In the area of "How Not To Do Word Of Mouth Marketing" we have a prominent music and video distribution company. With all the hype surrounding WOMM, little has been focused on the downsides of consumer backlash when this type of marketing is done improperly. Key to not tripping over yourself is understanding affinity groups, online communities, and the negative brand equity that is generated when online communities feel improperly marketed to.

Case in point is the music and video distribution company that seems to have saturated online communities with the equivalent of WOMM spam. Typical is this message from an online poster:

"Hey guys, my friend works at (name of company) and he brought me this great new album by (artist) called (name of album). I love her new album because its [sic] so romantic and relaxing. Her album was produced by (producer) and has duets with the finest artist. Be sure to check it out and let me know what you think."

The poster then goes on to other sites such as the Kotex.com message board, AllAboutJazz.com, Pespectives.com, and dozens of other sites that have little in common with music.

Here is the pitch on the "Great Books Forum":

"I was on my way to the movies to see "Jarhead" and passing by Tower Recoerds [sic] I noticed that ( artist's) new cd "( album name)" had just came [sic] out! Her album has all the songs written from the great ( producer) and mixed with her elegant voice makes this cd a must have. I have a link here for you to listen to some of her new album.[sic] Let me know what you think!"

This technique is then repeated with different names promoting different artists, one post per name per forum.

When one of the communities that I participate in receives these kinds of messages, its members react as if they have been violated. The messages are recognized as what they are--the poster is obviously not of the forum, and the artist being promoted is usually then vilified. I'm sure that there is some increase in awareness for the artist thus promoted. But at what cost to the offending company's brand equity?

How Not To Do Customer Service

Our next example also comes from the music business (a well-known manufacturer of guitars and amps) and also involves the power of community. Said company at one time produced a particular type of instrument that has a cult following--and for many years loyal owners of the instrument have been looking for replacement parts. A musician active in an online community dedicated to rabid fans of the instrument wrote a letter to the company apprising it of the need for replacement parts, and also mentioning all the fans of its instruments. Two years later (TWO YEARS!) he received an answer from the administrator of the company's vice president of marketing, informing him that the letter had reached that person's desk and they were looking into it.

Our musician posted his findings along with the administrator's e-mail address on the community forum. Soon, the administrator had what should have been a marketer's dream: dozens and dozens of e-mails (and e-mail addresses) from former happy customers and market influencers basically volunteering to opt-in to marketing messages from the company. But rather than seize this opportunity, the administrator wrote to our musician begging him to remove her e-mail address, saying that she was inundated with e-mails and pleading for people to stop e-mailing her.

What a lost opportunity! Rather than harvesting these e-mail addresses for use in a special mailing promoting the company's reissue of the beloved product, the firm insulted its community, aborted the opportunity to collect the e-mail addresses, and killed what could have been a great marketing play. And this from the office of the vice president of marketing!

E-mail marketing is the business of everyone at your company. Would your employees know what to do in a similar circumstance?

This commentary is insightful. I recommend it to others.