• by Tom Siebert , December 13, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ted Leonsis, vice chairman of AOL, just gave word-of-mouth marketers a morale boost. He says people who work in this industry "must realize they are now part of a higher calling," adding that they have an inherent responsibility to be honest and ethical with consumers. Word-of-mouth is "top of the food chain for people making products and services."

Leonsis made his remarks as part of the keynote speech at the Word of Mouth Marketing Summit & Research Symposium, in Washington, D.C. He implored its members to be "authentic and humble ... to create products with virtue," because no one wants to have a conversation with a liar or a cheat.

"You have to surrender to your audience," he told approximately 500 registrants at the Atrium ballroom inside the sprawling Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. "People now hold the steering wheel."

He believes the Internet will become an increasingly powerful place for conversation with consumers. Growing numbers accepted it as a "good third place." The "first place" he defined as home; the "second place" as work. In the past, the third place was religious institutions, gyms or personal artistic expression. Today, the third place is often the Web, which can subsume previous third-place arenas.

Yet Leonsis also noted many paradoxes in the lives of what he dubs the "next generation consumer": "More purchasing power, yet no leisure time; dual incomes, with less savings; real-estate rich, but less cash. They value family life, but their lives are more fractured; we're overscheduled, but constantly on the move; an aging population, yet healthier and living longer; more sophisticated, but looking for help; self-satisfied, but not happy."

Word-of-mouth marketing never knows who it might influence. Citing a personal example, he spoke of a visit to Amazon.com to see what others said about a book he liked. While there, he saw a link to recommended books on similar subjects. One of those books he liked so much he bought the rights--and made it into a movie.

"Someone out there doesn't know it, but they influenced me to produce my first film," he said, "which will debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January." The movie he produced, "Nanking," is a documentary about heroic Westerners who saved the lives of approximately 250,000 Chinese during the rape of Nanking.