Internet word-of-mouth (WOM) is becoming a growing area of interest for agencies, judging by two initiatives launched this month. SinoTech Group and OgilvyOne have launched their own online WOM divisions to see what netizens are really saying about brands and their competitors.
1 Digital WOM tracking is essentially the art of keeping up with online conversations. At a basic level, influential consumers - those who, for example, have popular blogs or are online influencers - are followed to gauge the latest trends, and popular forums and social networking sites are monitored to see what is being talked about. According to Garrett Michaels, associate director for business intelligence at OgilvyOne China, there are four reasons to do so: to alert clients to potential crises before they come up; to uncover consumer insights; to decide who the influencers are and who are organically becoming ‘brand evangelists’; and to provide real-time measurement and optimisation.
While tracking brand buzz either on- or offline is not new, Asia’s media and marketing industry has put a more concerted emphasis on it this year. For example, the Japanese media, advertising and PR community launched a body to foster the development of WOM marketing and establish a code of ethics within the industry.
2 Given the number of sources available, tracking WOM is a largely automated process. Ogilvy’s Obuzz is a search engine that searches media, such as bulletin boards, forums and blogs and captures what netizens are writing. This is fed into a database and ‘buzz volume’ is calculated. When the engine crawls the web, select keywords are searched that ascertain brand popularity and sentiment. The software expands its dictionary of keywords over time.
The Sinobuzz platform is similar, using its own algorithms to score content based on sentiment and, importantly, the authority and reach of the source. In addition to the automated processes, conculting teams monitor the feedback for emerging trends and ensure the engines are tracking current topics.
3 Once WOM is being tracked, the issue for marketers then becomes how to respond when brands do face WOM issues. There are plenty of examples of brands that have been slow to react to online firestorms or caught hamfistedly trying to create WOM. According to Carine Senft, Asian interactive director of Ruder Finn, most unsuccessful online WOM pushes are those that post fake comments online to push their products or circulate false rumours about their competitors.
4 Darran Lucas, partner of Mindshare Japan, adds that “having a strong brand that is worthy of WOM is key”. The best way to ensure that people are talking about a brand is to have great products that audiences want to take the time to promote and share with the people closest to them. “For brands in lower-interest categories, using celebrity or identifying key consumer interests and then enabling those interests through the brand is key. In this case you need to encourage WOM by association with something that is worth talking about,” he adds.
5 Another issue with WOM tracking is who does it and why. Lucas thinks WOM tracking should not be divorced from strategy in other areas of marketing: “As we saw in the early days of digital, specialisation of services in this area may prove successful in the short term but ultimately clients want to see a joined-up plan which includes digital and WOM from the start of the process.”
6 However, managing director and partner of Fleishman Hillard Asia-Pacific Tarun Deo argues that, for now at least, tracking WOM will remain a niche field. “Typically, this is a specialised area and requires a team with deep understanding of the market and client business. The team also needs to forge and cultivate strong ties with the key influencers to help clients,” he says, adding that understanding attitudes in each market is necessary to building buzz. In the region, Deo cites Korea, China, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Japan as the most successful areas for WOM, and each is culturally diverse. WOM would be best directed by “trusted professionals” who know their communities.
What it means for…
Brands
- Tracking word-of-mouth can alert brands to potential PR crises. This is especially important in markets such as China, where the widespread use of blogs and bulletin boards means opinion can form and spread very quickly.
- However, it can be used proactively too - for example, by keeping tabs on consumer trends or researching attitudes toward brands to inform future marketing activity.
Agencies
- Tracking word-of-mouth requires reasonably sophisticated technology, meaning it is an area agencies will need to invest in.
- One of the key issues is identifying the key individuals who either create or spread opinion.
- Agencies must also decide where WOM tracking should be housed. Is it a niche function dependent on specialists or should it be plugged into a broader team? Is it a PR discipline or should it be joined up with other areas of marketing?
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