“If SONY made a fridge, my wife would buy it!”
Pravin Shekar
Inspires Creators on #creativity #unconventional #execution #outliermarketing?#strategy #insights #storytelling
Authenticity and Perception in Engineered Word of Mouth
The title is true.
My wife has a fascination for SONY. The TV, headphones, sound system, everything HAD to be SONY for her, including the brief period when Sony ventured into making mobile phones.
My favourite quip for her was always, “If SONY made a fridge, I would have to buy it for her!”
Why?
She likes the brand, and perceives that Sony delivers the best quality. A quality that she is happy to pay a premium for.
She feels Sony is authentic. And classy.
SONY.
How/Why does she (and millions of others) trust SONY?
The quality of the product and experience is a given. Sony delivers every time.
There is a premium-ness associated with it. Agreed, it is beginning to fade a bit with newer entrants, but for most, it is SONY.?
So many users putting up their comments, testimonials and sharing their happiness continue to underline their trust for the brand.
This trickle effect of comments and experiences build credibility, and of course, the perception of the brand increases.
Purchasers of the product like to show off and talk about it!
Such Under-the-line influencers continue to impact the immediate circle around them. Friends then play catch-up and pick a Sony product.
A loose community is built up which talks about the brand and follows up on the product launches and novelties around it.
This, combined with Sony’s own collaborative content approach, more prominent influencers, and brand ambassadors extolling the virtues continues on the trust foundation.
Sony encourages User-generated content.
How is a brand authentic in the minds of customers and prospects??
It is in the way the communication happens. And is understood.
Authenticity in EWOM is always genuine and relatable.
Cheeky, quirky, or straight up - but always something the reader relates to.
It could bring a smile to the lips. It makes the reader close their eyes and imagine experiencing the brand.
And sharing, of course, with friends and family, at times with strangers.
It is not just important to be authentic.
It is vital to be PERCEIVED as being authentic!
Across all touch points!
The brand should say what it says it will do. Continuously deliver on its promises - and foster that trust.
Gaining trust is good. How can I be PERCEIVED as being authentic (apart from actually being authentic!)?
What if you woke up to a Sony ad everywhere you go? In the papers, in every app, in every email…. There will be fatigue from this over-promotion.
I would feel so, and I presume you would, too. JUST ENOUGH touchpoint to ensure I stay in touch with the brand, and vice versa, would be optimal for the brand to stay top of mind… and, therefore, authentic.
When I screw up, I show up and accept it. Showing vulnerability will bring the brand closer to you and me. It is a human emotional connection.
Some brands communicate the apology so that it becomes a seed to promote engineered word of mouth!
Audience engagement, listening, and appropriately responding - all add to the perception of a great brand experience: all feeding and seeding word of mouth.
Oh, my opinion is valued. Used. And I am thanked for it! How would you feel when that happens? Great brands do that. To be good, known, and perceived as being/doing good!
TRUST guidelines. Are there any?
MANY.
I am covering a few key ones.
?
To err is human.
How I handle it, divine!
There will be issues, mistakes, concerns, screwups.?
INEVITABLE.
How you handle it matters!
Crisis planning and communication:?Good brands anticipate most of the potential issues and have a plan for handling screw-ups, failures, negative complaints, or publicity. Speed does matter here to respond effectively and resolve.
Legal and ethical guidelines are essential. People CANCEL at the drop of the hat based on mob mentality and fake news. Of course, some do have genuine grouses. For a brand to be trusted and perceived as good, we need to clearly state what we stand for and stand by those values across all experiences.?
Consistency: in what we do and how we do. This builds perception! And brand recall.
LIKEABILITY: A key trust factor?
How likeable are you, your brand, and your communication?
Sounds amorphous but those who get it, get it!
?
AN INDIAN EXAMPLE: ZOHO?
An Indian example of a company that is trusted, likeable, and very word-of-mouth-y is ZOHO.
The bootstrapped Indian SaaS company that has significantly grown through word of mouth, shared by customers and users. It is bootstrapped from day one, has a diverse product range catering to a larger audience.
The word-of-mouth buzz for Zoho also focuses on its unique training and hiring model. Zoho invites students who have completed their schooling and puts them in an on-the-job learning program. Students from the rural hinterland of TamilNadu who now have the opportunity to work on global products. Zoho has opened offices in Tier-3 cities to encourage people to stay and work where they belong. (This is opposed to the long trend of people migrating to the metros for career opportunities and growth).?
This, combined with the large user community base built by Zoho and continued experimentation, ensures that Zoho as a brand is good, credible, and, most importantly, perceived as being good.
?
Where is EWOM in this?
领英推荐
?
?It is an e-commerce company that has built a loyal customer base. Their purpose is to support local artists and ethical manufacturing. Their niche focus on pop culture and fandom merchandize focuses on a specific customer segment – who like original artwork.
Transparency, product quality, a higher purpose, and community engagement builds trust – and the brand's perception.
?
What can you and I do to build trust and retain?
**
I believe
Therefore I am
I know
I strive to know more
Of
I, me, myself
?
To find out who I am
And stay true to that
?
When I know who I am
And be that consistently
?
Say and show that
In everything that I do
?
Am I not a true marketer,
A realized one?
?
Those around me will know
Clearly
?
Who I am and
What I stand for
?
And what I will do
To BE ME, always
?
They will experience me
And form a perception
?
Hopefully the same one
That I want them to have!
?
Authenticity is when I am
Shamelessly me
?
In my thought,
Word and deed
?
I am
I do
?
Therefore those around me
Believe
Perceive and
Trust
If you would like to know more, feel free to reach out to me at
Check out my previous articles on this topic.
I would love to hear about your business, examples, and work on word of mouth.
And if you want to play a game and understand Engineered Word of Mouth, comment EWOM below!
Since this is a drip irrigation with results much later, CEOs don't give much importance to this aspect.
Interesting. This brand value is a result of a carefully designed strategy. A brand is felt either by use of the product or experience the customer has in dealing with the company. If you make great products and make it easy for the customer to deal with you, both consistently over a long period - you would have that kind of loyalty. Both of these are done by 'design' and not by chance. Core to the design part is the 'culture' of the organization. Culture defines how you approach the design and experience, success and failure etc. The bosses at Sony must have spent time many decades ago to define their culture as the starting point.