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Organic Versus Tainted Buzz: Three Ironies from Whole Foods Incident

What should we make of the Whole Foods admitting that their CEO posted comments under a fictitious identity on Yahoo Finance stock forums?  The exercise that included negative comments about Wild Oats, a company Whole Foods has been looking to acquire? Writes the Wall Street Journal:

For about eight years until last August, the company confirms, Mr. Mackey posted numerous messages on Yahoo Finance stock forums as Rahodeb. It's an anagram of Deborah, Mr. Mackey's wife's name. Rahodeb cheered Whole Foods' financial results, trumpeted his gains on the stock and bashed Wild Oats. Rahodeb even defended Mr. Mackey's haircut when another user poked fun at a photo in the annual report. "I like Mackey's haircut," Rahodeb said. "I think he looks cute!"

Not surprisingly, there’s no shortage of buzz and conversation on this topic.  My take: this is a classic Tragedy of the Commons – and it’s precisely the type activity the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) has proactively sought to address through it’s ethics code.  But there’s an extra dose of irony in this particular case study that puts the still evolving case study in far more conspicuous light relative to other incidents. Let me outline:

• The Irony of the Agent: First, the agent of the abuse isn’t a agency, and untrained intern, or even your “usual suspect” unscrupulous marketer or buzz agency. It’s the CEO of a publicly traded company.  From a talk value perspective, this puts the incident in an immediate “man bites dog” category.

• The Irony of the Brand: Secondly, there’s irony in that the incident is sourced from a brand that’s benefited enormously from unaided -- dare I say "organic"  -- word-of-mouth. The story of Whole Foods is one of brand evangelism, fortified by great experiences, great food, and great “always there to help” people. “In New York City,” whole foods is like church,” said Dana Weisman of the 92^nd Street Y, who asked me about this topic while I conducted a word-of-mouth marketing workshop this morning.   Indeed, this should be the last brand on earth that needs an any dosage of manipulation.
  

• The Irony of the "Organic" Label: The essence the term “organic” – the foundational equity of Whole Foods – is all about purity, authenticity, sincerity, and all things real. Beyond just “breaking the rules,” the bogus posting incident compromises if not betrays these ideas.  Just read their Declaration of Interdependence.  Imagine if Al Gore started driving a Hummer to the front of his house just to fetch the newspaper?

All of these factors – combined with the obvious violation of accepted norms of ethical online behavior rule – have the potential to keep this story alive.  Irony drives conversation. Mismatches between brand claims and realities typically leads to a digital trail of word-of-mouth.   For the sake of protecting and nurturing your brand, stay transparent!

Resources to Guide Smart, Ethical Decisions

• WOMMA Ethics Guide
• WOMMA Ethics Code
• WOMMA Ethics Assessment Tool

 

Marketers, Don't Tick of My Dad (and Other Senior Citizens)!

This week my ClickZ marketing column ("Hey Marketers, Please Don't Tick off My Dad") centers around an issue a bit closer to home than I care to acknowledge:  the vulnerability of our senior citizens.  We see this issue discussed in CGM venues a fair amount, but the issue is uniquely personal because I've been spending lots of time with my parents this week (along with my six siblings) here in my hometown of Pasadena.  My 84-year old father just underwent surgery for early stage cancer, and we're all here to provide support and send good vibes.   Spending time with him, as well as my mother (who has early stage Alzheimers), at their new assisted living facility has found me reflecting hard on all the issues surrounding our aging population. Further prodding my consciousness was a deeply moving front page article in the New York Times two weeks ago ("Bilking the Elderly, With a Corporate Assist.") documenting how unscrupulous hucksters buy readily available targeted mailing lists from respectable firms to lure senior citizens into coughing up personal identity, bank account information, and more. When I read the story, especially the part about one particular senior who found himself fleeced by scammers who preyed on his need to feel "connected" and to have "someone to talk to," it was hard not to see my father, or my mother, or my now-deceased Aunt Sal, who constantly fell for the plethora of bogus sweepstakes offers that inundated her mail box in her final years.  Each of us in marketing has a vested interest in protecting Mom and Dad, figuratively speaking, and those who can't always help themselves, from such abuse. Importantly, we need to be extra sensitive to the potential for our excitement and exuberance over this new "conversational" movement to be turned on its head by scammers.  As I note in my column:

As purveyors and ambassadors of the Web 2.0 movement, we have a vested interest in ensuring our "join the conversation" hoopla doesn't become another convenient entry point for manipulation, deceit, dishonesty, and abuse.

And so I offer in my ClickZ article "Ten Strategies to Protect Our Parents from Marketers."  I know that may sound a tad ironic -- make no mistake, I'm a passionate marketer -- but at some point we to draw more disciplined rules of engagement, and perhaps even use the power of CGM and social media to drive more accountability.  It's not a complete list of advice, but a good starting point.  A special thanks to my long-time colleague Sue MacDonald, with whom I constantly trade notes (and sobering stories) about our aging parents, for help with my list. I welcome your feedback.    

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THE LISTENING POST:  Speaking of feedback, I've already received some extremely thoughtful feedback, and I thought I'd share a few comments below. 

From Joy Loverde or ElderlyIndustry.com

I'm compelled to write and thank you for writing "Marketers, Please Don't Tick off My Dad." Sadly, by the time a reader finishes reading your article, hundreds more elderly people will have been scammed. We can only hope that you influenced many family members to take action and check in with their parents before it's too late.

 From Donna

THANKS.  We are the caregivers for an 85 year old Uncle who falls for every letter asking for handouts. Yesterday he said he hopes the veterans get the money he has been sending them. He sends money every week to one group or another- enjoying the preprinted thank yous- and photos.  He displays them thinking they are real- that he is the only one who helped this...kid, soldier, fill in the blank. We have his power of attorney- but have not censored his mail. I wish we could have him on a do not solicit list. He is limited in his income and has no savings. Thanks, Pete for caring for those who can''t! ...And thanks for doing something about it!

 

Ad Age Cover Story: Do Not Market?

Today's cover story in Ad Age, "Do Not Market," hits a critical theme all marketers should all be thinking about, and which this blog consistently has sought to address: consumer frustration with advertising and the inevitable consequences of pushing the line with newly empowered consumers.  This time the latest salvo from the lines of consumer resistance comes in the form of multiple state legislatures pushing legislation to bring "do not call" principles (and guidelines) to the mailbox.  I'm quoted suggested we reached a "perfect storm of consumer power and advertising intrusion," and moreover that we need to think well beyond just "paid media."  Easier said than done, of course, but the conversation is absolutely critical, and the major industry groups (ANA, IAB, AAAA, DMA) really need to coalesce around this difficult issue and proactively find a "win-win" middle ground.  The reality we're dealing with is perfectly described in the first paragraph of the Ad Age story:   

Katy barred the door- -- just her latest exercise in exerting control over marketing messages. Having clearly established her ability to bad-mouth your brand on her blog, TiVo your TV commercials, stop your phone calls and filter out your pop-ups, now-with the help of the government-she's trying to stop you getting access to her mailbox.

If you subscribe to Ad Age, I've written four op-eds on related themes (Consumer Respect, Spam, Pop-Up, CGM Ethics).  The links are also at the top left of this blog. Many of my ClickZ articles (see full archive) also address this theme.

The Boston CGM Shadow Persists Leading into Super Bowl Ad Fest

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, the biggest ad bonanza of the year, and the shadow of the Boston marketing "hoax" still persists across the web.   Big marketers have every reason to hope (and pray) the issue goes away, or at least takes a temporary siesta.  After all, who wants divided attention on some other "marketing" issue when you can have full attention.  What's clear from analyzing the buzz patterns is that while the Boston issue has reached its peak, it is still driving more conversation than the pre-buzz around the Super Bowl ads.  Even on the major video sharing sites, the Boston issue is far more dominant than anything related to the Super Bowl ads. On BlogPulse's video rankings, the Boston issue takes two of the top five video slots, including the #1 position. As of midnight this evening, it also ranks #1 on Technorati.  Quite a few variables are keeping the story alive, from debates over whether the campaign's a success (measured by awareness & reach) to the unrepentent antics of the two guys who ran around Boston putting up the devices.  Oh, and then there are all those "new" videos on YouTube offering commentary on the issue.  Even the topic of "hair" is driving some of the conversation.  While there's no question the issue will fade to the background during the Super Bowl, marketers need to think hard about the event's "latency" effect.  Tens of thousands of comments have been posted online about the Boston hoax, most in the context of "marketing" and "advertising."   This guarantees that it the issue will live in perpetuity via search results. 

2007 Predictions, Diction & Friction

My ClickZ column today centers on "2007 Predictions, Diction, and Friction."  Among my "best guess" forcasts for the coming year:

• The Chiropractic Motherlode: 2007 will be the year chiropractors make a ton of money fixing sore elbows from the Nintendo Wii Frenzy. Wikipedia will soon have an entry entitled either "Gamers Elbow" or "Wii Syndrome." Plasma TV sales may also see a noticeable spike in "replacement sales" due to Wii-precipitated damage from broken straps hitting the screen Gyms treadmills will start to feel threatened by "calorie burning" Wii consoles. (Care to wager?)

• From Cable to Internet TV: Cable deserves credit for pioneering "on-demand" TV, but the Web is taking TV to the next stage. With YouTube setting the pace, and forcing (with pleasure) the habit-change, the Web is quickly becoming de facto television. Yes, we're currently in a world of 5 minute video segments, but that will change. The upside of Web TV is we can talk and watch at the same time, but that also has downsides, namely, more rounds of attention deficit disorder (ADD). Still, can my brand sponsor the next Lonely Girl?

• Back to (Web site) Basics: Online video will be among the factors encouraging brands to "return to fundamentals" with their brand Web sites. Smart digital managers will recognizing their potential as not only media-rich content channels, but also as word-of-mouth or CGM amplifiers. Oh, and they're also critical for SEO. Sites like YouTube will still be part of the mix, but as Dove demonstrated with Real Beauty's Evolution spot, world class execution also depends on getting it right in the brands backyard, complete with empowering feedback loops. In addition, blog publishing software -- and all their low-cost bells and whistles (and "widgets") will become more deeply engrained in the typical brand Web site (at far lower cost), shifting power from tech departments back to the brand managers.

• Creative Darwinism and Disintermediation: Expect many more major brands to outsource creative development to unknown EepyBird-like upstarts that prove their creative mettle through YouTube popularity stickiness. Madison Avenue will freak, and fight back with a furry but in the end, more creative work will outsource virtually or shift away from higher cost-of-production centers like NY and LA. Local regions like Cincinnati, drawing from Procter-influence TV copy production principles, will develop hybrid production models to produce more video for less, especially for brands that increasingly view their Web sites as TV channels. Expect to see more "how to" video demos on brand Web sites.

• Stars and Scars: The notion of negative GRPs, an accountability scorecard that factors in negative ad impressions precipitated by ill-advised advertising decisions or placements, will finally take root in the ad industry. Dramatically improved analytics in consumer-generated media(CGM) will make this possible. If, for example, a TV-campaign backfires and brand venom spreads across the message boards and blogs, agencies and media planners will be held more accountable…or perhaps even have negative impressions deducted from the GRP (gross rating point) reward model. Similarly, expect more "traditional" agencies to get smaller bonuses, rewards, or stars on their forehead for the online video failure to engage.

• Mobile Madness: Marketers will rush like mad to mobile application programs, establishing dedicated teams to crack the code in this "crackberry" environment of ever-smaller, ever-smarter mobile phones and PDAs. Plenty of great services, utilities, and "solutions" will emerge, many of which will be brand-sponsored. However, much of hype and exuberance will be tempered by consumer research citing massive turn-off factor via intrusive advertising.

• More "Free for Me": Expect to see more free stuff; free phones, free Wi-FI, in exchange for consumer attention, opt-in profiling, or other relationship marketing activity. Even at next years big conferences, free iPods preloaded with "selling" videos and podcasts will be given away to key influencers or high-value lead prospects. Big advertisers will also start gobbling up all paid WiFi networks at airports, maybe even Starbucks, to drive goodwill with consumers and own the start-up page. P&G, Unilever, and L'Oreal will fight head-to-head to free WiFi enable every beauty spa in America.

• Online Spending Up, But "Paid" Media Overall Takes A Hit: Paid media spending will take a noticeable stumble in 2007, as more marketers wake up to the attention-scarce economy; money will instead be redirected to product development, innovation and customer experience/service. Big marketers will all return to the late 1990s practice of aggressively promoting URLs on their TV ads and their packaging, thereby reducing their dependency on "paid" traffic. Media planners will start to be rewarded to develop and manage customer service interfaces, and rewarded on the basis of positive CGM and buzz oozing from those practices. Consumer affairs and marketing will finally begin to morph. Meanwhile, more money will pour into interactive media, because it's still priced so low. Interactive advertising dollars will chase social-enhanced media. However, arrogant advertisers will piss off a lot of people in the process and stir an advertising revolt.

• Less Vernacular on Blogs, RSS, Podcasting, Web 2.0: Most Web 2.0 terminology will soon become invisible to consumers. RSS and blogs will simply become part of the supporting infrastructure of the Web. Most apps such as Google Reader, IE 7, and Vista will simply bake this into the core foundation, and we may even have fewer feedback buttons on Websites because the subscription process will become increasingly automated. Conferences that use the term "Web 2.0" will start testing new terminology.

• Regulatory and BBB Closure on Disclosure: Pay to Say advertising via models like PayPerPost will awaken the slumbering FTC (and consumer groups like Consumer Alert) into a new wave of industry regulation. Triggered in part by PayPerPost's overtures to small businesses, the Better Business Bureau will finally enter the word-of-mouth transparency and disclosure debate. Expect to see them to expand and renew the definition of the privacy seal to encompass principles similar to what WOMMA has integrated into their ethics code: honesty of disclosure, honestly of relationship, honesty of identity. BBB's entry will precipitate a broader and more inclusive discussion among other industry groups who until now have sat on the sidelines, including the DMA, AAAA, ANA, and IAB.

Ahhh...The Power of Consensus!

Well, this certainly makes it all quite obvious and clear regarding the FTC's recent ruling on Consumer Alert's late-2005 complaint regarding word-of-mouth marketing. More hints in the WOMMA confab blog write-ups (e.g. Walter Carl, Josh Hallett, Peter Kim)

More on "Pay to Say" Advertising

My work colleague Max Kalehoff just penned an excellent column for MediaPost that continues the critical conversation on the "Pay to Say" marketing movement.  Good fodder in anticipation of next week's WOMMA conference, where WOM/CGM ethics will be discussed along with a host of other topics. Writes Max:

With consumer-generated media and ensuing consumer empowerment one of the most disruptive trends and opportunities in marketing and media today, it’s time for these pay-to-post services, as well as bloggers, advertisers and others, to step up to the plate and tackle this hazy territory of disclosure. It’s confusing. It’s messy. It’s a liability. And, yes, there will always be scum and fraud on the Internet. In its current state, however, this quasi-legitimate space threatens the greater good and integrity of our online community.

Importantly, among the action items he recommends, he encourages trade groups beyond just WOMMA to step up to the plate to address these difficult (and obvious) questions. I could not agree more.  From IAB and the BBB to the ANA and the AAA, everyone has been unsettlingly quite on these critical (and quite obvious) issues.  These issues are now way bigger that WOMMA. Who will step up to the plate?

"Pay-To-Say" Marketing: Emerging Story to Watch for 2007

This just in from Kate Kaye, a fellow ClickZ writer and author of the highly provocative (and dissonance-generating)  Sales Pitch Society II: a thoughtful article/survey of the emerging (time for a new name) "Pay to Say" marketing industry (Paid Blogging Hits a Nerve, Spurs Competition).   It's a highly troubling development (see earlier post when PayPerPost entered the scene), and raises very tough questions about the integrity of marketing.  Importantly, marketers at some point need to make a choice about the type of environment we want to shape.  Just about every CMO today is waxing poetic about the power and importance of "authentic" and "original" voices emanating from "empowered" consumer, and the VC community is reinforcing this loud chorus in their positioning around "Web 2.0" and "social media."  Is this what we really want?  Maybe not?  Again, it's all about choices.   Data is certainly not the issue here: to be sure, there's ampler research and analysis reinforcing the backlash factor of consumers feeling duped or betrayed if ostensibly trustworthy recommendation are in fact the product of "outside" forced; and even in an environment of "qualified" comments or recos, magic astericks, and other forms of real or sly disclosure, we're creating a mess of a confusing environment for consumers.  Again, it's all about choices.  What environment do we want?  Again, here's Kate's article.  Read it a couple times.

A Starting Point for Responsibly Managing Relations With Bloggers

Today the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) released draft guidelines to help companies and brands more responsibly manage relations with bloggers.  Hardly perfect, and probably a lightning rod for feedback in key areas that merit deeper conversation, but an important start. Importantly, the very diverse team of WOMMA members that put this together (brands, PR firms, agencies, consultants....many of whom blog themselves and are very passionate about keeping the space trusted and transparent) are encouraging feedback on this set of guidelines.  This is a very challenging subject, but it's long overdue for discussion and debate.  As with the work on disclosure around viral video and the WOM ethics assessment tool kit, WOMMA (full disclosure: I'm a member and board member and a co-chair of the ethics committee along with Dupont's Gary Spangler and Cymfony's Jim Nail) is working hard to proactive address many of these important issues. Says David Binkowski, director of online research of Hass MS&L and co-chair of this project:

"It's an easy way to teach your team and to avoid mistakes that will be harmful to your reputation. Prevention is a powerful protection." 

Please provide feedback.  The timing is right to engage.  Click here for more information.

Advertising Age Op-Ed: Spam, Pop-Ups, CGM Abuse?

Are we messing everything up in the CGM space?  Are we compromising the integrity of CGM and trouncing (once again) on the fragile "trust" covenant with consumers?  That's a big fear I articulate in an op-ed published today in Advertising Age's Digital Edition. 

CGM... brings to the table several coveted building blocks that advertisers let slip a long time ago: trust, credibility, authenticity and, often, restraint. CGM thrives because consumers trust other consumers more than advertisers, period.

But jumping on the CGM bandwagon in this environment of consumer control presents real risks and liabilities -- and could needlessly alienate consumers. It's unfamiliar terrain and credibility is at stake if marketers and agencies jump into the space recklessly.