1) Is Agent Wildfire's word of mouth credible?

If our word of mouth wasn't credible, we likely wouldn't call it "word of mouth". We've taken great lengths to ensure we're producing authentic word of mouth. In briefly explaining our process below, we hope to identify why and how we go about organizing an "honest" breed of word of mouth.

It begins with our philosophy - we find word of mouth that is guileful or bought, ethically challenging and not just a bad business move but potentially, a serious business risk. We like to be transparent - word of mouth is effective because it's trusted. So, no hidden doors here - we approach brands and products that we think have a word of mouth-able traits and we then develop their word of mouth story and content rooted in the inspiring truths of their brand and product.

A completely voluntary and unpaid group of influencers are then recruited as potential word of mouth advocates, they sign up and visit online based on their own volition and interest. We provide them content and campaigns that our team believes are exciting, innovative and conversation-worthy.

We then ask our community to fully disclose what they're doing when they go out into the real world and talk about these sponsored products to others. We don't incentivise overly positive or negative word of mouth or the number of people they talk to (we hope its positive and they provide a large referral base and they usually do).

Finally, we provide randomized rewards for feeding back their experience and discoveries and points to be redeemed for worthwhile charities and not-for-profit causes.

2) Isn't word of mouth an online thing? Are you just another viral marketer?

Viral marketing has become immensely popular and an interesting experiment in social media and networks. However, we don't consider ourselves online or viral marketers for three reasons:

1. the most important - nearly 80% of all word of mouth is live and in person, only 6% of word of mouth takes place online - thus, we need to get beyond the inbox and inspire passionate and spontaneous word of mouth.
2. because of a., our tactics need to cut across a number of marketing/media efforts (direct, online, event/brand experience, sampling, PR) to inspire face-to-face word of mouth
3. finally, with rare exceptions, viral marketing tends to drive a lot of excitement and entertainment value at the expense of building brands - as a word of mouth marketing firm we are centred around the idea of building brands and triggering purchase action for the right consumer-motivated reasons.

3) I don't work on a new or exciting brand, will this stuff work?

Yes, we agree new and exciting are great attributes for word of mouth but not a necessity. We have identified the key 22 word of mouthable attributes, many not linked to new introductions or belonging to a conventionally exciting product category. New markets, new uses and changes in marketing mix can all cause word of mouth with no change in the product/package formula. Even with status quo in other product and marketing areas, a word of mouth approach can provide a customized, intimate and credible undercurrent frequently missing in traditional brand-consumer relationships.

4) Is this ethical - don't you pay your word of mouth evangelists?

We do not pay our word of mouth endorsers. This is sometimes called shill or roach-bait marketing and is a blight on honest word of mouth marketing practitioners. Rewards and points, if and when they are given, are provided for giving honest feedback, relevant information and potentially interested referrals - not for falsely, positive representations of sponsored products.

5) We already have a loyal user database setup - what value is your firm adding to the table?

Aside from the fact that most companies underutilize and playback little value to their databases and that a Harvard Business Review study has proven that only certain types of brand loyalists make the best word of mouth endorsers, we are not simply comparing quality of databases in what we do (in fact, we frequently encourage and incent recruiting users from brand databases to add to our campaign sample).

Although we do have a very involved and well-connected database of consumer influencers, just as importantly. we have a process, system and team dedicated to integrated word of mouth programs. We have a unique depth of experience in project planning, developing creative, providing procurement, tracking referrals, cultivating two-way communication, delivering buzzworthy content and generating word of mouth feedback and performance that integrates word of mouth as a tactic for building business, a tool for providing insight and a method for elevating consumer-to-consumer marketing to business strategy.

6) Is Agent Wildfire's word of mouth measurable?

We admit all forms of marketing spend have an interesting paradox: a) they are increasingly asked to prove return on investment and b) they are tough to measure. We spend at least 30% of our resources tracking key measures and feedback within campaigns from both our own influencer community and referrals. These measures track how your brand's word of mouth travels and how our Agent Wildfire initiatives create brand conversation, conversion and referral. In addition, we also encourage special rebates, test market areas and account specific programs to test in-market effectiveness so that by the end of a campaign, we can measure what we do and tie our work to your company goals.

7) Who are your Influencers? Are they cool enough/smart enough/targeted enough…?

The Influencers have been recruited to join a special online community of opinion leaders, trendsetters, tastemakers and social ringleaders. They form the network of message starters, spreaders and sellers integral to the success of Agent Wildfire word of mouth programs.

They have self identified themselves as important word of mouth transmitters, interested in certain categories, willing to rave about inspired products to their social networks and attracted by our fresh and progressive content that keeps them ahead of the game. In our experience, it is far more effective and cost-efficient, to attract these people online voluntarily through referrals, publicity and targeted media efforts than to aggressively recruit them through street intercepts or telemarketing. As a group, they show many general influential attributes and based on brand programs, are recruited based on passion for a category or brand of product.

8) Why do your Influencers get behind brands like they do?

It may seem strange to busy professionals that consumers can get vested and spend valuable time referring people into brands within their day-to-day lives but… they do.

Our Influencers enjoy word of mouth-ing and being part of the Influencer community that recognizes their opinion-leading status and helps add value to their networking efforts. The #1 reason they do what they do is "social currency" - the ability to know or have access to stuff or information that the general population doesn't yet have - it's an amazingly powerful social force in these people's lives.

They also mention that our word of mouth initiatives and content:

• improves their expertise in interest areas they are passionate about
• are a better form of marketing that allows for individual expression and two-way interaction
• provides a feeling their feedback is helping influence company direction
• gives them unique opportunities to experience fame, experiences, reward and altruism

9) We are the agency and research house, why does our client need you?

We actually have quite a lot of positive relationships with PR firms, research groups, media planners & buyers and communication agencies. They recognize we are specialized to the point where we can add better value, experience and turnaround in producing word of mouth than developing a full word of mouth system and process themselves. Existing, new and pitch clients are asking for new ideas and alternatives for building their brands, we represent a valuable turnkey option for you here. Within a preferred relationship, there are also many Agent Wildfire benefits and competitive advantages accessible by you. Finally, we work well with agency partners and believe word of mouth is most effective when used in conjunction with a set of integrated campaign tactics.

10) I already have an agency and research house, why do we need you?

The same reason why some of our agency partners get along well with us is the same reason you might too. Great value, fast turnaround, specialized expertise, unique Canadian competitive advantage, strategic counsel and turnkey management are some of the pluses we bring to the table. Our integrated experience and proprietary assets simply do not reside within other firms in Canada. We have also previously played many senior roles in client organizations and understand the increasing demands and bottom-line expectations of being a client. Plus, we're passionate about our stuff - this is a business bordering on a cause - we believe our stuff works and committed to make it work for you.

11) This might be too leading edge - I work for a pretty conservative company - how do I sell this?

You might have been right two years ago but now, if you're not thinking about word of mouth - you're part of the minority. The evidence? Nearly two-thirds of all senior U.S. marketers are looking at launching specific word of mouth campaigns next year. Among these firms are Fortune 500s, big establishment banks and financial houses, the biggest consumer packaged good marketers, risk averse not-for-profits and traditionally private business-to-business firms. Strong word of mouth equates to business growth in the consumer-controlled economy, it's that simple. Having said all that, we're happy to discuss in partnership raising the banner for word of mouth within your organization and providing you with a set of test programs and steps to build it progressively in your company.

12) Are there types of brands you believe have limited chance for word of mouth success?

We think about this quite a bit because when we provide you a word of mouth program, we also commit to measure and present back to you how we performed. In most cases, we find there is an angle to play up a brand's word of mouth - some angles might just be a little bit more difficult to find. Parity products with no possibility of differentiation or innovation are dead end avenues for us. With brand-driven word of mouth, the product is still king. Businesses with no ability to get on shelf or plan to drive broader awareness also present big challenges as our efforts might be wasted on a poor commercial rollout. Finally, whether they work or not, we won't go near illegal (i.e. pyramid schemes) or ethically concerning activities (i.e. cigarettes, guns).