It's a brave, new world!

Agri Marketing, Oct, 2007 by Kathleen Erickson

Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc., etc., all remind us of the newly networked world we live in.

But this wave of connected-interaction isn't surprising at all to one of agriculture's more innovative marketing firms. This peer-to-peer wave hitting our culture is all about connection and shared experience--and in agriculture, Beck Ag has been blazing the trail for more than ten years, producing word of mouth marketing (WOMM) programs that allow peers to learn from each other about new products, technologies and services.

Beck Ag Pres Stephanie Liska said the company's strength and continued success come from proactively facilitating that connection in ag. "People welcome opportunities to learn from the experiences of others." And, she says, when a WOMM program is engaged, those shared experiences are both practical and applicable, "WOMM helps participants avoid costly mistakes and sets realistic expectations for the trial of a new product or service."

Liska points to George Silverman's book, "The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing," for six reasons WOMM is so powerful:

* It is more relevant, complete and can simplify complex messages.

* It is the most honest and credible medium.

* It is customer-focused and builds on customer experiences.

* It feeds on itself, like a breeder reactor, and eventually explodes or fizzles.

* It is most rapidly spread through opinion leaders to their spheres of influence.

Word of Mouth sessions also offer unfiltered feedback and perceptions of the subject offering.

Beck Ag Sr Partner Vernon Benes said, "Through WOMM, marketers can achieve three keys to marketing success simultaneously: leverage product experiences, set realistic expectations and enhance product adoption and use." He added, "WOMM allows us to harness the experience gained and share it effectively with other prospective customers."

QUESTIONS

But in this brave, new, socially networked world, new questions arise. Many companies, including ag marketers question whether their traditional marketing and advertising approaches are enough to produce successful, timely adoption of their products and services. A recent Wall Street Journal article stated, "In recent years, word of mouth marketing has gained popularity among big companies which fear that traditional advertising has lost its punch in this age of information overload."

This apparent convergence of traditional marketing, social networking and word of mouth marketing gave Purdue University more than enough reason to study the interaction. One interesting finding of recent Purdue research on the subject, relates to the positive effect that WOMM programs have on more traditional advertising. The research measured the impact of a number of WOMM initiatives involving crop protection, seed and animal health offerings.

In the crop protection area, for instance, Purdue's research found that facilitated WOMM programs were highly complimentary when combined with other promotional tactics. The research showed that compared with a control group, participants in a facilitated WOMM program recalled key manufacturer messages at higher rates. Purdue University co-lead of the research project, Dr. Jay Akridge commented, "The research shows that clearly there is strong synergy between word of mouth programs and traditional advertising/promotional efforts."

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Benes added that WOMM provides companies an additional boost to their other outreach campaigns. "When engaging a WOMM strategy, ag companies have the opportunity to further leverage those advertising messages, allowing reinforcement of key marketing messages with your audience. It enables participants to "reduce the noise" surrounding a product or service and concentrate on real expectations. That's where accelerated product adoption and use take off. That's a brave new WOMM world!"