Prior to reading the BzzAgent case, I had no idea that there were companies devoted entirely to WOM marketing. I think it's fascinating, and based on the statistics cited in the case, very effective. Personally, I rely on reviews quite a bit- whether it's finding a restaurant for a special occasion, a new hair salon, or a hotel in Europe for an upcoming trip. And I always place more value on the reviews from people I know, or people with whom I have common interests. I'm very intrigued by BzzAgent's ability to harness this power. I also thought it was great that the company created quantifiable metrics to track the effectiveness of WOM marketing.
In terms of the blog itself, I also respected the goal of transparency that Balter was trying to achieve. In the last year my own company instituted its own blog updated by our CEO. While I don't routinely take the time to read it, I respect the fact that the company is attempting to remove corporate layers and make our CEO relateable and somewhat "hip".
On a related note, as referenced with the Dell and Wal-Mart examples in, "Harnessing the Power of the Oh-So-Social Web", there can be a downside to having such close contact with your customers. I recently read an article in Entrepreneur magazine about how a bookstore in San Francisco had garnered quite a few negative customer-generated reviews on Yelp.com due to its uncleanliness and disorganization. The owner of the bookstore became furious, and started harassing one of the negative reviewers via email. She didn't stop there, and found the reviewer's home address, went to his home and confronted him in person, the ultimate result of which was a "scuffle" and a lawsuit. So occasionally there are consequences from being so close to your customers!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wow. I never thought a scuffle would break out over some bad reviews. The bookstore owner should have used the feedback to better their store. After the improvements were made, he/she should have asked the negative reviewers to re-visit the store and update their reviews.
ReplyDeleteI also typically rely on reviews to help me make consumer decisions, but found it interesting that so many people were willing to rely on a stranger for purchasing decisions. In the absence of familiarity with a reviewer, I often resort to the quantity of reviews.
ReplyDelete