The most searched for word on the internet is “pizza”…So gentlemen “don’t believe what you think” and ladies “don’t believe what you think we think!!!”. In fact Google generously give access to all the ‘hot topics’ for any week here: http://www.google.com/trends

Did you know the fastest growing franchise in America is in fact a pizza company using Advocate marketing. They have gone from 1 store to 450 stores in 2 years.

Advocate Marketing can be used in different ways, depending on the company. You have to match your culture, your willingness to work with Advocates with their willingness to work with you. You can get to these levels by working up the Advocate evolutionary triangle.

We’ll be talking about that next week. In the meantime if you want to know the ‘hot topics’ of the week go here. Would you like your brand, service or organisation to be one of them?

Jake, Cornelis & The TVS team

This website is sure to delight.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

It is full of gems like “black music that is no longer considered cool by black people.”

This week’s WOM thought. Cool products make people talk. These extra long Converse boots are a novelty and the shoes attached are designed by Architects. As we discussed recently in a world of increased parity – it is often the ‘little extras’ that make so much difference and often they aren’t hard to do. Not all of us work in companies that will produce ‘one offs’ or stuff that is outside the ‘market norms’. So we have to find a way to put a twist on what we’ve got.

Here are some examples. There is a cafe in Kingsland New Zealand which is called ‘The Fridge’. It does ‘nice food’, has a ‘nice environment’ and reasonable service but what stands out is they let people write messages on lolly sticks and put them on the wall. People say ‘is that the ‘lolly stick cafe’? Here is another simple example. Carly is an ophthalmologist, when children come and do an eye test with her they leave with a print of a dinosaur on their hands. Why don’t opticians do that? The cost is $2 – it’s a little touch that will have kids talking all day.

And for next week an example that will blow your mind. A bank has instituted a buddy system. A buddy will come and help you out with anything – from shopping to DIY at no extra cost – they can be summoned by touching an application on your phone. Who says banks can’t innovate to create WOM.

And if they can, my dear reader, you have nowhere to hide and no excuses.

Live long and prosper

Jake and Cornelis

We saw a great Irish comedian on a flight. He said, and it doesn’t work as well without the timing etc but you’ll get the picture – “Saturday is next to Sunday. That’s wrong bad planning. Why put the two shi****iest days of the week next to the worse one, Monday. It should be Saturday Thursday Monday Sunday Tuesday Friday Wednesday…” It made us smile.

We flew down to Wellington (capital of NZ) and volcanic ash from a Chilean volcano was blocking flights. This is what people were saying about a local budget airline:

“They’re f***king crap. They don’t tell you what’s going on, they don’t have a separate desk and they’ve got two staff on.” Strong Referrals have a statement followed by 3 pithy reasons why. Most corporate people write an essay when asked to what they think is being said about them. This is a great referral from one of the attendees on a course. Model answer. (Not quite word for word – we don’t have the post it here but nearly.)

“Emirates are comfortable – the most modern plane fleet, huge leg room & stunning International food. “

Go and talk to your customers. Your Referral won’t be this “They do premium insurance products…they truly understand me, my world and the context of my International perspective. This new easy as a go you package truly meets my needs. My key drivers are efficiency, connectivity & protectivity articulated by a giant cactus singing inside a broken piano which can only be smashed by a spanner which is singing “ok start her up”.

Because the stuff in red is as about as ridiculous as the way most companies think they are being talked about. If you get a line with statement and 3 pithy reasons – well, job done.

Focus gentleman & Ladies, Focus & ask yourself “What am I doing this week to keep people talking” – that’s the ultimate campaign plan – ask your agency how the ads will make your audience talk. It’s not just the “response” that matters but what they say.

The Village Square Team

Kijk op de Noorderlink website voor meer informatie

(klik op de image om de PDF van het artikel te openen)

De Business Case toont de belangrijkste feiten die duidelijk aangeven waarom Referral Marketing een onderwerp is waar bedrijven meer over zouden moeten weten.
Wij hebben drie doelstellingen:

1. We zorgen ervoor dat onze ‘Top Referrers’ direct worden voorzien van informatie
2. We leren ze de belangrijkste informatie op een eenvoudige en snelle manier
3. We voorzien het Management van de belangrijkste feiten en zorgen dat Referral Marketing op de agenda komt.

De business case is op feiten gebaseerd. We willen de lezer de belangrijkheid van Referral Marketing laten inzien door hem te voorzien van een ‘blanco’ stuk over het onderwerp.

Klik hier voor de volledige studie in PDF-formaat (in het Engels)

• Meeting Tree Explore
• Meeting Tree Plan
• Meeting Tree Implementeren