apple to zappos: word of mouth marketing from a-z

APPLE TO ZAPPOS(.COM)

WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING FROM A-Z

Matthew Painter

MBA Program Director, Texas State University

TXGAP Conference, San Antonio

June 13, 2014

WHAT WORD OF MOUTH (WOM) IS NOT…

- Random

- Uncontrollable

- Expensive

- A fleeting pleasantry

WHAT WOM IS

VIDEO WILL BE HERE

WHY IS THIS AWESOME?

- As a human, it feels intrinsically good

- Relative to traditional marketing it’s very inexpensive

- Longevity of the message

- Tremendous loyalty among participants

- The credibility of the WOM generated carries far more weight than any media buy

TWO WORD OF MOUTH

CASE STUDIES TO GET YOU

THINKING ABOUT WOM IN

YOUR

PROGRAM/COLLEGE/UNIVER

SITY

APPLE

- Technology company

- Relatively expensive price points

- “Closed environment”

- Limited customization options

- Arguably some planned obsolescence with the release of new hardware/software

SO WHY IS APPLE’S WOM SO AWESOME?

- Customers feel part of an exclusive club

- Cohesive branding

- AMAZING customer service

- Quality products with a defined purpose

- A great overall EXPERIENCE

WHAT SOLD YOU ON YOUR FIRST APPLE PRODUCT?

Not this…

This!

Print ad

Billboard

TV commercial

Annoying website pop-up

Personal recommendation

WOM LESSONS FROM APPLE

- Embrace who/what you are

- People appreciate authenticity- Excellent customer service is excellent

marketing

- And it’s free. And it’s the right thing to do.- When you make people feel special, they

want to tell their friends about you.

- And in the process they become your marketing team.

- People remember how you made them feel

ZAPPOS.COM

- Founded in 1999

- 2000 sales: $1.6M

- 2001 sales: $8.6M

- 2003 sales: $70M

- 2007 sales: $840M

- 2008 sales: >$1B

- Acquired by Amazon.com in 2009 for $1.2B

ZAPPOS.COM

- They sell shoes.

- At retail prices.

ZAPPOS.COM

- “Powered by Service”

- Above-and-beyond, amazing customer service

- Examples:- Pizza- Flowers- Keep our mistake

- 75% of their customer base are repeat buyers

WOM LESSONS FROM ZAPPOS

- They aren’t selling shoes (and you aren’t selling graduate education)

- We are delivering an experience- Again: Excellent customer service is

excellent marketing

- Customers are forgiving when you treat them exceptionally well

GREAT- NOW WHAT?

5 Ideas to Get Your WOM Started

Idea #1: Identify Your Fans

• Alumni

• Current students

• Staff/Faculty/Employees

• Industry leaders

• Advisory Board members

• Brand evangelists

• Excited prospective students

Idea #2: Talk to your Talkers

• In-person

• Phone

• Online

• Web• Email• Social

Idea #3: Make your message easy

to share

from www.mashable.com

Idea #4: Make people feel special

“Would you mind helping us out with our website?”

“You have been selected as an outstanding McCoy graduate to be featured on our website.”

Idea #5: BE WORTH

TALKING ABOUT

(otherwise you have to pay for it)

from www.slate.com

“

”

SUMMARY

- Both Apple and Zappos have created legions of marketers fans, not necessarily because of their products but because of the experience they provide to their customers.

SUMMARY

- Identify people who want to talk about your university/college/program

- Engage with your talkers: be a part of the conversation

- Every chance you get, make it easy for people to share your message

- Make people feel like VIPs

- BE WORTH TALKING ABOUT

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THANK YOU

Matthew PainterMBA Program DirectorTexas State University(512) 245-3591mpainter@txstate.edu

Web: McCoyMBA.com

Facebook: facebook.com/McCoyMBA

Twitter: twitter.com/McCoyMBA

Blog: McCoyMBA.wordpress.com