counted among theimportant "input" tools available to mar-keters interested in driving WOM on be-half of their brands.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONTaken together, these (and other) findingsfrom the Keller Fay Group's research helpmarketers to understand the true scope

and power of word of mouth. They showthat positive WOM is a powerful force indriving recommendations and purchaseintent. Also, that media and marketingcommunications have a significant role toplay in influencing conversations, withsignificant differences evident from cat-egory to category, and even from brand tobrand.

From a research perspective, we alsosee how important it is to focus both onthe "senders" of brand advocacy, as wellas on the audience in WOMthe ulti-mate receivers of marketing-relevant mes-sages from other consumers. At varioustimes, everyone plays the role of "sender"and "receiver" in conversations about.brands. But in studying any one particu-lar conversational brand mention, it iscritical to identify who is the "receiver"on that occasion, because only he or shecan reliably tell us what they have heard,who told them and with what degree ofcredibility, and how that shared informa-tion irrtpacts their purchases and conver-sations in the future.

From a communications planning per-spective, we can now bring fact-basedinsights to help marketers move beyondthe traditional model of impressions, eye-balls and efficiency, and instead to incor-porate strategies that will generate trueadvocacy for their brands and, with it,brand growth,

ED KELLER is the CEO of the Keller Fay Group (www.kellerfay.com), a market research firm that specializesin word-of-mouth marketing. He is the co-author of TheInfluentials: One American in Ten Tells the Other NiheHow to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy (FreePress, 2003). Mr. Keller is also the president of theboard of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association(www.womma.org).

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