WOMMA Summit 2010: Global word of mouth differences

Monday, November 29th, 2010

It’s hard to believe it’s a week since I was in Vegas at the WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) Summit, which brought together over 600 marketers, agencies, brands, academics and researchers over three days to share thought leadership, case studies, best practice and provocative debate. Over the next few weeks running up to Christmas I’ll be showcasing some of the best keynotes and insights from the event, and I thought I’d kick off with a personal perspective.

As President of WOMMA UK, this year I was heading up an international panel examining the global differences in word of mouth.

via WOMMA@Flickr; L-R: me, Barak, Craig, Jo, Shige

The idea for the session came from my experiences last year  - I saw several excellent case studies from the likes of Tropicana and Mom Central but also realised that the very ‘American’ approach just would not wash with many European consumers.

1000heads creates pan-global campaigns for clients such as Nokia, Canon and SKINS and we have offices in London, New York, Sydney, Berlin and Paris, so we’re particularly sensitive to international WOM variations. Particularly in the UK, there is fierce protection of individual independence, reluctance to be allied officially with a brand, and suspicion of over-partisanship, so gung-ho, brand-heavy strategies would not be as welcome, or as influential, as they are in the States.

So this year, I assembled an eclectic team – Global Head of Digital for Nokia Craig Hepburn, dynamite Australian social media consultant Jo Jacobs, WOM Japan member Shige Ota and consumer psychologist and WOM economics specialist Professor Barak Libai from Tel Aviv University – to consider such questions as:

• How willing is your region/culture to evangelise about  brands?
• How does the economic and technical infrastructure of the region shape WOM opportunities?
• How and how extensively is social media used in your region?
• What are some of the conversational triggers and taboos that affect brand engagement in your region?

To be honest, it’s amazing that these questions aren’t tackled more often, and the energy of the debate reflected the audience’s interest.

Among other insights, Barak explained the differing communication patterns of countries as determined by their collectivism or individualism; Shige emphasised how the anonymity of Japanese social media culture impacts on their brand conversation; Jo noted that Australians as a nation rebel against vulgar or overt brand association; and Craig described the challenges of promoting Nokia in its native country Finland, where sisu – the concept of strong, uncomplaining silence – is a cultural ideal.

One point that emerged was how important the basic challenges of differing infrastructures, governments and languages can be. In much of Australia broadband is so expensive that sophisticated augmented experiences just wouldn’t work. The censorship in the far East leads to more specialised social communities with localised spheres of influence. The fact is that if you want to transfer a US campaign globally, it takes people on the ground in each country dedicated to adapting and updating engagement in a way that works for their region.

An interesting question from the floor highlighted the different attitudes towards alcohol that affect marketing from drinks brands; but we also discovered that, similarly, brands using seasonal hooks to stimulate WOM such as Halloween or Thanksgiving ignore the subtle commonalities and contrasts these celebrations have across the world.

There was an overall conclusion that this debate needed to be continued in a much more visible way in the industry, with more shared learnings and challenges; we could have stayed in that room all day! As attendees pointed out, companies love toolkits or guidelines they can roll out across markets, but although some degree of consistent narrative is important, this simply won’t work with word of mouth.

On a positive note, there are real opportunities for marketers willing to explore and work with the differences. I for one find them one of the most fascinating and rewarding challenges of working with WOM.

So share your own stories, case studies and questions below, and let’s continue the debate!