"This research also shows how each person is a potent media source for any brand, having conversations with their friends and colleagues about which products and brands they love, as well as those they don’t," Soup CEO, Sharyn Smith said.
"The findings also dispel the myth that word of mouth tends to be negative, as nearly two thirds of conversations are positive," Smith said.
More than half of these branded conversations include a positive recommendation to try or consider buying a product. The majority of advice comes from one’s "inner circle" – spouses/partners (29%), friends (25%), or family (24%).
"We know anecdotally that word of mouth is the most effective marketing tool around, and this research backs up what we know instinctively about its power," Smith said.
Katie Rigg Smith, Partner, Communications and Planning of MindShare – which co-funded the research – said: "Word of mouth is arguably the oldest communication channel that exists and yet as an industry our understanding around measuring the impact of word of mouth as a channel is still relatively limited.
"The advent of digital and online social communities has put word of mouth in the form of 'online buzz' at the forefront of the communication agenda. However, there is still a massive knowledge gap in the measurement of 'real world buzz'," Rigg Smith said.
"What excited us most about being part of this study is the ability to glean insights around the impact that 'real world buzz' can have for brands and then the relative impact of this to online buzz and how one combined with the other can drive the best response for our clients."
Influencers — people with a high level of influence in their social groups — are an extremely important part of the branded conversation landscape. They conduct a considerably higher number of conversations and have social networks 74% larger than the general public, and they have double the amount of conversations than the general population. Influencers also rely more heavily on word of mouth from others, rating others’ advice as being more credible and they’re more likely than the general population to pass information along to others.
"The research demonstrates the power of a group of people who are vital to unlocking the power of WOM – the influencers. Key to Soup’s WOM success has been building a community of these influencers and involving them with the brands with which they work," Smith said.
- ENDS -
For more information and detail from the Talk TrackTM Australia survey,
please contact
Soup CEO Sharyn Smith on 02 9356 7500
or
Katie Rigg-Smith, Mindshare on 02 9287 8431, 0419 282 022.
About Soup
Soup was the first Australian agency to harness the power of word-of-mouth. Founded in 2006, it remains the leader in the field of word-of-mouth and advocacy marketing. Soup has a database of more than 75,000 influencers, or "Soupers", who sample and help shape its clients products. Soup works with brands in just about every marketing category: from FMCG to beer to pharmaceuticals.
www.thesoup.com.au
About the research
The research (TalkTrackTM Australia) is a quantitative study run across April and May 2010 conducted by US-based research firm Keller Fay Group. It surveyed 2,800 Australian consumers (between the ages of 16-69) keeping a diary of their past day’s conversations about products and services, resulting in information across some 28,000 conversations about brands.
The Keller Fay Group is a full-service marketing research and consulting company dedicated to word of mouth marketing. Keller Fay works with leading brands, agencies, media, and nonprofit organisations that seek to capitalise on the most powerful force in the marketplace today - the power of word of mouth (WOM).
Soup’s partners in the Talk TrackTM Australia research were Mindshare, ING, Foxtel and LG.