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Word of mouth needs something to get the conversations going, something to catch people’s attention and encourage them to talk about it. These are called word of mouth triggers, and some of the best ones are the ones you can’t help but notice.
Here are three big, visual cues companies have used to get people talking:
1. Snowmen
2. Moving trucks
3. Trash bags
1. Snowmen
During this horrible winter season, one company built a sad snowman on a downtown Chicago sidewalk holding out his thumb hitchhiker-style with a sign that said, “Even I’ve had enough. WinterBlows.com.” Turns out, the site is for a vacation company, because “winter doesn’t have to blow if you could just go somewhere with a beach.” It was unexpected and funny, and it struck a nerve, because a lot of people took photos of it and shared it with their friends.
2. Moving trucks
Burger King in France says that if you’re moving away from a city without a Burger King, to a place where there’s one close by, they’ll help you move. They’ll supply the moving crew and their giant “Whopper Move Out” truck — you know, because you’re moving to get closer to Burger King anyway, right? You can’t get much bigger than a moving truck for a word of mouth trigger. But it’s more than just a marketing spectacle. It’s a great way for Burger King to make a new friend and create a great word of mouth story with the person moving close by.
3. Trash bags
To get people to think about the amount of trash they throw away, Trash Project handed out pink, white, and gold polka-dotted trash bags in New York. How does making trash look like art get people to talk about reducing waste? These flashy trash bags cause a break in people’s routines. They take something that’s practically invisible and make it obnoxiously visible. On trash day, people start noticing the piles of bright trash bags on the sidewalk and start talking about it instead of walking on by.
