Bake it or Make it. (Just Don't Fake it.)

Jay Ehret (@TheMarketingGuy) and I recently talked Word-of-Mouth Marketing on his Power to the Small Business podcast. I had on my WOM Enthusiast hat and talked about how there are two ways to generate word of mouth … You can bake it. Or you can make it. (You just don’t want to fake it.)

A little explanation is needed.

BAKING IT
Word of Mouth is baked inside how a company does business every day. Baking it follows the thinking that a company’s personality is its best form of advertising.

Baking It examples include: [1] remarkable product (iPod); [2] over-the-top customer service (Zappos); [3] awesome customer experiences (Kimpton hotels).

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MAKING IT
Word of Mouth is a program that is layered on and is part of the marketing mix. Making it is about doing interesting things to get customer’s attention.

Making It examples include: [1] memorable advertising (Subway “$5 Foot Long” jingle) ; [2] interesting activities (Southwest Airlines “Porch” pop-up lounge concept) ; enabling interesting conversations (HP’s 31 Days of the Dragon).

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Full explanation can be learned by listening to the podcast.

Comments

[pua]

Interesting dynamic to the axiom "fake it til you make it"

[Amy]

Being a baker as well as an entrepreneur, I really like this article. However, I can't agree with your "interesting advertising" example - those Subway ads are annoying. The Dos Equis ads are much more interesting. :-)

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Amy ... at least the Subway spots earn an opinion from people. Some people, like yourself, find the spots annoying but enough people find them interesting enough for that jingle to become a part of today's popular culture. Dig?

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