The first thing that Andy Sernovitz, the author of Word Of Mouth Marketing, wants me to tell you is that he sent me his book and asked me to post a review of it online (very tastefully and tactfully, btw). You see, Andy advocates that anyone (or firm) looking for word of mouth marketing should be transparent about who they ask for referrals.
The first thing that I want to tell Andy is that I’m sorry.
Sorry, first, for taking so long to write this review. He sent me the book months ago, and I read it months ago. I’ve just been too lazy to sit down and write the review.
Sorry, second, for not following instructions. Andy asked that I post the review on Amazon, but that’s obviously not what I’m doing.
And sorry, third, for not writing the glowing review that I’m sure that Andy would want (and, as the author of a book myself, what I would want, too).
I do have some critiques I want to level against the book, but first the positives.
Above all, Word Of Mouth Marketing is a very well written book. It’s no minor feat to write a business book that reads as smoothly and as a fast as a novel. It took me four train rides (two into Boston, two out of Boston) to finish the book. Considering that so many business books are poorly written (full of redundant, buzzword-laden sections), this book is a welcome respite.
And please don’t let my foreshadowing of criticism diminish the fact that there a ton of tips for word of mouth marketing tactics that readers will take away from the book.
If they work in a very small firm, that is.
But I don’t think this book will be particularly helpful to marketers in medium to large organizations. Which would be OK if the book clearly stated that it was intended for marketers in small businesses. But it doesn’t, and in fact, uses big firm examples like Southwest Airlines (which, ironically, is what I’m flying on as I write this).
My criticism of the book centers around two points: 1) over-attribution, and 2) under-integration.
Word Of Mouth Marketing — like, unfortunately, too many other marketing books — suffers from a case of over-attribution: Attributing business results to word of mouth marketing without acknowledging the contribution of other marketing investments.
The references to Southwest Airlines are an example of this. Andy bashes mass media advertising (which seems to be obligatory in today’s marketing books) as being increasingly irrelevant and ineffective. Yet, Southwest Airlines — which is held out as the benefactor of great word of mouth marketing — invests heavily in TV advertising.
And quite effectively, I would bet. It’s series of ads making fun of how other airlines nickel and dime you death is pretty memorable to at least this writer.
In addition, there’s little mention that, of all the airlines, no one has a better on-time record than Southwest Airlines. Do I — and millions of other people — know this from word of mouth? Or from personal experience? And from advertising?
The second issue I had with the book concerned under-integration.
The reality of being a marketer is that, regardless of whether or not mass media advertising is as effective as it once was, few firms will stop advertising in those channels (and, in fact, all non-WOM channels in general).
Marketers in medium to large firms (and perhaps small ones too) need to know, at a minimum: 1) How much should we be spending on WOM relative to what we spend on other channels, and 2) How do we integrate WOM with other marketing tactics?
Maybe I’m being unrealistic in my expectations. But the book promises to talk about the art and science of WOM. All I saw was art. (A search of the Social Science Research Network for “word of mouth” turns up almost 100 studies — none of which were referenced or cited in the book).
Bottom line: While well written and full of good tips for executing WOM tactics, Word Of Mouth Marketing is best suited for marketers in small firms, and less so for those who must manage marketing investments across a variety of channels.
Technorati Tags: Marketing, Word of mouth, WOM, Andy Sernovitz
Thanks for the honest review. Likely to read the book, and I hope the authors appreciate the honest feedback.
FWIW, IMHO (acronyms FTW!) big companies should be keeping tabs on what small companies are doing, and figuring out how to do better, how to act like a small company.
This is, of course, a minority opinion. I really appreciate your willingness to point out the target segment for the book, expectations are often more important than results.
Good review of the book. For me, Word of Mouth can just be a additional advantage for a company which can back it up well with good PR and services. Else it does not mean anything.
It can thus never become a part of Marketing.
Bhupendra
Thanks for the great review, seems transparent enough to me. I don’t look at Word of Mouth marketing as a stand alone endeavor, it is simply an important part of one’s overall marketing campaign. But if you don’t have trust and credibility, Word of Mouth marketing is really hard to capitalize on.
Hey Ron,
I’m glad you took the time to read the book, and to post your thoughts. As usual, you make good points. I loved the book myself, but I agree that it’s more “art” than “science.” I believe a large part of this is due to a very interesting truth: word of mouth marketing is just about the oldest marketing concept known to man…but is just now beginning to become a focused discipline that allows marketers to truly harness what’s been happening all along. With that in mind, I think the “science” part of the conversation will come with time as the new practitioners can document and articulate what they’re seeing in the field. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), offers three volumes of collected essays/white papers/current thinking on how to measure WOM ROI, for instance. My expectation is that the scientific, data-centric side of the conversation will be right around the corner.
Jeff
Jeff — Thanks for your comment. I don’t think the “scientific, data-centric side” is even as far away as around the corner. A number of studies have already been done. But as far as I can tell, nobody has truly synthesized the art and the science to help make WOM a true marketing discipline. That’s what I was hoping the book would do, but it didn’t.
I’ve been asked to review a great financial book as well and I’ve found the toughest time to getting around to it. I do owe the author an apology as well. Isn’t it strange how these things seem to linger and get blocked by less important items?
How many books do you have to read, how many degree’s must one have, and how many times do bankers have to be told they are not marketing people before they get it?
Most community banks still have the “build it and they will come” mindset. I believe that if anyone can destroy good marketing and great concepts in an instant it is a banker.
I have experienced more than once the attitude of bankers that just because they know banking they believe they know everything else. I have also seen many banks fail because of that attitude.
You don’t build banks for your friends. Why do you think they call them “community” banks?
Marketing and branding is what is going to get you good, solid customers and clients. And if bankers continue to think that a pat on the back, a business card and a hand shake are going to make your bank successful you better get a reality check. People can see right through it.
There is a major image problem with banking today and you can either address it, or continue to keep your hand in the sand.
A successful bank is built on taking care of ALL your customers, and not just the wealthy few. When the good word gets around no amount of advertising can match it for branding your institution. Keep something else in mind. If word gets around that you are not taking care of all your customers it can kill you just as fast.
PT Barnum had a slogan for it; “Better a lot of a fast nickels than a few slow dimes.” In other words there are more average households than wealthy ones. All you have to do is make them feel important.
This isn’t rocket science.
Sorry, it should be head in the sand…LOL…typo.