SETH GODIN, the best selling author of Purple Cow and most followed marketing blogger, also wrote a book titled “All Marketers Are Liars.” The book raised eyebrows but made a point. Consumers don’t listen or believe in what they see or hear being advertised anymore. In the US, the stats have hovered around the 90 percent mark. That’s 9/10 people don’t believe in the promises pitched by advertisers. Advertising still helps in terms of awareness but the ad, it seems, has to be verified by a friend, relative, colleague, officemate, etc.
“Does that place really have the best Italian pizza as the ad says?” asks someone who saw a TVC or print ad to his friend.
Once the friend positively verifies the claim, then there is a mental note taken: “OK, let’s try that restaurant next time…”
After a few years, Godin’s book was republished and retitled, “All Marketers Tell Stories.” The content was basically the same, but Godin just wanted to focus more on the main premise: that marketers would do much better and sell more of their stuff if they concentrated on creating stories about their brands and services.
How? Four letters: W-O-M-M. Or Word of MouthMarketing.
Today, we could replace “Mouth” with “Mouse” because of the Internet, bloggers and social media. (But with all these touch screen devices and this-pad and that-pad, mouses might be a thing of the past as well, so let’s stick to word of mouth.)
Your customers are your best story tellers
In the ’90s, Direct Selling started to boom. Even during the 1997 Asian Crisis direct selling companies like Avon, Sara Lee and a host of new MLM (multilevel marketing)/direct selling companies (like NuSkin, Amway, Symmetry, etc.) did extremely well and were growing despite the economic crisis.
People were buying from friends and family. Distributors and direct sellers were trained and told that they were not selling but just “sharing a story” about a product. And so the first requirement of a direct seller was to use the product and have a story to share about their experience in using the product. This was called a “product story” or “testimonial.”
Direct selling companies continue to boom today because of Filipinos penchant for story telling (or sharing “chismis” or the latest news even if it is about a product or service.)
FernC, the vitamin C brand sold via direct selling, quickly reached a billion pesos in annual sales without even being in a single Mercury Drug store. Stories about this non-acidic/alkaline vitamin C (you could mega dose on this vitamin C and not have an upset stomach) were quickly shared via word of mouth.
And now we have story sharing sites—YouTube, Facebook, Twitter. The new holy trinity of social media.
Recently, the Jr. MarketingRxer, was invited to deliver a talk on Customer Service at the annual Retail Merchants Forum sponsored and hosted by Ayala Malls. I invited Customer Experience trainer and consultant, JV Wong, with me to speak. If I were asked to speak on Customer Service a few years ago, I would decline. But today, Customer Service has become “the New Marketing.” If Marketers are supposed to tell, according to Godin, “authentic stories” that can be spread virally, then who best to spread the stories than your CUSTOMERS? And that’s exactly what they are doing through the holy trinity of social media.
Marketing glee...or glum
This is cause for either glee or glum for marketers. Glee if they deliver or over deliver on their promises and delight the customer. This glee becomes a Facebook status update, a Twit, or a blog post on someone’s Word Press or Blogger site. Glum if they fail to deliver on the product’s promises and / or give poor service.
Some cases of glee: positive stories of influential food and travel blogger, Anton Diaz (ourawesomeplanet.com) have caused my family and business colleagues to try and discover new restaurants in the Fort Bonifacio and Greenbelt area. Other cases of customers sharing stories about their positive product or customer service experiences are in my presentation. Example: Customer raves and blogs about her experience with how the Nintendo service center fixed/replaced her Wii within 30 minutes (while a life size Super Mario mascot entertained her and her son) instead of the usual two weeks that she thought it would take.
We don’t have space to discuss all the case studies so check out the case studies that I presented during my talk on slideshare.net/ardyroberto or click the presentation link on saltandlightventures.com.
Case of stories of glum were also part of my presentation. Including The United Airlines breaks guitars story. Musician Dave Carrol flew on United Airlines and he ended up with a broken guitar. (From the window of his airplane seat, Carrol saw how his guitar was being loaded—or actually thrown around.) Despite his complaints, United refused to compensate Carrol for the damaged guitar. So the musician/leader of the band, Sons of Maxwell, created a song and music video entitled “United Breaks Guitars” and posted it on YouTube. After a few hundred thousand views, United finally took action to minimize the damage on their brand and compensated Carrol. (United actually hired the musician to tell the continuing story of how the airline is trying to do better.) So far, the United Breaks Guitars story has hit nine million YouTube views.
So give your customers a positive, gleeful story to share and they will share it whether it is around the dining table or on their Facebook status. Ask yourself and your management team this question next time you meet: “When my customers walk out of my store or use my product or service, this is the story that they will share: _____________.”
When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.
