Word-of-mouth marketing -- Smart or sneaky?

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Yes, says Sean Moffitt, president and founder of Agent Wildfire, the company behind The Influencers. “Transparency is essential,” says Moffitt, noting that campaigns perceived as being misrepresentative drew virulent backlash and compromised the advertiser.

For example, in 2002, Sony famously failed to disclose that they hired actors to pose as tourists in New York City and ask passersby to take photos of them using their Sony Ericsson camera phone so unsuspecting consumers could see how easy it was to use.

Fake online blogs, which are made to appear as if written by consumers instead of advertisers, have been created by McDonalds, Sony (again!) and other companies. Most recently, Sunsilk's “Wig Out” video — in which a freaked-out bride cuts off her hair instead of trying to fix it — made a splash on YouTube, until it was discovered that an actress had been hired to do all that wigging.

Now advertising agencies, the Canadian Marketing Association, the Federal Trade Commission and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association recommend that disclosure be used in any marketing strategy.

Apart from disclosure being ethical, it actually makes the campaign more effective, says Dave Balter, the founder of BzzAgent Inc., one of the top word-of-mouth marketers in North America.

He referred to a study by Northeastern University in Boston that showed “word of mouth that is being communicated through disclosure travels nearly twice as far than when people don't disclose.”

It would be kind of fun to play the “six degrees of sonic toothbrush separation” to see how far the conversations I started had spread. According to Moffitt, the average consumer has 56 word-of-mouth conversations a week. And the majority of mine that week were about oral hygiene.

That's me: the life of the party.

Buzz marketing backlash
Sept. 22: Today I experienced my first buzz backlash. My fourth campaign is for a new cookie bar. I got a case of 12 boxes and clear instructions: spread the word and share the samples.

The gang at the office loves to eat, so soon enough everyone was snacking. That's when I made my move to disclose and let them know how I got the bars.

“Hang on,” my supervisor said. “Were you buzzing me about that toothbrush, too? My brother bought one because of what I told him.” She sounded hurt. The rest of the group headed back to their desks (after grabbing a bar for the road).

While that particular word-of-mouth marketing effort had been successful, and I meant everything I had said about the product, my failure to disclose resulted in my supervisor questioning my conversational motives. And my coworkers were now acting a bit twitchy when topics turned to product recommendations.

Some of my closest friends have asked me to stop talking about the fall shows. And the toothbrush. And the vacation planning website that gives you honest opinions about destinations all over the world (I signed up for that one just recently). They didn't need “the sell,” they said (although they were happy to take the coupons and free samples).

Huh.

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