1. The 36
Reasons Why People
Word of Mouth

2. Word of Mouth - A Higher Form of Marketing Value

3. Six Core Human Instincts on Why We Talk
To Survive
To Connect
To Make Sense of the World
To Reduce Risk & Uncertainty
To Benefit Economically
To Relieve Tension

4. Still Need Convincing?
Word of mouth is the most
persuasive influence on sales
Word of mouth is the fastest
growing marketing vehicle
Word of mouth is the most
trusted of 15 influences
One influencer has 182 word
of mouth conversations weekly

5. Agent Wildfire - Tapping The Customer’s Three Roles
The Need to The Need to The Need to
Engage/Affiliate Create Share

6. Agent Wildfire’s Word of Mouth Success Formula
= CB
X SI
X EE
X T
X ICII
Word Category WOM WOM WOM
Influential
Of & Story & Experience Tools Audience
Mouth Brand Idea & Engage- To Spread
Attributes ment

7. Category and Brand Situational Sweetspots
 New Stuff
- Brands/Products/Initiatives/Services
- Audiences/Unmet Needs/Benefits
 Interesting Stuff
- Compelling Org./Brand/Product Story
- Edgy, Intimate, Authentic, Remarkable
 Complex/Expensive Stuff
- Benefit(s) Requiring Credibility
- Benefit Needs Experience/ Explanation
 Everyday Stuff
- Things We Frequently Buy/Use/Consume
- Simple Pleasures/Problem Solvers
 Passion-Based or Connoisseur Stuff
- A Natural Influencer Audience
- Hobby/Leisure/Taste-Driven Pursuit

8. Online - Passalong Effects
Frequency:
- 89% share content via email
- 65% weekly
- 25% daily
Scope:
- 75% more than 6 people at
 a time
- Influencers – 13 people at
 a time
 *Reminder:
- more than 80% of word of
 mouth is in person
Source: Sharpe Partners/Burston Martsteller

9. What We Buzz About
Reasons to Forward an Email:
Humour: 78%
A Recommendation 50%
Involve in a Competition 49%
Earn yourself Benefits 15%
Raise money for a charity 15%
Sex 11%
Make you feel appreciated 10%
Join a Petition 10%
Embarrass them 10%
Source: Sharpe Partners/Burston Martsteller

10. Which Flavour of Word of Mouth Would You Choose?…

11. Word of Mouth Flavours
• Product seeding/intervention
• Influencer/ambassador programs
• User generated content/media
• Viral Advertising/Marketing
• Advergaming/virtual worlds
• Experiential marketing
• Buzz/guerrilla marketing
• Grassroots/Cause marketing
• Social media (blogs, podcasts)
• Social Networks
• Brand Communities

12. Why We Word of Mouth?

13. Three Basic Reasons Why Ideas Spread
“It’s Who They Are” “It’s What You Do” “It’s Who You Are”
10 Audience Attributes 15 Buzz Firestarters 11 Inescapable Traits

14. The 36 Reasons Why People Word of Mouth
It’s because It’s because of It’s because of
of them what you provide who you are
#1 - Passionate about the topic #11 – Social Currency #26 - Innovative
#2 - Logo Lovers #12 – Brand Experience(s) #27 –Remarkable/ Outrageous
#3 – Knowledge Seekers #13 – Fame #28 – The Best at What You
#4 - Social Brokers #14 – VIP Treatment/Customization Do
#5 – Altruism #15 – Scarcity #29 – Authentic
#6 – Involved/Committed #16 – Influence #30 – Liberating/ Problem
#7 – Feedback Seekers #17 – Intimacy Solving
#31 - Edgy
#8 – Ego-driven #18 – Visibility
#32 – Trustworthy
#9 – Reciprocity Dealers #19 – Tight Boundaries
#33 – Likable
#10 – Self-Expression #20 – Rallying Cause
#34 – Easy to Talk About
#21 – Rewards
#22 – Expertise #35 – Ritualistic
#36 - Sensory
#23 – Bite-Sized Participation
#24 – Network Effects
#25 – Memes

15. I. It’s Who They Are – The 20-10-1 Rule
“A small 
percentage of 
your audience is
responsible for a 
majority of your 
word of mouth” 
The 20-10-1 Influencer Rule
In most markets, your audience comprises of:
20% - Referrers, 10% - Advocates, 1% - Zealots

16. The Influencers – Word of Mouth Powerbrokers
The Law of The Few: “The answer is that the success of any kind of social
epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular
and rare set of social gifts.” Malcolm Gladwell, the Tipping Point

17. The Influencers – 6 Archetypes
36% of Influencers
16% of Influencers
“Message Credibility”
“Message Starters”
6% of Influencers 6% of Influencers
“Message Radar” “Message Magnets”
16% of Influencers 19% of Influencers
“Message Sellers” “Message Spreaders”

18. It’s because
of them
#1 - Passionate about the
The topic
#2 - Logo Lovers
Who #3 – Knowledge Seekers
#4 - Social Brokers
#5 – Altruistic
#6 – Involved/Committed
#7 – Feedback Seekers
#8 – Ego-driven
#9 – Reciprocity Dealers
#10 – Self-Expressives

19. #1 - Passionate About The Topic
• Insider’s Guide to Style -daily email
service providing the scoop to what's
hot, new, and undiscovered
• Trend-savvy Audience
• Spread - started from 700 initial
members, now counts 1.2 million
subscribers across 12 major cities
• Takeaway –
“Know Thyself & Find Your Clique”
– distinctive voice
– same friendly character
– focus on the reader experience
– consistent flow of content

20. #2 - Logo Lovers
• Tattoo-worthy
– David vs. Goliath
– Pop Culture Participant
- Grassroots Philosophy & Practice - “Put
yourself in the mind set of the person on the
street and what's important to them."
- Provide variety
- Find out what their customers think
about proposed new products
- Involve their customers with social
causes.
• Takeaway – “Embrace your customers –
make your brand a lifestyle statement”

21. #3 – Knowledge Seekers
• The Marketplace Authority - expert,
independent non-profit with the mission
to work for a fair, just, and safe
marketplace
• “Test, Inform, Protect” Mission - to
empower all consumers to protect
themselves, influencing millions of
experts and purchases
• Valuable Information – 4 million
members and the largest website with
paying subscribers in the U.S. (+1
million)
• Takeaway – “Be the Authority” -
maintained lofty and strict standards

22. #4 - Social Brokers
• Like Attracts Like - a private community
where you grow a network of mutual friends,
show off your personality and popularity
• Social Media Juggernaut - now has 100+
million users
• Be in My Black Book – started with well-
connected Hollywood types 4 years ago to
become the 2nd most trafficked website and
the place to
• Takeaway – “Wire Up for Sharability” make
it easy for others to join and catch up

23. #5 - Altruism – Helping/Educating Peers
• Altruistic Philosophy - the free
encyclopedia that anyone can edit
• The Powerful Few - Started in 2001,
now has over 1,300,000 articles, a
majority of the articles developed by
less than 1% of its readers
• Community Camaraderie – “We've
got to respect each other, because
we are each other's editors”
• Takeaway - “Establish a Shared
Goal” - to create a huge, high-quality
free encyclopedia

24. #6 - Involved & Committed
• Politically Concerned Audience - makes it
possible for people to fight against the
infuriating things that they see either
destroying or about to destroy their country
• Internet Efficiency + Face to Face
Volunteerism
• The Opinion Leading 1% of the
Population - counts 3.3 million U.S. citizens
as members, 69% of members are
considered Influentials
• Takeaway – “Become a Two Way
Media/Get Commitment Upfront” – amplify
involvement by using a “Strong Vision/Big
Ears” approach

25. #7 - Feedback Seekers
• Self-discovery and social network -
tapping scientific research into many areas
of human behavior –career, relationships,
intelligence, finances, sexuality, health
• Expert Validation - provide access to
insights hidden within academic institutions
to the average person.
• My Heritage – family network promoting
through visual recognition celeb. look alike
tool
• Takeaway:
“Provide expert or fun validation of opinions”

26. #8 - Ego Driven
• Community-Driven - digg is a user-driven social
content website, everything on digg is submitted
by the digg user community
• Peer Voted Fame - other digg users read your
submission and digg what they like best. If your
story rocks and receives enough diggs, it is
promoted to the front page for the millions of digg
visitors to see
• Star Power - the top 100 Digg users control 56%
of Digg's frontpage content
• Rising Social Media Star - launched in late
2004, now has 400,000 registered Digg users
• Takeaway - “Feed and Profile Your Front Row”

27. #9 – Reciprocity Dealers
• Clear Deal - in return for driving their web
traffic, Amazon immediately pays out in
either gift vouchers (to be spent in the
store), cheque or direct deposit
• Only as Good as The Company You Keep
- owns one of the largest and most
successful online affiliate programs, with
over 1,000,000 members worldwide.
• Incentive-driven traffic - you can earn
more than 10 percent in referral fees.
• Takeaway: “You Scratch My Back, I’ll
Scratch Yours”

28. #10 – Self-Expressives
• Users (illustrators and amateurs)
may submit t-shirt designs online,
which are then put to a public
vote.
• A small percentage of
submissions are selected to be
printed and sold through the
online store. Creators of the
winning designs receive cash.
• Takeaway:
“Give Your Creatives a Stage”

29. It’s because of
what you provide
#11 – Social Currency
#12 – Brand Experience(s)
#13 – Fame
#14 – VIP Treatment/Customization
The What #15 – Scarcity
#16 – Influence
#17 – Intimacy
#18 – Visibility
#19 – Tight Boundaries
#20 – Rallying Cry
#21 – Rewards
#22 – Expertise
#23 – Bite-Sized Participation
#24 – Network Effects
#25 – Memes

30. #11-Social Currency – The Inside Scoop
• An Insider Destination - “…the national go-
to spot for keeping up with the rich and
scandalous, the media elite and the pop-
culture trends of the moment." [New York
Times]
• Don’t be Left Out - "Everyone who is
anyone in chic Manhattan is reading
gawker.com -- or should be." [New York
Daily News]
• Juicy Content - a must-read for the inside
scoop on celebrity trash, and bitchy gossip,
introduced Gawker Stalker – a map of
celebrity sitings in New York
• Takeaway – “Dish Up and Share What’s
Under the Hood”

31. #11 - Social Currency – Ahead of The Mainstream
• Trendy - Europe’s leading fashion retailer -
reflect the very latest international trends.
• Tough to Imitate - fashion panache and
selection at unbeatable prices. Move onto
the next trend before you can be copied at a
lower price.
• Pent Up Demand -selected H&M stores
offered an exclusive collection by fashion
designer Karl Lagerfeld, it sold out within an
hour; repeated with a sell-out collection by
Stella McCartney in 2005
• Takeaway:
“Stay ahead of the curve”

32. #12 - Brand Experience
• Masters of Coffee - 1,000 baristas file through a
10 seminar series Illy University of Coffee – 14
master baristas graduated last year
• Quality Fanaticism - 114 quality control checks
with an intensive culture of innovation into coffee
– “an espresso requires 50 coffee beans and only
one bad one can ruin the whole cup”
• A Mark of Excellence - “Every coffee shop in
New York that proudly displays the 'illy' sign
promises to offer not just a great cup of coffee,
but an experience. It's a pride in coffee, in the
flavor and the memories of a European
excursion. It's the recognition that you could take
it to go, but it just wouldn't be as fun.”
• Takeaway:
“The Details Matter, Substance Triumphs Style”

33. #13 - Fame - Jones Soda
• Consumer driven to the max –
– Labels are submitted by customers
– Flavour choices are reviewed by customers
– My Jones – personalized batch production
– Product/format customer-driven innovation
ideas –Jones Map – a locator for their most
zealous 3,000+ customers
• Cult following, from customers to employees
• Slave to the people - from Peter van Stolk
“people don’t need our s---, people get fired up
about Jones because it’s theirs.”
• Grassroots success - Innovation lab anointed
Jones Soda the brand of the future
• Takeaway
– “Shine the light on your customers”

34. #14 – VIP Treatment – Exclusive Access
• Desirable Added Value - second most
important cardholder benefit
• Fashion Example: American Express Holt
Renfrew Platinum Card - receive priority
access to limited- and special-edition Holt
Renfrew items and members-only events
• Club Example - American Express provides
"GET:IN for IN:NYC Cardmembers,"
providing Cardmembers and up to three
guests immediate access to skip to the front
of the line at some of New York's most
popular clubs and lounges
• Takeaways: Establish “I Have It, You
Don’t” Appeal

35. #14 – VIP Treatment - Customization
• A Personalized Classic - order M&M's with
your very own custom-printed messages on
them
• Options, Options - Choose your color(s),
compose your message, and indicate your
quantity (a 1/2-pound bag is $11.25)
• An Emotional Lovemark - the most popular
messages-to-date - "I love you Grandpa"
and "Will you marry me?“
• Personalized Avatar
• Takeaway: “Tap a market of one”

36. #15 - Scarcity
• By referral only
• Develop pent-up demand
and enthusiasm
• Takeaway:
“Create a lineup, tighten
supply”

37. #16 - Influence
- Community Build - Customer Innovators and
Lugnuts user group community
- User Collaboration - Collaborated and created
demand for 40,000 high end units called
Mindstorms at $199, built with no advertising
- Different Rungs - community has multiple levels
of involvement and feedback to the company:
- Certified Professionals – experts who
work directly with LEGO employees
- Ambassadors – a rotating set of 22
hardcore global fans
- Lego Leagues – a kids community
- Local Fan Clubs/Auction Sites
- Takeaway “
- “Crowdsource And Harness Skills of Zealots”

38. #17 - Intimacy – Love/Transparency
• More than a Doll - “An educational toy young
girls love, providing empowerment and
knowledge for pre-teen girls.”
• Daughter Loved/Mom Approved - moms feel
good about dropping a lot of cash on low-tech,
wholesome Americana
• The Anti-Barbie - American Girl doesn't push
girls to act older,‘ they are the chosen talisman
against unwanted precocity
• Takeaway:
“Have a set of values, show them at all
touchpoints”

39. #18 – Visibility – Halo 2 - I Love Bees -
• Cross-media game that deliberately
blurred the line between in-game and
out-of-game experiences.
• Websites thought to be involved with the
game
• Unexpected phone calls
• Seeded Plastic honey bear jars
• Halo 2 trailers at theatres flashed a link
to ilovebees.com
• Takeaway:
“Don’t Just Rely on the Web, Be
Everywhere”

40. #19 – Tight Boundaries
• Dating/flirting site
• By invitation only
• Keep the tribe pure
• Takeaway:
“Let the castle door open
slowly”

41. #20 Rallying Cry – Mozilla Firefox
• Firefox is an open source, peer-to-
peer marketing pioneer with 10% of
global net users
• Firefox CEO states “we want users
to feel involved from the very
beginning and not to be controlling..
When users get involved, something
magical happens”
• A volunteer network of 175,000
community users have participated
in a wide range of activities:
– DefendFirefox.com
– “For the Record’ SWAT team
• Takeaway:
“Build cultish devotion”

42. #21 – Rewards - WebKinz
• My Space for Kids
• Real Toy, Virtual Experience
• Intrinsic & Extrinsic Rewards
• Positive and Negative Incentives
• Takeaway:
“Word of mouth is not a
democracy - reward different
levels of participation”

43. #22 Share Expertise – Intuit Quickbooks
• Set up a blog/forum to communicate
with & learn from their 35,000
customers and full audience
• Operates a Team Beta to help
launch new software with 1,000
customer testers
• 67 significant changes were made
to Quickbooks 2006 based on
customer feedback
• Takeaway:
“Let your users take your
knowledge and then listen”

44. #23 – Bite-Sized Participation
• Small things lead to big
things
• Give something free to get
something back
– Free preview
– Limited Time/Use
– Basic version

45. #24 – Network Effects
• The more people involved, the better
it is for everybody
• The value of the marketplace to a
new user is proportional to the
number of other users in the market
• Web marketplaces and social
networks
• Takeaway:
“Deliver benefits with expansion”

46. #25 - Memes
• Meme: “A unit of cultural
information, such as a practice or
idea, that is transmitted verbally or
by repeated action from one mind
to another.”
• People are talking about it in
discussion groups and millions of
people are caught up in the power
of “Evolution”
• Takeaway:
“Have Something Important to Say,
Make It Repeatable”

47. It’s because of
who you are
#26 - Innovative
#27 –Remarkable/ Outrageous
#28 – The Best at What You Do
#29 – Authentic
#30 – Liberating/ Problem
Solving
#31 - Edgy
#32 – Trustworthy
#33 – Likable
#34 – Easy to Talk About
#35 – Ritualistic
#36 - Sensory

48. What Makes Stuff Word of Mouth-Able?
Something with which you personally associate 25.7%
Innovative 22.5%
Exciting 13.1%
Solves problems 11.0%
Easy to talk about 9.9%
New 8.0%
Newsworthy 2.9%
Exclusive 2.7%
Other 2.7%
Fashionable 1.3%
Agent Wildfire Research

49. #26 - Innovative/Novel
• Founder’s Story - James Dyson and his 5 year
journey, rejection by all the big manufacturers and
5,127 prototype investment, to build the world's
first cyclonic bagless vacuum
• Superior Vacuum Cleaner - uncompromising
functionality, great design and aspirational
purchase
• Clear Suction Benefit – strong enough to collect
the finest particles of dust—even microscopic
particles such as cigarette smoke—without
clogging
• Runaway Success - Now a $1 billion company
with prices at double the standard prices of a
vacuum cleaner
• Takeaway:
“Be different/look different”

50. #27 - Remarkable/Outrageous
• Underdog brand built on the back of word of mouth, PR
and internet, stylish stunts, outdoor advertising and
interesting we promotions i.e. customizable bumper
stickers with your own messages
• 19,000 members of the Mini2 fan club
• 3,300 participants in the Mini Takes The States Cross
Country Rally – over 400 people will get their new Minis
on the start or end of the 15 day, 19 state rally
• Over 800,000 cars sold in the last 5 years since its
reintroduction; highest resale percentage value of any
cars
• Takeaway:
“Get noticed and talked about”

51. #28 - The Best At What It Does
• High End Velo Greatness - Canadian cycling success
story in high performance bikes
• Competitive Focus - Started in 1995 in Toronto, with the
mission “to help our customers win races”
• Radical Pushing of the Rules - engineering led-
philosophy helped produce bikes with competitive edge,
now the:
– Official bike of the top cycling team in the world (Team
CSC) – pushed them form #14 in 2002 to #1 in 2006
– The winningest bike in Ironman Triathlon history
– The best selling time trial bike in the world
• Rising Success - 34th fastest growing company in
Canada with $11 million in sales, a 1276% five year
growth rate
• Takeaway:
“Push the Envelope on Performance”

52. #29 - Authentic
• Unique Product Ingredient - Performance
wear product focus based on 100% merino, a
marked advancement over traditional wool
• Leapfrog Benefit - “the most comfortable,
warmest and certainly the coolest looking stuff
to ever come off the back of a sheep”
• Provenance
• Authenticity - searches for the best
technology, ethical manufacturing, and
environmentally sound practices before it
completes its product transformation into a
hand-made Icebreaker
• Takeaway:
“Be true to yourself”

53. #30 - Liberating/Solves Problems
• Everyday Problem Solver - Canada’s
Most Word of Mouthable Product
(Dec’05)
• True Innovation - 2004 Grand Prix
innovation of the Year
• Improves Lives - “I absolutely love the
Magic Eraser and it's amazing ability to
clean. Since it has made it's
appearance in my home I've become a
cleaning machine that spends a fraction
of the time on cleaning, and with better
results to boot!”
• Takeaway:
Erase Consumer/User Pain Visibly

54. #31 - Edgy/Cool/Trendy
• The Anti-Marketer – a scarce icon of the
dissenting protest, shabby chic and fringe
mentality
• Alt-Culture Adoption - bike messengers in
pockets of different cities have turned the
brand prospects around and acted as the
grassroots brand vanguard
• Defending the Cause - Rebound originally
started as a real or imagined rallying cry
amongst its advocates that PBR might go
out of business
• Takeaway:
“Find an edge, let consumers hijack it”

55. #32 - Trusted
• A Canadian Icon - Tim Hortons, the best
managed brand in Canada (52% ranking)
• The Leader - Tim's has 23% of the
Canadian fast food market, 62% of the
coffee market
• Ubiquitous - has 2,625 outlets in Canada
(and one now in Afghanistan), has
managed to double revenues per store
over the last decade,
• Part of the culture - has coined "Double,
Double" as a part of the Canadian lexicon
• Takeaway:
“Consistently deliver”

56. #33 - Likable
• Rabid Customer Evangelism - “Make
the whole world a library! BookCrossing
is something unique and revolutionary.
Our world should know about it!”
• Humble Roots/A Great Cause - free
online book club, the first and only of its
kind - millions of book reviews and
hundreds of thousands of passionate
readers
• A Connection to Books - “A brand
exercise in fate, karma, or whatever you
want to call the chain of events that can
occur between two or more lives and
one piece of literature.”
• Takeaway: “Be a Brand Friend”

57. #34 - Easy to Talk About - Nike
• Joga/Touch of Gold/Join the Chain
• Easy - Catch a pass from the left,
juggle the ball anyway you like, and
them kick it off screen to the right.
• Engaging - connects countries,
generates buzz and allows
consumers to build something
remarkable
• Takeaway:
“Create and Seed a Simple Idea/Let
Consumer Own It”

58. #35 – Ritualistic – Rock, Paper & Scissors
• Created a cult population of Rock, Paper,
Scissors
• Player profiler, Strategy Guide, Museum,
Advanced RPS
– summary of the most common abstract
meanings of the throws:
Rock - Power, Strength, Aggression,
Nature
Paper - Passivity, Stealth, Wisdom
(money sometimes as well), Literacy
Scissors - Deviousness, Ingenuity,
Evil, Technology
• Takeaway:
“Create your own code, behavior and talk
points shared by your members”

59. #36 – Sensory – Daily Dose of Imagery
• Visually arresting photo
posted each day
• One of the most powerful
photoblogs in the world
• Takeaway:
“Make It Look, Smell, Feel
Good”

60. The 36 Reasons Why People Word of Mouth
It’s because It’s because of It’s because of
of them what you provide who you are
#1 - Passionate about the topic #11 – Social Currency #26 - Innovative
#2 - Logo Lovers #12 – Brand Experience(s) #27 –Remarkable/ Outrageous
#3 – Knowledge Seekers #13 – Fame #28 – The Best at What You
#4 - Social Brokers #14 – VIP Treatment/Customization Do
#5 – Altruism #15 – Scarcity #29 – Authentic
#6 – Involved/Committed #16 – Influence #30 – Liberating/ Problem
#7 – Feedback Seekers #17 – Intimacy Solving
#31 - Edgy
#8 – Ego-driven #18 – Visibility
#32 – Trustworthy
#9 – Reciprocity Dealers #19 – Tight Boundaries
#33 – Likable
#10 – Self-Expression #20 – Rallying Cause
#34 – Easy to Talk About
#21 – Rewards
#22 – Expertise #35 – Ritualistic
#36 - Sensory
#23 – Bite-Sized Participation
#24 – Network Effects
#25 – Memes

61. Word of Mouth Watchouts
• Be transparent and honest
• Be conversational
• Have a story to tell
• Don’t make it a cattle call
• Invite the right people to the dance
• Provide an experience
• Know who you are
• Treat your word of mouth referees like valued insiders
• Establish a dialogue
• Give your influencers the tools to have spread
• Don’t try and control it
• Get feedback
• Start soon