Church of the Customer Blog
« A VP for WOM | Main | Zyprexa for the phone companies »
April 20, 2006
A VP for WOM
Relatively new, but fast-growing Foldera, an online collaboration website, says it has filled a slot for vice president of word of mouth marketing.
Yahoo is looking for a director of viral and word of mouth marketing.
Dow Jones wants to hire a manager of promotions and buzz marketing.
When start-ups and two of the world's biggest and most influential content companies are crafting positions specifically for word of mouth, that's evolution.
If traditional companies like Charles Schwab, Northrup Grumman or Sysco ever hire VPs of WOM, that's revolution.
Other blogs that reference A VP for WOM:
» Links News - 22.04.06 from Web Jungle
The Boston Globe lists 8 reasons why blogging is good for you and your career. (via)
Futurelab asks: Brand Innovation: What�s Next? and gives some advice how to change brand management in the future: In short, brands need to stop talking ... [Read More]
» Buzz, Viral Marketing and New Media... from MotherPie
As the trend moves to Naked Conversations online -- the title of a great book (ranked #2,652 by Amazon) by Robert Scoble and Shell Israel on how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers, transparency is becoming very [Read More]
I got a better idea - take the money and invest it in [ex] current staff training, compensation and techical support in order to deliver a better, more valuable customer experience so the CUSTOMER is motivated to do the WOM for FREE!!
Is that evolution, revolution or just boring common sense?
What so many companies are missing is the ringleader who helps lead all of those efforts.
Ben,
Thanks for commenting on our news today ... it's an exciting time to be at Foldera.
Pat,
There's a difference between buzz words for the sake of buzz words and buzz words that are built on strong fundamentals. My buzzy title at Foldera relies fundamentally on having permission and time to, as you say right at the top of http://mcgrawmarketing.com/, "know and understand the customer so the product or service fits him and sells itself". That's my job, and whether I'm called "Global VP of WOMM" or just "Global VP of Marketing", it doesn't make a lot of difference.
The items you have mentioned are critical, and are complementary to what I will be doing at Foldera. As Ben concludes, companies do need that "ringleader" to coordinate what's going on.
Best to you both,
Michael Sampson
Global VP of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Foldera, Inc.
Amen Ben. I say it is about time all these companies are realizing the value of this ringleader and coordinator. Congrats Ben. You have my dream job title. I am working with a number of companies who are trying to wrap their heads around this stuff. I am happy that companies are finally realizing the value on this critical role/skill set. Of course, if the culture of the company does not support these efforts - no ringleader can make it happen. I know - I have been a WOM/user generated content marketer for over 15 years - the tools were different (or non-existent) but the philosophy does not change - customer first!!
