[Welcome back to our Word of Mouth Marketing Lessons newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using this handy form.]
Your most memorable mission statement, your fanciest technology, and your nicest customer service rep may be worth talking about, but they need something to help your customers start those conversations in the first place. They’re called word of mouth carriers — and they’re not always obvious.
Here are three conversation-starters that can help people talk about your company:
1. Something portable
2. Something fun
3. Something creative
1. Something portable
Honda’s FCX Clarity runs on hydrogen fuel cells. The only thing coming out of its tailpipe is water so clean you could drink it. That’s pretty cool. Even cooler is how they’re spreading the word about it: They created and handed out Honda-branded water bottles made to look like they came from the FCX’s exhaust. That’s a lot of people walking around with Honda’s word of mouth message, and it’s a lot more buzzworthy than just seeing the car in a shopping mall.
2. Something fun
People love sharing fun stuff with their friends. You know what’s fun? This retro, “Escape from New York”-themed Windows game. But it’s not just a game. It’s an announcement that Windows is phasing out Windows XP in favor of more current software. In the game, you’re fighting against Window’s XP icons like the old Internet Explorer and Clippy, the paper clip. That’s much more fun than a simple press release. Plus, it helps put a positive spin on the changes for some people who may be clinging to the old software.
3. Something creative
Stationery is one of those things that’s only as interesting as what you put on it. So instead of showing examples of business cards and letterhead with the usual stock images, copy from fake companies, and John Doe’s, MOO designed letterhead for famous historical figures like Winston Churchill, Jane Austen, Martin Luther King Jr., and Charles Darwin. Each was designed to represent the person’s distinct style while showing off all of MOO’s print, paper, and design options. The idea got a whole bunch of people talking with their friends about what’s essentially an advertisement for stationery.
