WOMMA: Buzz Beyond 15 Minutes

Download womma_dec06_v1_2live.pdf

Paul Rand from Ketchum and I gave a little presentation at WOMMA yesterday on how to sustain buzz. I have to say that I love WOMMA. I can't fully explain it having been to 3 conferences and being a governing member. It has something to do with the positive energy of a bunch of people believing in word-of-mouth while others are still scratching their heads. It has something to do with the spirit of the organization which is firmly anchored in ethics.

A lot of the driving energy comes from Andy Sernovitz who sadly announced his resignation come March. I think his commitment and values had a lot to do with the tenor of the group so far. There are some tremendously smart folks there. I am going to gush a bit about Brains on Fire. I saw Virginia Miracle and Gino there. Not just super nice folks but smart and creative. I thought Gino's Rage Against the Haze campaign was one of the best social marketing campaigns I have seen in a long while (teen anti-smoking). I lot of hard word and commitment went into that one.

But back to Paul and I. I have seen Paul speak before and always enjoy it. He brings us back to the fundamentals that support any campaign, WOM or not. We both made the point that pure buzz - that shareable something that can spike awareness - cannot sustain on it's own. It is a fast-burning phosphorous. His profile of the Hush Puppies case study - the brand cited in the Tipping Point that has since fallen back on low-end hard times is a warning fo all of us.

For myself, I made the distinction between that phosphorous buzz, active discussion, and co-creation. Each has it's own purpose and should not be mistaken for the other. I believe they sit in that order on a continuum towards a deepening level of engagement. The Rage campaign that Gino shared is a co-creation. The fact that students had a center-stage role in creating the campaign and deploying it had everything to do with it being adopted.

Here is my deck in pdf form. Co-creation is my personal joy. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Comments

[Jake]

Yep, Brains on Fire (Spike, Virgina, Geno in particular) are my heroes. They rock. Hard.

[Geno Church]

Hey John, I'm very honored and humbled by your comments. You grow up fans of The Mets, or The Red Soxs. Mine are the Raiders, the Braves, the Celtics and my beloved Furman Paladins. But I have to also throw Ogilvy in the mix. I read Ogilvy on Advertising my first year of college. And that book is the main reason I chose this field. It does my heart good to see my idol agency have such a presence at WOMMA. And to then see you present and that you get it. Some thoughts about co-creation on the RAGE campaign. Being the small fish we are at BOF and RAGE being a small budget account, co-creation seemed the natural thing to do. I have said many times that a larger budget could have lured us to being heavy handed in the creative process. That's why I think Jake McKee's words of wisdom were so smart "control through participation, not direction."

John it was a pleasure to hear you speak again. And from an Ogilvy fan… keep it rockin.