Word of Mouth has been called the holy grail of marketing. Some of the world’s best marketing case studies center around brands with great word of mouth, or WOM programs. The Harley Davidson Owners Group, Maker’s Mark Ambassadors, Fiskars Scissors, Pabst Blue Ribbon’s hip resurgence—all classic Word of Mouth case studies. 
But Word of Mouth is still a bit of an enigma to many brands. The output isn’t an ad. Or a website. Or a piece of collateral. The outcomes … at least of those of successful programs … is often incredible lift for the brand over time. But over time is complicated. Was it this magic sauce word-of-mouth that you don’t actually see or was it all the other marketing things we were doing?
Ted Wright has authored probably half of the top 10 most successful word of mouth marketing programs. He is perhaps known most for reigniting the Pabst Blue Ribbon brand 20 years ago. A good portion of Chapter 14 of Winfluence - Reframing Influencer Marketing to Ignite Your Brand is pieces of my interview for the book.
But I wanted to go deeper with him on some of his experience and ideas about word of mouth to see if influence marketing and even online influencers are just a variation of the theme. In some ways, I feel like what we do as influence marketers is build word of mouth programs. But I know better than to outright claim that because folks like Ted tend to take exception to people hitching onto their wagon without at least running it by them first.
In the spirit of my interviews of late, I suppose, we get a little vocal toward the end as Ted builds an argument that influencers aren't effective. But that's what happens me Ted and I get together. We enjoy the disagreements and are never disagreeable with one another.
Enjoy this one. Ted Wright is always fun to talk to.
You can find Ted on LinkedIn and Fizz at FizzCorp.com.
This episode of Winfluence - The Influence Marketing Podcast is presented by Winfluence - Reframing Influencer Marketing to Ignite Your Brand, my new book from Entrepreneur Press. You can find it in bookstores everywhere.
Winfluence, the book, is not just a strategic blueprint to help you employ smart influence marketing strategies for your business or clients, but it explains why our common perception of influencer marketing is all wrong. I take you through how to re-think and reframe the concepts to turn influencer marketing into influence marketing … broaden the perspective and open new avenues of leveraging influential people -- online and offline -- to grow your business.
Winfluence (the podcast) listeners get a special 20% off code. Go to http://jason.online/buywinfluence and on checkout, use the code FALLS20 for 20% off the retail price.
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