• by Shankar Gupta , November 10, 2006

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association Thursday issued an "Ethics Adoption Toolkit," intended to help marketers create policies that reject stealth tactics. Computer giant Dell said it would adopt the new toolkit.

The toolkit, which marks the third offering in the association's "practical ethics" program, provides companies with customizable sample letters, contracts and press releases to help them implement word-of-mouth ethics guidelines. Several weeks ago, the group released a slate of questions for marketers to consider when launching word-of-mouth campaigns. Last week the association also issued a set of blogging guidelines that require company reps who communicate with bloggers to be transparent about their affiliations and use "extreme care" when communicating with bloggers or blog readers who may be minors.

Andy Sernovitz, CEO of WOMMA, said that companies should adopt anti-stealth policies--and should apply pressure to their business partners to do the same. "I challenge every company to step up and create their own word-of-mouth ethics guidelines," he said.

Dell's new ethics code requires that agents of Dell, including employees and vendors, fully identify themselves when representing the company online, and provide contact information when requested. The guidelines also require company reps online to provide accurate information, adhere to the corporate code of conduct and privacy policy, and to keep customer information confidential.

John Hamlin, Dell's senior vice president for global online business and brand marketing, said that it was important to clarify that the company's code of conduct applied full-force online. "It's very important to set the higher standard and make sure people know that they have to act the same way on blogs as they do on the phones," he said.

Dell this summer was caught in a blogosphere dust-up, after an intern at an ad agency posted a disparaging comment on Jeff Jarvis' blog, BuzzMachine.

"I don't think you have a problem Dell can fix. Your problem is that you have no life," wrote the intern, who said he had worked with Dell for three weeks, and identified himself as "Chris." Jarvis previously railed against the company's customer service in a series of posts on his blog, BuzzMachine.

Since the "Dell Hell" saga, the company has launched a corporate blog, One2One, with the aim of polishing their blogosphere image.

The new WOMMA guidelines come several weeks after it was revealed that public relations giant Edelman, a member of the association, had created flogs, or fake blogs, authored by company employees, to promote its client, Wal-Mart. WOMMA since placed Edelman on probation for 90 days.