Archive for December, 2007
The Journal of Consumer Research published fascinating research that speaks to Weber Shandwick’s thought leadership research-based initiative on advocacy (see a previous post by Liz Rizzo on the topic last week — we are on the same wave length). The research by Columbia University’s Duncan J. Watts and University of Vermont’s Peter Dodds reports that opinion elites – that group of influentials that everyone endlessly chases – are not really the ones that make the greatest impact on public opinion. In fact, the researchers found that there is a large group of “easily influenced” people who influence other “easily influenced” individuals. For decades, the two-step flow of influence was the dominant theory of influence — when media’s influence on opinion leaders (step one) impacts the wider general population (step two). Instead, Watts and Dodds posit that although there are situations where influentials are responsible for triggering large-scale “cascades” of influence, these conditions are the exception rather than the rule: “…that under most of these conditions influentials are less important than is generally supposed, either as initiators of large cascades or as early adopters.” The question that has been raised in various postings is finding those easily influencable individuals and seeding their recommendations.
Weber Shandwick’s Advocates are those individuals who behave in such ways that they influence many people and create cascades of influence by virtue of their passion, personal investment and championship. Finding a company, brand, issue or cause Advocate is in fact easier today because of the Internet and also because nearly one-half (45 percent) of the global population is now an advocate of sorts. The ring of influence has broadened considerably and although we agree that “influentials” and offline influence should not be ignored, Advocacy represents a new shift in communications and success.
More research into word of mouth has been released this month, questioning the relevance of targeting influencers – the elite in society who are the charismatic, well networked, all knowing, few. The research suggests that in the digital world the cost and complexities involved in hunting out these individuals is unnecessary, when in reality most of us are willing and able to advocate a product or service at some point, as long as the message and experience pleases us.
In some situations this may well be the case. This is why targeting customers who are advocates and turning them into powerful word of mouth influencers is undoubtedly the cost effective place to start. Equipping your buyers to influence other potential purchasers and giving them a platform to talk about their recent purchases for example, has got to be a lot easier to execute and far more credible than trying to hunt down the illusive S. Claus at 90 degrees north and rewriting his script.
Humbug!
Came upon 2 insightful advocacy articles from academia recently about the power of influence. The first, “How Valuable is Word of Mouth” comes from Harvard Business Review” written by V. Kumar, J. Andrew Petersen, and Robert P. Leone. The authors advise businesspeople to gauge customer value based on those who bring in the most referrals: “In these interconnected days, how your customers feel about you and what they are prepared to tell others about you can influence your revenues just as much.” The article provides a model for measuring a customer’s total value, not just his lifetime value which so many companies have embraced as being the ultimate measure in the world of CRM.
The second, “Influentials, Networks, and Public Opinion Formation,” is from the Journal of Consumer Research, authored by Duncan Watts (Columbia University) and Peter Sheridan Dodds (University of Vermont). This paper expands upon the segment of consumers known as Influentials – the minority of individuals who influence an exceptional number of their peers. The authors find that “large cascades of influence are driven not by individuals, but by a critical mass of easily influenced individuals.” This provides added dimension to what we have always been told about WOM.
Both papers are worth a read and are a great advocacy resource.
On behalf of all Weber Shandwick, I am proud to tell you about an inspiring Advocacy in Action event that we did with The Allstate Foundation.
At the Mall of America in Minnesota last weekend, five teams of teens performed holiday carols with lyrics they modified to highlight the need for teens to drive responsibly during the holiday driving season. The event was part of a year-long campaign aimed to authentically engage teens as smart driving Advocates among their peers, as car crashes are the number one killer of teens. See www.HolidayHolla.com for the top performances and more information on the teen smart driving issue.
Grassroots events that have a positive impact on the safety of our society rate as the ultimate examples of Advocacy. Perhaps this should be the goal that all of us who call ourselves “Advocates” strive for as we head into a new year!
Wishing you all a very safe and healthy holiday season.
Best regards,
Jack Leslie
Chairman
A colleague called me this morning from the airport to tell me that the ultimate Advocate endorsement just occurred — Oprah’s endorsement of presidential candidate Barak Obama. Oprah used Advocacy brilliantly. Each person who attended the rally received a list of four phone numbers and names along with a script to use in calls asking for support in the upcoming primary. And get this…everyone in the audience was asked to text Obama for President. When election day comes around, the campaign can text message or call everyone and remind them to vote for Obama. The future is here. Advocacy starts now.
I’ve run a number of workshops recently with the lofty ambition of turning strong brands into iconic brands. I start by getting the assembled team to give examples of iconic brands and describe their characteristics. The usual suspects normally appear - Dove, Apple etc. What’s always most interesting is when we uncover the building blocks of these icons. When we uncover that each is addressing some angst that exists in it’s market - fighting for those who think different, appreciate real beauty etc.
As we move further into the new conversational age, every brand is going to have to extend beyond functional differentiation and traditional “push” communications. All brands are going to have to pull like-minded customers to them, create a conversation and unlock their most effective sales-force - their customers. Every brand in the future will have to pick a fight!
OK, I just love how Canadians talk. Can’t resist an opportunity to mention Bob, Doug and the Great White North. But who knew there were so many word-of-mouth advocates in hockey country? For proof, just check out this awesome little collection of 167 WOM facts and stats from Buzz Canuck and the savvy folks at Agent Wildfire. Beauty, eh?
As a communications measurement junkie, I’m always game for debating numbers and methodologies. Many PR pros will argue that it’s hard to measure intangibles, that ad equivelancy is flawed, that “they know good PR when they see it.” To which I argue that hard doesn’t mean impossible, that earned media has inherent value (equivalent or not), and that simply seeing isn’t necessarily believing.
Well, it turns out that more “tangible” things like web site audience, reach and frequency are just as hard to measure. Or just as easy to debate. To wit, check out the battle that’s breaking out between Nielsen and Quantcast in the wake of the IAB Measurement Summit. Personally, I love it. A little conflict means there’s actually something worth fighting over. And as I like to tell clients, some well-placed tension breeds attention — and can help spotlight the issues as much as the horse race.
Blowfly and Procter & Gamble. One’s a multinational behemoth whose products have probably been used by more people on the planet than any other company’s, including Microsoft. The other is an Australian pub. Not much in common there then. Wrong.
Despite their differences in size, both organisations embraced the concept of crowdsourcing long ago and, like a thousand others businesses since, benefited enormously from it. Far beyond the realms of quantitative and qualitative research, these companies have gone to their customer base with a blank sheet of paper and asked them what they want. They’ve then gone out and done it. It’s a democratisation of the R&D function and it has since gained ground as a credible and highly valid business process.
On the other side of the boardroom table, recognition of the power of Advocacy is on a rocket-fuelled trajectory right now. Its place in the world of marketing and communications is matched only by the global embrace of emerging media. Both are inextricably linked. So add the concept of crowdsourcing to this particular cocktail and you have a pretty compelling marketing proposition.
As PR practitioners we rarely have the chance to work collaboratively with the R&D team (with perhaps the exception of the healthcare sector). So imagine the impact of a community of advocates who not only buy the products but had a part in making them too. The possibilities are mouth watering.
There’s a great paper in the latest McKinsey Quarterly that reports on the opportunity organizations should leverage by addressing the challenges of aging baby boomers. What caught my eye was McKinsey’s premise that boomers will need to turn to new sources of community as they face approaching health and loneliness issues. Couple this idea with the finding that many over age 50 view retirement as a time to contribute to society and we have a perfect formula for Boomer Advocacy.
Our own research on boomer communications (B2F Connections) found that boomers have vast personal networks, are trusted advisors and are socially and environmentally conscientious. Our New Wave of Advocacy study went even deeper and found that 42% of boomers are already Advocates. Their influence even goes beyond word-of-mouth — nearly half of boomers wear something like a pin, bracelet or T-shirt to show their support for an issue or cause and take just hours to act upon their decision to support an issue or cause. This is a powerful segment and not only because of its size and wealth.
Watch out for the Advocacy boom. It’s approaching quickly.
The Journal of Consumer Research published fascinating research that speaks to Weber Shandwick’s thought leadership research-based initiative on advocacy (see a previous post by Liz Rizzo on the topic last week — we are on the same wave length). The research by Columbia University’s Duncan J. Watts and University of Vermont’s Peter Dodds reports that opinion elites – that group of influentials that everyone endlessly chases – are not really the ones that make the greatest impact on public opinion. In fact, the researchers found that there is a large group of “easily influenced” people who influence other “easily influenced” individuals. For decades, the two-step flow of influence was the dominant theory of influence — when media’s influence on opinion leaders (step one) impacts the wider general population (step two). Instead, Watts and Dodds posit that although there are situations where influentials are responsible for triggering large-scale “cascades” of influence, these conditions are the exception rather than the rule: “…that under most of these conditions influentials are less important than is generally supposed, either as initiators of large cascades or as early adopters.” The question that has been raised in various postings is finding those easily influencable individuals and seeding their recommendations. 
