An admirable effort led by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan challenged marketing bloggers around the world to
contribute one page — 400 words — on the topic of “conversation”. The
resulting book, The Age of Conversation, "brought together over 100 of
the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative
innovators in a ground-breaking and unusual publication". The sales of which are donated to The Variety Group.
But two months after publication and promotion by 100 marketers, the book has sold a little more than 1200 copies. Or about 12 per marketer. Which begs a prickly question – is this the best one can expect from the so called "age of conversation"? Maybe there are ancillary benefits each marketer gains from this effort, like access to potential new clients – but if I was a client considering "conversation" or "word of mouth" tactics I would be underwhelmed by the empirical results of this effort.
Perhaps a few of the authors might clue us in on their results and benefits they’ve gained.
On the same topic of "conversation" Joseph Jaffe’s word-of-mouth marketing group appears to be under some duress. This from Jonah Bloom at Ad Age:
Joseph Jaffe’s Crayon is up to something. Our best guess is that
it’s called cutting your staff in half while making a play for whatever
budgets marketers have assigned to word-of-mouth marketing. But why
don’t you see if you can do better at deciphering his explanation on crayonville.com.
Joseph Jaffe offers the following:
Over the past year, we’ve made some mistakes. We’ve underestimated how
hard it is to run a remote and virtual company (although we will
persevere) and miscalculated how long a lag there can be between
pitching, winning an assignment, and getting the first payment in. On
the other hand, we’ve overestimated the enormous leap between intent
and commitment when it comes to change.
Jaffe chalks up their results to marketers unwillingness to change. I’m not sure that’s it. I think most marketers have a healthy level of skepticism brought on by too much new marketing hype and not enough new marketing success stories. Marketers will change as soon as somebody can demonstrate effective, accountable and sustainable results using "conversation" or "word-of-mouth" marketing.
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Its typical of Jaffe to blame other people (marketers in this case) for his failures. There are many marketers out there that are far from change-averse, Jaffee just hasn’t been able to properly articulate what value he is actually going to add. He seems to be peddling a lot of words (and cliches) and a lot of process, with the crucial part of actionable, relevant ideas missing. (I also agree with your point about accountability and results). On the face of it Crayon seems to be falling apart, but maybe a change of CEO will cause the sea change the company so badly needs.
Hi Peter,
Good points regarding Jaffe’s approach which I think is indicative of new marketers in general. If they’d stop attacking “old” marketing and instead demonstrate real value with “new” marketing then they’d start to move the ball.
gift. I had been involved in other Variety Club charity activities so this was really an extension of an ongoing commitment to the kids who are helped as a result.
2. At the same time, while thankful that the charity has received the benefit of some new funds, I am surprised at the modest monetary results compared with the effort. There is a lot of buzz and “research” stating that the Millennial demographic is the most volunteer-oriented of all. If that’s true–and if that’s who’s online–then one would have to start wondering whether “conversation” is just that: more social than actionable.
3. There has been a business benefit to the collaboration. I’ve met other professionals who have helped my with my own marketing and begun to show me ways to enhance my online presence and impact. I could have found those services myself in some other way. But the collaboration and related interactions gave me a quick, accurate insight into capabilities. And the oft-touted trust factor from social networking and word of mouth did come into play.
Your ROI question is a good one. Let’s see what we can learn as a result.
Hi Steve,
Looks like the first part of your comment was deleted. But I appreciate the feedback.
Interesting questions, Mike. I too have been a little surprised at the slow take off … but then, we are only supplying through the exclusive Lulu.com channel — the book is not available through bookstores or Amazon. This may change at some point in the future …
As Steve says, it may well be that conversation is more social rather than actionable … but it is really about where and how those conversations are happening. How do we measure the influence? That is a challenge … but I have a feeling that this is a slow-burner and that we may well raise much more in the next 6-8 months. Have you had a chance to purchase a copy yet? Would love to have your thoughts.
Hi Gavin,
I’ll be happy to promote the book here on the blog. As I said I think it’s a worthy cause, and a timely topic.
Is “conversation” more social than actionable? If you define “conversation” as “word of mouth”, I think most marketers readily acknowledge that good word of mouth advertising is actionable resulting in sales or some other visible action.
Isn’t conversation the oldest form of advertising? Seems to me when it works it should work quickly and naturally.
I’m wondering if the harder marketers work at trying to manufacture good word of mouth – the less effective it becomes(?).