By Michael Ruby, Creative Director, Stein + Partners Brand Activation

Word Of Mouth: The Mother Of All Brand Activators

My wife and I are expecting our first child in September. He’s a tiny man of incredibly large import, and we’re anxiously awaiting his arrival. Needless to say, we are now being exposed to an entirely new world of experiences–including the vast vortex of panzer-tank-like strollers, ridiculously adorable graphic onesies, and eco-friendly, biodegradable diapers called the parenting marketplace.

This past weekend, we went to the New York Baby Show to test-drive some strollers and see firsthand some of the products we’d been reading about online.

I swear, my wife knew everything about everything there. She’d scoured the blogs. Read the reviews. Made her list and checked it twice. She’s going to be an incredible mother because there isn’t going to be a thing about our boy’s development she hasn’t researched to within an inch of its life. Part of why I love her so much.

I was so impressed with how much she’d been able to glean from other people online. I was equally impressed to discover not only how information-hungry the parents and expecting parents were at the show, but how willing and eager they were to share information and help others.

I realized I was in a sea of activated brands. Brands with purpose. Brands with rich customer insight (most often, firsthand experience and insight). Brands doing something they believe is absolutely essential. And, perhaps more than anything else, brands that are starters of and participants in important conversations.

Want to see word of mouth (WOM) and community at its finest? Take a look at the parenting market. Here you have to be agile, you have to be social, and you have to be unbelievably

1

responsive because your reputation and your brand relationships are everything. You can learn a lot about how to activate your brand, tapping into both the highly pragmatic and highly emotional triggers of parenthood.

The most amazing case in point I experienced: We went to a brief presentation by Dr. Harvey Karp, a nationally renowned pediatrician, child development specialist, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the USC School of Medicine, and author of The Happiest Baby On The Block.

Dr. Karp has developed a set of techniques for calming screaming babies/toddler tantrums and boosting infant (and, in turn, parent) sleep. His presentation didn’t have a lot of bells and whistles…but his opening made a very distinct brand promise. He said he could help parents calm any baby and give parents at least an additional hour of sleep. Cynical New Yorker that I am, I was skeptical.

Then the good doctor played a series of videos–ones he shot and others that patients shot and uploaded to YouTube–in which screaming babies were calm and serene in less than a minute. It was absolutely stunning. It was all we could talk about the rest of the day. It’s all I could think to write about now. And I know I’m not the only one who felt this way, as parents flooded his booth.

As you think about how you can cultivate buzz in social media. . .as you consider how you can develop and grow community around your brand. . .think about speaking to your audiences as if they are a room full of parents. Their problems are the most important in the world. They are full of hope, fear, and expectations. So how can you wow them? What can you give them that makes them feel special and helps solve their real problems? Answer those questions and…and whoa, baby.

P.S.: We’re going with cloth diapers when he’s old enough. Captain Planet would be proud.

Read more: http://www.cmo.com/branding-communications/word-mouth-mother-all-brand-activators#ixzz1wqJkbMt1

2