Two suburban DC area moms run a podcast called Mommycast out of their homes to discuss common parenting topics. The two enjoyed seeing the movie "March of the Penguins" so much they promoted it to their audience. This generated so much positive word of mouth that Warner Bros now attributes 25% of the film's $100 million revenue this podcast. (CBS News)
An attorney from Massachusetts and an entertainer from Maine started an internet sensation when they combined the candy Mentos with bottles of Diet Coke to create streaming fountains of Coke foam. Videos of their "artistry" were viewed by millions of people on YouTube spawning thousands of imitators. In the Wall Street Journal, Mentos VP of Marketing Pete Healy says he is "tickled pink" by the visibility this has generated for his brand. He should be. He estimates that the value of this online buzz is "over $10 million", about half of their entire advertising budget. This buzz turned into bucks as BusinessWeek reports that Mentos sales have jumped 15% from these videos. (BusinessWeek)
Intuit
Intuit uses a range of strategies including blogs and discussion boards, to tap its customers to solicit new ideas, prioritize features in development, and even test new advertising messages. To respond to customer questions about their Quickbooks product, Intuit created a community with discussion boards on their site so customers can help each other with questions. Intuit participates in these discussions to understand customer needs so they can respond with product enhancements faster. According to Business Week, this community now has over 100,000 members discussing topics across 50 subject areas. (BusinessWeek)
In the company's 2005 annual report, CEO Steve Bennett's letter to shareholders states "…positive word of mouth creates a durable advantage for Intuit that translates into sustained revenue and profit growth." (Annual Report)
Petco
Petco's e-commerce website features customer reviews for all the products they sell. Analysis of their web traffic revealed that users that sort the list of products by customer ratings spend 41% more than users who search with other methods like popularity or price. This consumer-driven content is impacting their outbound marketing initiatives as well. Emails that feature customer review content receive 50% higher clickthrough rates. (WOMMA Presentation)
General Motors
Bob Lutz, the vice chairman of General Motors, actively engages GM customers on his GM FastLane Blog. He recognizes that by communicating candidly and directly to car enthusiasts, he can get "pure and unvarnished" comments on the frustrations, thoughts and suggestions of car buyers today. Mr. Lutz says, "These people have a great deal of influence, not just on what we read, but on the cars their friends and family purchase."
Boeing, struggling over the past several years due to scandals and increasing competition from Airbus, decided to engage their critics in an open dialogue. Marketing VP Randy Baseler's blog played an important role in explaining their new strategies while the blog "Flight Test Journal" written by engineers, managers, and test pilots showcased their new Worldliner 777 jet. Boeing's blogs now get upwards of 30,000 visitors per month, and James Albaugh, CEO of the Integrated Defense Systems unit, is championing a new application of blogs as an internal knowledge sharing tool.
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