Firetop

It’s official… I’m now an ‘Agent’, I won’t be cloaked in black or sneaking around in dark glasses but instead boldly going about my day to day life telling people what I think of products that I’ve received for testing. Recognising the increasing power of social networking and word of mouth in an Internet age, BzzAgent are a US company bringing a ‘Word of Mouth‘ marketing (WOM) solution across the Atlantic to the UK.  It’s an interesting approach – targeting the social innovators and trend setters (or Mavens as Malcolm Gladwell calls them) in the hope that some of what is trialled catches on and spreads across a network of personal connections.

The idea that a company would give away free products in exchange for a series of potentially negative (but honest) user reviews does rely on there being a lot of brave marketers out there. However, one might argue that the time for hiding away and ignoring blogs - which are already slating or hyping products and services is long gone, citizen journalism is here and people are speaking out. Company participation does require a degree of confidence that product feedback won’t be all negative and that it will result in a sales uplift… I can’t see TalkTalk Business using it in a hurry…

I will be interested to see which ‘invitations to participate’ in BzzAgent client campaigns I receive. Quite honestly I’ll be surprised if my demographic selection of ‘somebody in marketing and advertising’ doesn’t already rule me out immediately. I say that because most clipboard wielding market researchers on street corners always stop the interview when I identify myself as being in marketing, we’ll see if virtual market research is different.

Since creating the BzzAgent account I haven’t actually been invited to join any product campaigns at all except to promote the BzzAgent service itself… but so far it hasn’t done anything for me so I’m unlikely to do more than blog it right now. Perhaps they’re waiting for enough UK Agents to sign up in key demographic areas before they start talking to relevant product marketers, these things can be a bit chicken and egg.

If you’re thinking of joining up and becoming an Agent you must be 13 years of age or older, and trial products are not intended for resale (no Ebaying) – a crime punishable by suspension. I was slightly puzzled as to why more attention hasn’t been paid to making the UK registration process less American – asking me how many hours I spend on ‘Bible study’ might hold weight in the BibleBelt of America but for the UK BzzAgent are just as likely to find as many ’Koran’ Studiers. I was also frustrated by the US phone number insistence, it screwed up my mobile efforts, I had to use my home office number and even that then came up with a forward slash after the first three numbers - definitely more of a US requirement than UK (i.e. 555).

The basic steps of Agent participation (once signed up) are:

• See a new campaign on your home page
• View the invitation to join
• Complete a quick survey
• BzzAgent give you a sample or other way to experience the BzzCampaign product
  Share your sincere, honest opinion — both the positive and the negative — with people you know. (You make sure they all know you’re a BzzAgent and that BzzAgent have provided you with the chance to experience the product.)
• Return to the site and take a few minutes to submit a BzzReport recap of what happened, including the who, what, when and where (direct quotes are really useful too). They want several paragraphs of information not one liners. “The more detailed your reports, the better your chances of earning upgrades to the general BzzAgent experience, reserved only for top Agents, such as early access to certain campaigns.â€?

 

Whilst I was testing out the Agent tutorials / training area I particularly liked this sample write up which I was required to review:

“I passed out all of my discount vouchers for a limited free membership. Everyone gladly accepted. We have a new BJ’s just down the road from our office and several colleagues went there that day!â€?

Discounts on BJs? I’m not surprised they all accepted the vouchers and some went down there that day, do they have a UK outlet? Guess that’s the power of ‘word of mouth’.

 

Read BzzAgent’s Full Press Release:

UK Advertisers Engaging Consumers in Marketing Programs

(LONDON and BOSTON) MARCH 27, 2007 – GroupM UK, the world’s leading full-service media investment management operation, and BzzAgent, a network comprised of more than 250,000 consumer volunteers in North America, today announced that they have partnered to offer word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing programs to clients of GroupM UK.  The non-exclusive partnership preserves BzzAgent’s independence as a WOM media channel in the UK, while positioning WPP’s GroupM at the forefront of the UK’s burgeoning WOM industry.  The deal allows GroupM’s agencies to become the first in the UK to plan, execute and measure innovative WOM campaigns for its clients. 
 
BzzAgent is a pioneer of WOM marketing in the US.  The company is the advertising industry’s first and best known WOM media network.  Its Agent community has sampled and discussed products from nearly 200 of the world’s most recognized brands.  Together with GroupM, the companies will launch several WOM campaigns in the UK beginning in April on behalf of several global blue chip companies.  These campaigns will be implemented in conjunction with GroupM media agencies MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia, MindShare and BJK&E. 

According to Stephen Allan, CEO of GroupM UK, “Our partnership with BzzAgent is the latest example of the convergence of content creation and distribution.  The rise of social media, including word of mouth, creates new opportunities for our agencies to add tremendous value for their clients.� 

Word-of-mouth marketing, the practice of inviting everyday consumers to experience products and discuss them freely with friends, has quickly become pervasive in North America.  As a result of a rising demand for mixed media marketing coupled with an increased desire from consumers to get more involved with brands, BzzAgent CEO Dave Balter believes the UK market is primed to boom in the coming months. 

“Over the past several months thousands of British consumers have joined our Agent network, despite the fact that we had yet to launch in the UK,� said Balter.  “The very idea that the public is volunteering to participate in marketing campaigns marks a sea change in the advertising industry.  Few companies are better positioned to apply this shift to their client services offerings than GroupM.�

In accordance with the partnership, BzzAgent will continue to build and manage a community of UK consumers and help guide campaign strategy, while GroupM’s agencies will integrate the campaigns into a larger media mix.  The companies expect to announce additional word-of-mouth campaigns throughout the year.

About GroupM

GroupM is the leading global media investment management operation. It serves as the parent company to WPP media agencies including MAXUS, MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia and MindShare.

Our primary purpose is to maximise the performance of WPP’s media communications agencies on behalf of our clients, our shareholders and our people by operating as a parent and collaborator in performance-enhancing activities such as trading, content creation, sports, digital, finance, proprietary tool development and other business-critical capabilities. The agencies that comprise GroupM are all global operations in their own right with leading market positions. 

The focus of GroupM is the intelligent application of physical and intellectual scale to benefit trading, innovation, and new communication services, to bring unfair competitive advantage to our clients and our companies.

About BzzAgent

BzzAgent, Inc. is a word-of-mouth media network that helps companies to organize and manage honest, real-world conversations among everyday consumers. BzzAgent’s innovative process, platform and programs enable the acceleration and measurement of word of mouth as a marketing medium. BzzAgent’s clients generate awareness and shape perception about their products and services via the company’s growing community of more than 250,000 trained consumer volunteers. In 2006 alone, BzzAgent participants spread honest word of mouth to more than 10 million friends and family members. For more information, visit http://www.bzzagent.com/

 

Technorati Tags: word of mouth, bzzagent, womma, GroupM, malcolm gladwell, mavens

Bookmark to: