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Advocacy calling

It was a retail paradox that caused me to freeze mid card swipe.  There I was, returning a gadget I didn’t want, on the one hand.  While, on the other, still singing its praises to anyone that would listen.   Now, you typically don’t see positive advocacy like that on the return cue (least of all in the Big Apple).  But this was no mere gadget.  It was the biggest Apple going today of all: the iPhone.

This reminded me of an important lesson about advocacy: the who, when and where of advocacy is not always what you expect.

We see this time and again in our work.  But this particular pearl came from a study to gain insight into who smart phone buyers turn to when seeking information, advice and recommendations; sources of advocacy in other words.  We used a proprietary Weber Shandwick model called a Hub Analysis comprised of four main hubs.  The day-to-day hub representing core ties, such as family and close friends.  The social hub covering on- and off-line social groups and networks.  The expert hub representing opinion shapers of scale from traditional and new media.  And the mega hub for the world of celebrity and influence of culture and entertainment, even advertising. 

You’re right if you guess the center of the model is the day-to-day hub.  This is advocacy’s wheelhouse.  Where it is most familiar, trustworthy and powerful.  Not some unknown influential somwhere–no disrespect to Gladwell’s mavens (though his “law of the few” sure sounds good on paper).  While the other hubs play a very important role, the relative influence weight they have will depend on the characteristic of the consumer group itself.  We found in our study that some were brought into the category through the mega hub (as style cues were important).  Others by the expert hub (as making the smartest decision possible was the driver).  But it’s the day-to-day hub that’s most often the deciding factor and final arbiter.

But it wasn’t who shoppers turned to for recommendations that caught our attention this time.  It was what they did right after purchase.  Instantly, actively and some quite virally, many became advocates themselves about their brand new purchase.  Spreading brand WOM and recommendations back through their day-to-day and social hubs (easy to do when trying out your new all-connecting smart phone).  Stopping to show strangers in line at Starbucks or the airport.  And more.  Been there done that too?

The lesson here is don’t assume you know who and what makes advocacy tick for your consumer, or when it can be harnessed to the hilt.  It requires looking at the world in a different way.  Not top-down as in traditional marketing research.  We must seek out advocates on a human scale.  Look for more on this topic in future posts.

For myself, it took returning an iPhone (that I received as a gift and hadn’t even taken out of the box) to truly take the lesson to heart.  And marvel again at how the game-changing iPhone can spur positive advocacy even among those who don’t own one.  At least not yet anyway…

A close friend told me to wait for the next release, which will sync better with my corporate e-mail and have other improvements.   Whoops–there goes that day-to-day hub again!