Call it what you want - Word of Mouth, Buzz, Consumer-Generate Media, Social Networking, or User-Generated Content - there may be nothing more powerful than the testimony of a passionate consumer.
Last November, my wife (in tears) called me to let me know about a video a friend has just emailed her. The kcmillerfamily posted this video on YouTube to let parents know about the importance of a 5-point harness car seat. The powerful video is a tribute to their son, Kyle, who was killed in a car crash while sitting in a seat belt booster (not a 5-point harness). In the video, they claim seat belts are known to fail and a 5-point harness would have saved their son; they specifically identified the Britax Regent as the car seat to buy. We had just moved our child to a seat belt booster, so that afternoon we went straight to Babies R Us to buy a Britax Regent (price did not matter). They were sold out and the sales staff commented "you must have seen that video". We tried USA Baby. Same response. We check on-line stores. Everyone was sold out of the Britax Regent - and every retailer knew about the video. Finally, we called Britax. The person we spoke to said the video had taken them by surprise and they would be out of stock for at least 4 to 5 months. Britax was not prepared to respond to the positive buzz in the marketplace.
Why was the Miller family video so powerful?
- It has high perceived legitimacy. With its raw, intense emotion, the legitimacy of the video was never in question. People even reached out to the family through caring and thankful comments on YouTube. The Miller family's emotion broke through the Internet clutter and disengenuous marketing efforts to establish a real and honest conversation with parents of toddlers.
- The important child-safety message generated a high propensity to share. Could you really be a good friend if you did not share this safety message with your friends? On YouTube, there have been 1,969,427 views and 1,304 comments since October 26. This video is one of the top (#29?) videos viewed in the People & Blogs category.
- The video drove viewers to take immediate action to purchase a Britax Regent for their toddler. After viewing the video, what loving parent could justify not purchasing that car seat? Viewers are called to action at 3:17 into the video, "The investments you make TODAY are the only thing that will be there to save your child when an accident happens." Thus, every retailer and online merchant was out-of-stock for at least 4 months.
While perceived legitimacy is table stakes, high propensity to share and the drive to take immediate action are essential for Word of Mouth to have dramatic impact, good or bad, on a company.
Some things to consider for your company:
- Don't fool yourself and think you can control it. The consumer is in control - and will be in more control in the future. Make plans and be prepared for it.
- Consumers are wielding ever increasing power to shape a brand, message, and customer experience. How engaged are you in actively monitoring consumers and understanding the "buzz" in the marketplace? Do you have "listening posts" on the web that constantly gather feedback and input?
- Agile processes should be in place that can respond quickly to changes brought on by a single customer. How would your supply chain and manufacturing react to product demand similar to Britax? Would a run on your product take you by surprise? Do you have alternatives in place to engage highly motivated consumers…especially if you cannot fill their demand? Can your company respond as an integrated system, or do you simple let PR handle consumer comments?
The story continues...The Miller family established a foundation to spread the word about the importance of 5-point harness car seats. They take donations to help families that cannot afford to purchase these seats on their own. The life of Hamilton Duncan was saved because his parents viewed the video and took action.
Britax Regent is now in stock. We own a Britax Decathlon and will buy a Britax Regent soon.
Our hearts, prayers, and thanks go out to the Miller family.
This post was quite interesting. I learned that you can move a lot of people to purchase something if their motivation is strong enough.
Without falling into manipulation, though, how can I carry out a similar marketing move for a service rather than for a product? It would be interesting if I could read about that in a short future.
Why? Simple, because it might be quite easy to prove people that safety is important... But what about an event some friends and I are organizing for New Years Eve, for example? (http://new-years-eve.net ,if you want to take a look) when it is not a life-or-death service?
Posted by: Tedel | September 21, 2007 at 04:26 PM
This post was quite interesting. I learned that you can move a lot of people to purchase something if their motivation is strong enough.
Without falling into manipulation, though, how can I carry out a similar marketing move for a service rather than for a product? It would be interesting if I could read about that in a short future.
Why? Simple, because it might be quite easy to prove people that safety is important... But what about an event some friends and I are organizing for New Years Eve, for example? (http://new-years-eve.net ,if you want to take a look) when it is not a life-or-death service?
Posted by: Tedel | September 21, 2007 at 04:26 PM
Thats a really powerful video. It makes me well up each time I watch it -- being a parent to little ones I guess makes one more aware of their heart, I suppose.
Regarding the marketing message though, I think the future of marketing and advertising is going to have to establish a "real and honest conversation" with the buying public. The message doesn't necessarily need to be one of such strong and raw emotion, just pure and genuine.
This video, by Microsoft, makes that point in a much lighter way --
http://bringtheloveback.com/2007/05/16/mdas_europe/
Posted by: Mark | June 17, 2007 at 07:48 PM