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I was interviewed by a journalist who’s writing a piece addressing non-linear advertising. It’s a very relevant topic especially following the WOMMA conference. Here’s some thoughts I shared:

Thanks for your call.

Your topic is certainly interesting especially when we talk about management and control.

I don’t believe word-of-mouth necessarily follows a straight line but advertisers are looking for and need linear frameworks to validate internal decision making so that they can gain additional resources to roll out new WOM-focused program and campaigns. It’s one of the challenges facing our industry.

I believe we need to formalize word-of-mouth processes not necessarily to control how conversations are initiated, modified and terminated but rather so that we can understand the relationship dynamics that develop as a result of individuals making referrals.

Word-of-mouth occurs as a result of communication that come from advertisers as well as those communications that originate from individuals. As marketers, I believe our role is to create opportunities for participation. Participation may take the form of new conversations that are more facilitative rather than directive and focus on interests individuals have identified with a product or service. The process moves us beyond traditional direct response marketing models like:

Awareness => Education => Consideration => Action => Repeated Behavioral => Loyalty

If the question is: Should advertisers approach word-of-mouth marketing in a linear fashion? The answer is certainly no, and the frameworks we’re proposing are more like the branches of a tree rather than train tracks that travel in straight lines.

In term of educating advertisers on processes, I present a modified advocacy model that includes relationship strength among other characteristics to help guide implementation steps.

I view models more as guides rather than a specified processes or steps that must be followed.

It’s very likely that we’ll see advertisers want much greater control or management when implementing word-of-mouth marketing campaigns, however, I believe those advertisers that pursue non-linear models are likely to be much more successful moving forward and are more likely to engage in meaningful dialogs with individual that have the power to recommend their products or services to their own personal network of colleagues, friends and family.

TAGS: non linear advertising, word of mouth, marketing models, word spreads quickly, dialogs, WOMMA