Seeing the Edge with NW Marketing Guy - Rod Brooks

During the 2011 Talkable Brands Summit, hosted by the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association, sixteen gold, silver, and bronze WOMMY awards were presented in seven categories. Each of the winners were identified as being among the very best examples of effective, results oriented word of mouth marketing. The five Gold WOMMY winners are, of course, the very best of the best. Today, ADWEEK published a special section to showcase these premier winners. I've added the video clip that was provided by each of the winners.  For the full story please access the ADWEEK special report.

Each year, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association celebrates the most effective campaigns in word of mouth with the WOMMY Awards. The winning campaigns aren’t just about creating word of mouth; they’re about learning how to make word of mouth work within a marketing objective. Interestingly, 40 percent of this year’s WOMMY winners came from outside the U.S.

For 2011, three new award categories have been added: Cause Marketing Award, for best use of integrated digital marketing as a tactic to advance a cause marketing initiative; Mobile Award, for best use of mobile to generate word of mouth; and Customer Relationship Management Award, for the best customer relationship program. These join the four existing awards: Social Media Award (best use of social media as a communications medium); Introduction Award (best word-of-mouth communication program to introduce a new product or service); Measurement Award (best strategic thinking to measure the impact/success of WOM); and Momentum Award (best word-of-mouth program to juice an existing product or service).

When given the opportunity to create a new online literacy resource for the Verizon Foundation’s Thinkfinity educational platform, The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) believed it was time to reframe the conversation around literacy. Rather than build a website about how to encourage literacy, the idea became to create a place that nurtured the sense of wonder inside everyone. Welcome to Wonderopolis.

  

Mobile

Vail Resorts Goes Social on the Slopes - Application: EpicMix
In 2010-11,Vail Resorts wanted to push the envelope to combine the outdoor lifestyle Rocky Mountain skiers crave with the frontier of social networks. The result: EpicMix, a one-of-a-kind online and mobile app that connects skiers with their friends and family on the mountain, allowing them to share stories and achievements without interrupting their ski day. Sounds great on paper, but how could Vail get its visitors to start sharing their experiences this way?

 

Introduction

U by Kotex Creates a Social Movement - Agency: Marina Maher Comm.
To successfully launch U by Kotex, a bold and breakthrough line of feminine protection, Kimberly-Clark (K-C) had to take on the category by being culturally disruptive and consistently innovative. And it had to make millennials understand that U by Kotex is not your mother’s menstrual protection. Thus, the “Break the Cycle” campaign was created to drive authentic and educational dialogue about women’s health. 

MEASUREMENT

Customer Love Cures Sprint’s Ill - Agency: MotiveQuest
With its primary competitors AT&T and Verizon poaching its customers, Sprint needed to find out what drove user loyalty/disloyalty to its brand. Using information garnered from the stories wireless users shared online, Sprint, EuroRSCG (its agency) and MotiveQuest discovered there were three primary reasons to stay loyal to a carrier: customer service, phone models and network coverage. 

 

Momentum

Word of Mouth Helps Dettol Clean Up in China - Agency: Advocacy WOM Ltd.
Reckitt Benckiser’s Dettol (Lysol in U.S.) antiseptic liquid was struggling to grow in China outside of the top 10 cities. While RB typically purchases TV ads to build its brands, it found that was too expensive in this market and opted instead for word of mouth.

For a listing of all sixteen gold, silver and bronze WOMMY winners please check out this infographic provided by Column Five.