> Get closer. The creation of an ambassadors scheme

Word gets around

What is whuffie, anyway?

Talking about the arts

ISSUE 38 | APRIL 2010> Word-of-mouth marketing

> Word-of-mouth marketing comes of age

> The bloggers who came in from the cold

2 > JAM 38

Contents

> RegularsSpotlight ................................................................. 3Research round-up ............................................ 4Just a minute ...................................................... 11AMA Member Reps ........................................ 12Marketing top tips ........................................... 22

Resources ........................................................... 23

> Word of mouth marketingWord gets around ...............................................6Case study: Get closer .......................................9What is whuffie, anyway? ............................. 14Case study: Word-of-mouth marketing comes of age ............................... 16Talking about the arts .................................... 18Case study: The bloggers who came in from the cold ...................................... 20

© sugarfree/istock

Measuring word-of-mouth

Word gets around Just a minute

JAM is sponsored byJAM is published by

www.a-m-a.co.uk

AMA Member Reps Scheme

What is whuffie anyway?

Marketing top tips

This issue of JAM was edited by Andrea Perseu with assistance from Helen Bolt and Julie Aldridge.e andrea@a-m-a.co.uk

JAM is published by the Arts Marketing Association7a Clifton Court, Cambridge CB1 7BNt 01223 578078f 01223 245962e info@a-m-a.co.ukw www.a-m-a.co.uk

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JAM is published four times per annum.UK subscription rates £37 per annumOverseas subscription rates £57 per annum6-month trial membership: receive JAM and benefit from member rates for training events, workshops and conference for just £53 + VAT. e andrea@a-m-a.co.uk

© Arts Marketing Association, 2010. All rights are reserved and reproduction of any parts is not allowed without the written permission of the publishers.Opinions expressed in JAM are not necessarily those of the AMA and no responsibility is accepted for advertising content. Any material submitted for publication may be edited for reasons of style, content or available space. Meanings will not be altered without permission from the author.ISSN 1474-1172

Make JAM for the AMAJAM is always on the lookout for new writers with good ideas for case studies and features, especially from some of those smaller organisations out there.

If you would like to contribute, please e-mail: andrea@a-m-a.co.uk

JAM is available in large print or electronic format.

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TOP TIPS

> EDITORIAL

JAM 38 > 3

You should try this …

Spotlight on Isky Roberts

The first thing I should mention about myself is my name. You are probably thinking ‘Where does it come from? How do you pronounce it?’ Well … I am half Turkish and half Welsh; hence

the first very unusual name coupled with the quite familiar Celtic surname ‘Roberts’. You pronounce my name ‘Iss-kye’, not ‘Iski’, and it’s not a nickname – something I do get asked a lot!

Since the age of 10, I found my passion for singing, which led me to read Music and Music Technology at Keele University. After those amazing three years I did a three-month internship at Universal Classics and Jazz in the promotions department, booking hotel and travel for artists. I remember being so surprised that, out of the whole department, only two people had degrees in music. That was the first time I realised that you didn’t necessarily need a musical background to market a musical product.

I then became a Promotions Co-ordinator for TV promotions company Nonstop Promotions. I set up television appearances for artists and put together

itineraries for them. I was lucky enough to go on many TV shows, but the most memorable for me were Strictly Come Dancing and This Morning. What really struck me was how small the TV studios were and that all the people you see on television are so skinny – the camera really does add on pounds! After my time there, I did a six-month marketing internship at Wigmore Hall. I loved being surrounded by classical music but I also discovered my real interest in arts marketing which has led me to my current position with the AMA.

> SPOTLIGHT

Isky RobertsMembership Marketing Assistant, AMA e isky@a-m-a.co.uk

Andrea PerseuEditor, JAMe andrea@a-m-a.co.uk

TOP TIPS

This is John from Bristol, commenting on the BBC Have Your Say website in July 2009: ‘I was one of the first

to buy a 3G phone, a few years ago. Very disappointed with it, I wrote an honest review on a website and a week later saw that 2,000 people had viewed it. Assuming a large portion of those would-be customers would not have bought that phone afterward, I estimated that one review carried a potential loss of revenue upward of £180,000 – from one disgruntled customer. Power to the people!’ There are two lessons to be learnt from this. First, John from Bristol is a very powerful enemy, so make sure you keep him on your side. Second, and joking aside, many decisions about what to buy, listen to, watch or attend do indeed rest on the opinions and recommendations of increasingly wide social networks. After all, don’t we all check customer reviews on Amazon or

CNET before buying a product?So, this issue of JAM will explore how

word of mouth really works, whether it can be used to our advantage and how we can go about influencing the influencers. On page 4, Heather Maitland looks at ways of measuring online and offline word-of-mouth initiatives; Mel Larsen discusses the role of arts ambassadors (page 6); and Måns Pär Fogelberg gives a real-life example of how to set up an arts ambassador scheme (page 9). On page 14 you can read an extract from Tara Hunt’s first book, The Whuffie Factor; Jo Johnson highlights the potential of online social networks (page 16); Ozoda Muminova gives us an overview of the Guardian’s word-of-mouth research (page 18); and Eleanor Appleby tells us more about how the V&A reached new audiences with the 7th Syndikate (page 20). This issue’s spotlight is on Isky Roberts, Tim Wood answers six questions in just one minute on page

11 and you can find out more about your local member reps on page 12. Finally, have a look at the WOMMA’s ethical checklist in our marketing top tips (page 22).

The starting point of much of the discussion about word of mouth is that it can’t be measured. Actually, sociologist

Gabriel Tarde first explored it in 1898.1Social psychologists are fascinated

by social influence so have developed models to describe why people are so keen to make recommendations to each other. Researchers have shown that these apply online and offline. Shintaro Okazaki describes how motivations spring from two sources: individual desire and social intention.2 The individual wants a sense of accomplishment from passing on helpful information to others, the added social status that comes from having their opinions listened to and to have fun. The social intention centres on an explicit or unspoken agreement between the members of a community to act in a certain way. The more someone feels they fit into a group, and the more social status and power they have within the group, the more likely they are to make recommendations. In offline communities, the pressure to conform to other members’ expectations is an important factor. It is less important online because members are anonymous.

So that’s the who, how and why of word of mouth, but marketers also want to understand what is being said and how many are listening.

A simple question tackles the first issue: ‘How likely are you to recommend my events or activities

to a friend?’ Those who respond positively are known as promoters and negative responders are detractors. A Net Promoter Score, the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors, allows comparisons between organisations.3

Harris Interactive’s research last year warns that people are more likely to chat about their experiences with products, sharing information rather than doing anything as specific as making a recommendation.4 Being willing to make a recommendation is not necessarily the same thing as doing it.

Choosing the right thing to measure is important, too. A Harvard Business School study5 concludes that it’s

not enough to count the number of conversations about a product or brand or the number of people having those conversations. An intention to recommend something is the result of having experienced it. It doesn’t mean that it will generate future sales. Word of mouth could be circulating only among people who have seen it, done it and already bought the t-shirt. The researchers measured the buzz about new TV programmes. There was no link between the volume of word of mouth and the eventual ratings. What predicted the success or failure of the show was the number of new people who heard the word of mouth, known as the dispersion rate. How do they know all this? Okazaki’s review of the research since 2004 lists a set of familiar research methods:

• telephoneinterviews•in-depthinterviews

•analysisofonlineuser-driven content

•web-basedsurveys,forexample of registered users of a forum

•emailquestionnairessent, for example, to people involved in a viral political

campaign asking who sent what to who

•focusgroups.

The Guardian’s research last year into word of mouth used simple methods – interviews and a nationally representative telephone survey – to compile a complex audit of how a large number of people communicate with each other and the strength of the links between them.6 Take a look at http://prescribethenation.com to see Unilever’s map of how word of

4 > JAM 38

Measuring word of mouth

Heather Maitland explores ways of measuring online and offline word-of-mouth initiatives

> RESEARCH ROUND-UP

JAM 38 > 5

mouth about a moisturiser spread through the Alaskan town of Kodiak.7

Measuring word of mouth is not rocket science, then. So why are so many marketers convinced that word of mouth is unmeasurable? What they really mean is that word of mouth is uncontrollable. Marketers hate the idea that there are thousands of conversations going on that they have nothing to do with. The research methods available to them involve sampling, so they can be unreliable. They want to eavesdrop on every conversation.

So thank goodness for the internet. What people say is written down and easily accessible and there are plenty of free eavesdropping tools. Some, like SocialMention and Social Media Firehose, search for key phrases across a wide range of social media, while Technorati specifically searches blogs and posts. Google Alerts monitors its own search network and will send an email when it finds a key phrase.

Some social networking services have their own internal search functions like Twitter Search and Facebook’s Lexicon. Jodange has downloadable widgets that analyse how people are feeling about a topic rather than just showing what they say. None of these tools are comprehensive so need to be used in combination.8

But can we make assumptions about offline word of mouth based on online behaviour? Harris Interactive showed that purchasing decisions are complex, resulting from a combination of online and offline information and opinion sources. Although 18 to 24 year olds were more likely than older adults to use social networking sites to find information, the proportion that did so was only 16%. They were much more likely to get information about products through face-to-face conversations with friends and family. Even where the word of mouth was about a new technology launch, only

35% of conversations took place on blogs, discussion boards and social networking sites. Half took place face to face.9 Although we can eavesdrop online, the traditional offline research tools are still essential.

So word of mouth is easily measured. Evaluating its impact is much more difficult. So what if over a million people have played your shoot ’em up MMO game set in a gallery? Did it persuade anyone to visit or was it just a load of hot air?

Heather MaitlandConsultant and authore heather@heathermaitland.co.ukw www.heathermaitland.co.uk

1. Gabriel Tarde, ‘L’Opinion et la Foule’, Revue de Paris, 1898. Cited by Jeffrey Graham and William Havlena, ‘Finding the “Missing Link”: Advertising’s Impact on Word of Mouth, Web Searches, and Site Visits’, Journal of Advertising Research, Dec. 2007, pp. 427–35.

2. Shintaro Okazaki, ‘Social Influence Model and Electronic Word of Mouth’, International Journal of Advertising, 28, vol. 3 (2009), pp. 439–72, p. 446.

3. Deborah Eastman, ‘Clearing the Air about Word of Mouth’, 2008. Consulted at www.marketingprofs.com/8/clearing-air-about-word-of-mouth-eastman.asp on 12/2/2010.

4. Harris Interactive, ‘Offline Social Word of Mouth Influence on Brand Decision-Making More Frequent and More Powerful than Online Social Media’, The Harris Poll, consulted at www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/pubs/Harris_Poll_2009_06_15.pdf on 15/2/2010.

5. David Godes and Dina Mayzlin, ‘Using Online Conversations to Study Word of Mouth Communication’, HBS Working Knowledge. Consulted at www.som.yale.edu/faculty/dm324/MktgScience_galley.pdf on 15/2/2010.

6. Consulted at www.slideshare.net/womuk/guardian-wom-research-300909 on 12/2/2010.

7. Cited by Walter Carl at http://wom-study.blogspot.com. Consulted on 12/2/2010.

8. Find out more from Susan Hallam’s comprehensive overview of social media eavesdropping tools at www.shcl.co.uk/blog/2009/02/monitoring-your-digital-footprint.html and Clay McDaniel’s selection at www.marketingprofs.com/9/essential-social-media-listening-tools-mcdaniel.asp. Consulted on 15/2/2010.

9. Walter Carl, ‘Is Talking Getting You Anywhere? Measuring WOM Marketing’, Admap, World Advertising Resource Centre, April 2009.

> FEATURE

6 > JAM 38

Word gets around

Mel Larsen looks at the role of arts ambassadors in word-of-mouth marketing

Recommendations are part of our everyday conversations. Most of us regularly offer endorsements on the best

plumbers, films, books, marketing techniques, employees and countless other subjects. We may not stop to think where our words will end up or even where our opinions really originated.

Even before the internet became an everyday phenomenon, social network analysts made a science of tracing the threads of social exchange to make them visible and ultimately manageable in the name of empowerment or control. The world of networks is a fascinating matrix of agents such as connectors and gatekeepers who open or close access to communication and where trust is the most valuable currency.

Trafficked within these networks is the information that gets passed around. Author Richard Dawkins coined the term ‘memes’ to refer to the ‘units of cultural imitation’ that get disseminated through social inter-action: habits, ideas, tunes, fashions and the like, in a way similar to the propagation of genes. Replicated as word gets around, memes eventually die out (anyone remember the catchphrase ‘Whaasssupp!!?’), evolve or become accepted and embedded

in society as if they had always been there.

Before the advent of online social networks, it was said that we each knew around 300 people ranging from close friends to those on vaguely nodding terms and via that set had access to the 300 people they each knew, making our immediate circle of influence number around 90,000. Online, the potential number of people we can spread our recommendation memes to is of course far greater.

Word-of-mouth marketing has itself become a hot topic. Anyone who works in marketing ought to be highly interested in spreading positive memes about their product. Some people recommend more than others but even satisfied customers are more likely to do so when reminded. Referral marketing, where happy customers are supported in referring their contacts, is one strategic way of maximising the social habit of recommending. Brand ambassadors are another.

Arts ambassadorsThe term ‘brand ambassador’ is often used to describe a high profile celebrity sporting the latest must-have product, but it can also refer to an ordinary person who happens to be enthusiastic about an experience such as arts attending. When these

‘arts ambassadors’ are managed and supported strategically, they can be very effective in spreading the word about arts opportunities and events to their peers.

Arts organisations have been resourceful in the way they engage ambassadors, from a taxi driver scheme in Adelaide, Australia where drivers tell their (captive) passengers about a local festival, to the team of ambassadors for Africa Beyond who personally greeted the new audiences they had invited to the British Museum and conducted vox-pops with them to find out what they thought.

Ambassador work goes beyond handing out a few flyers. They also feed information back to an arts organisation and help build relationships that are of value to both arts provider and audience. They are often recruited to be representative of a target audience (e.g. students inviting other students or parents inspiring other families to visit a new venue). They can be paid or voluntary, work alone or in a team; they may represent a collective of venues across a city, or just one organisation. Increasingly they are being engaged as a sounding board or as advisers, contributing to the development of front of house, box office and even the board or programming.

Before the advent of online social networks, it was said that we each knew around 300 people ranging from close friends to those on vaguely nodding terms and via that set had access to the 300 people they each knew, making our immediate circle of influence number around 90,000.

JAM 38 > 7

The rewardsArts ambassadors provide a range of services. They have time to listen, explain, address concerns and build relationships with audiences. They can therefore:• encouragefirst-timeattendersand

new types of audiences • addresstheneedsofmicro-

segments: small but important groups of people that broadcast campaigns don’t reach

• supportdifferentiationofyourbrand through dialogue with potential attenders, exploring why they could choose your venue over others

• understandcommunitiesofinterest from the inside and help you understand how your organisation is perceived from the outside

• surpriseyouwithnewideasforpromotion and programming and sometimes create and deliver those new programmes themselves

• helpyouspreadinformationviaonline social networks.

There are also many benefits available to the ambassadors such as connection with other like-minded ambassadors, free tickets, work references, and sometimes

payment. However, for the very best ambassadors, the job of telling others about their favourite arts provider occurs as a pleasure rather than a duty. The commitment that ambassadors are prepared to give is frequently astonishing and should never be taken for granted. A shift towards co-creationCommon approaches used in engaging ambassadors include the simple promotion model focused on short-term sales or the audience development model, which acknowledges the extensive relationship-building and internal change that is required to attract, satisfy and sustain new or non-traditional audiences. Those who start off with promotion can find they eventually need to consider changing aspects of their service and programme. People who are passionate about your venue and programme (or about their community) can be very good at helping you become better at serving them. The audience development model also often leads naturally to a third approach: co-creation – empowering ambassadors in the design and delivery of the artistic work itself, which Audiences London has termed the artistic development model.

Things to watch out forAnyone who has worked on outreach projects, friends schemes, referral marketing or community engagement will already have a good grounding in the type of relationship-building required to make an ambassador programme successful. There are several points worth considering at the start:• Findingsuitableambassadors–

online volunteer and job networks, friends of staff, current audiences and mini targeted advertising campaigns can be a good starting point.

• Managementtime–thebiggestchallenge and cost for most. Even for a handful of ambassadors, think of it as managing a new team or department and allow plenty of time for training, briefing, calls and evaluation.

The commitment that ambassadors are prepared to give is frequently astonishing and should never be taken for granted.

> FEATURE

• Settingboundaries–beclearatthe start about whether you are open to changing the way your organisation works or not.

• Ineffectiveambassadors–some will just be better than others, but don’t just count new audience numbers: value the new connections, opportunities and ideas ambassadors bring too.

• Onlineambassadorworkisimportant but don’t forget that face-to-face and telephone conversations are very effective in prompting actual attendance.

• Artsambassadorsaretrustedbytheir personal and social contacts and are generous in giving access to their networks. For this reason it is vital that they authentically believe in the product and that their time and efforts are respected.

RecommendedIf marketing is about creating, keeping and satisfying customers, arts ambassadors have a great deal to offer. If new marketing is about facilitating dialogue, ambassadors are right at the centre of refining and evolving the way we communicate with our customers.

If you’re keen to get started, the following resources are recommended:www.artsambassadorresource.com for a free checklist, case studies and video clips on arts ambassadors, co-creation and other helpful resources www.audienceslondon.org for a handy brief report on ‘Working with arts ambassadors’ www.womma.org for all things word of mouth.

Mel Larsen, arts marketing consultant, is the author of A Practical Guide to Working with Arts Ambassadors published by Arts Council England.e mellarsen@me.com

Anyone who has worked on outreach projects, friends schemes, referral marketing or community engagement will already have a good grounding in the type of relationship-building required to make an ambassador programme successful.

8 > JAM 38

© Brada B

arassi

> CASE STUDY

JAM 38 > 9

Get closer

Founded in 1905, Gothenburg Symphony is the national orchestra of Sweden. Wilhelm Stenhammar, the great Swedish

composer and conductor of the early 20th century, contributed strongly to the Nordic profile of the orchestra. The celebrated Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, born in 1981, started his tenure as the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director in the autumn of 2007.

In 2007 we launched an arts ambassadors scheme after coaching from Mel Larsen from StillArt International. The reason for this was not to get a bigger audience since we already had a booking frequency of 90%, but to reach those who had never stepped over our threshold. Gothenburg has a population of approximately 500,000 and we didn’t know what to expect from the ambassadors scheme. We launched three different series, each of which was available as a five-concert ‘test subscription’. One started in late autumn and two started in the spring. The series offered a wide range of classical music and also a jazz concert.

In addition to every concert, the ambassadors and their guests met in

groups 90 minutes beforehand to listen to the musicians talking about their music, have a guided tour of the Hall, meet the librarians and gain insight into, among other things, how a concert is made. The goal of those meetings was to help beginners to get closer to our orchestra and classical music.

StructureThe first year we engaged 11 ambassadors, who together attracted 145 test subscribers. The following year we presented four series with four concerts plus a lecture in each series. The price for these series was reduced to approximately 50% of the normal ticket price. The ambassadors received a free test subscription if they introduced at least ten of their friends to the orchestra; they also received a free CD and attended a special ‘ambassador-only’ concert to get to know the other ambassadors involved. What we wanted them to do was to speak well of us, and what we gave them in return was closer contact with the orchestra and staff; for example, our best ambassador was invited to join the orchestra on a short tour with Maestro Dudamel and to live with the orchestra and staff for two days.

ResultsAfter the test subscriptions ran out, we asked our ambassadors to sell standard subscriptions (at 10% discount) to their test subscribers. Once again, all ambassadors were offered rewards, and once again the results they produced exceeded all expectations. Last time we checked, we had over 60% of the test subscribers coming back and buying either standard subscriptions or more than three concerts for the following season.

Overall, out of the 270 test subscribers from the first two years

What we wanted them to do was to speak well of us, and what we gave them in return was closer contact with the orchestra and staff; for example, our best ambassador was invited to join the orchestra on a short tour with Maestro Dudamel and to live with the orchestra and staff for two days.

Måns Pär Fogelberg discusses the ambassador programme set up by Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra to raise awareness of their subscription scheme

> CASE STUDY

of the programme, we gained about 80 full subscribers and about 80 frequent visitors. The cost was half of my salary and the reduction of prices. But to be honest, you never know if those concerts would have sold out completely anyway. Some of them would have, some not.

In short, one can say that our ambassador scheme has been working, and will continue to work, as both a loyalty programme and as a programme to attract new attenders. We get to learn about our frequent customers and they get to know us, and as a result they speak well of us.

My role in all of this was to manage the ambassadors and the programme as a whole, down to arranging all the pre-concert meetings. I kept the ambassadors informed about how the programme was going through regular email updates; I also met with all the ambassadors on concert nights in the test series (and other concert nights too as they are frequent attenders) and talked to them on the phone about once a month.

Lessons• Don’tdotoomanyseries:it’seasier

for the ambassadors to recruit people for a specific series or concert.

• Listentoyourambassadors’ideas!• Thewholethingischallenging.

Making time to answer questions and ‘be there’ for the ambassadors is the most difficult aspect, but also the most rewarding and fun.

• Makesureeverybodyintheorganisation is aware of the scheme, from the CEO to your front-of-house staff, principal conductor and timpanist. It’s

important that everyone knows who the ambassadors are, so that they are made to feel welcome; it’s also important that people share the same information and ‘sing from the same hymn sheet’.

• Thebestaspectformepersonallywas being able to meet so many fantastic people and share their passion and enthusiasm for classical music.

The futureWe are now running a short spring series and will continue this autumn, always trying to make some development in the pre-concert meetings. We will probably downsize the scheme to two series per season, and in addition to that we will have pre-concert meetings before concerts that are not in the scheme to try to get younger people in, as it’s harder to get their commitment for a whole series.

10 > JAM 38

Måns Pär FogelbergAudience Development Manager, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestrae fogelberg@gso.se

The whole thing is challenging. Making time to answer questions and ‘be there’ for the ambassadors is the most difficult aspect, but also the most rewarding and fun.

> FEATURE

JAM 38 > 11

What is your first memory of the arts?I saw Whirligig Theatre

performing David Wood’s The Plotters of Cabbage Patch Corner when I was about 6 years old. There was a cardboard cut-out theatre in the programme, which I took home and used to put on my own plays including, I seem to remember, making front-of-house announcements and ringing an interval bell.

How did you get into arts marketing?I wrote to every arts

organisation I could think of, all over the country, asking for work, experience, advice: whatever they could offer. I was interviewed for a marketing job which I didn’t get, but then someone in the department was sick so they got me in to help out for a couple of weeks. I may have proved useful, because they asked me to stay for a couple of months, and that eventually turned into a full-time job. And it just so happened that this was in Nottingham, where I was already living at the time.

What attracted you to the arts sector?I wanted to be close to the

work of creative artists. That still feels like a real privilege. I get a schoolboy-ish thrill being behind the scenes at arts events.

When and why did you join the AMA?I went to an awayday

meeting in Bristol in 1997 or 1998. I remember nothing of the conference itself, but I do remember the evenings in the hotel bar talking with people I’d just met about the great issues of the day: the Data Protection Act, Father Ted, that sort of thing. It felt like the kind of organisation for me.

What is your proudest moment?I tend to view campaigns

I’ve worked on like children: you love them all individually, you care obsessively about them until they’re ready to go out into the world, and then you’re delighted to be rid of them and don’t want to think of them again. I suppose a few things stick in the memory: putting ‘Go Wilde’ ads on taxis for The Importance of Being Earnest; making the front page of the Independent with an Anish Kapoor public art work; having something to do with the success of Hofesh Shechter.

And what is your greatest indulgence?I only get to choose one?

I’d indulge in most things, given the chance. But top of my list would be having a really fine dinner with someone who makes me feel like we’re the only two people in the world, or watching endless – literally endless – hours of sport on TV.

> JUST A MINUTE

Just a minute

Tim WoodDirector of Communications, The Place, and AMA board membere tim.wood@theplace.org.uk

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A column to get to know other AMA members in just six questions

AMA Member Reps Scheme

ENGLAND1. Eastern England

Stephen Forster SFP Communications

Pam Pfrommer Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge and City University, London

2. East Midlands

Neil BennisonRoyal Centre

Patricia Kenneally-Forrester Bare Pots Ceramic Gifts & Pottery Painting Co.

3. London

Alex FlemingSoho Theatre

Charlotte HandelTheatre Royal Stratford East

Charlotte Kewell The British Museum

Jessica SilvesterRoyal Albert Hall

4. North East

Craig Millararc

Jonny TullTyneside Cinema

5. North West

Marge Ainsley Freelance marketing, press and research

Mike James Liverpool Empire

6. Southern England

Rachael Easton Audiences South

Andrea Sheppard Consultant

7. South East

Jessica Bevan Chichester Festival Theatre

Kathryn Denham Churchill Theatre

YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES

12 > JAM 38

Last year’s network meetings had topics as diverse as implementing a green marketing mix, developing audiences for a craft development programme,

a chance to quiz your local entertainment journalist and also opportunities for private views and tours of interesting, recently opened or refurbished venues. However, I firmly believe the most important part of an AMA network meeting is you and the opportunity to meet and get to know people like you from your area.

Listed on the pages below are your local reps

who will be putting on more meetings in 2010. I can’t recommend popping along to a meeting highly enough; apart from being fun, they’re still a bargain at only £5. Look out for the invitations to meetings sent straight to your inbox and check the AMA website for more details and up-to-date information.

Neil ParkerFreelance Business Services Manager, AMAe neil@a-m-a.co.uk

> FEATURE

8. South West

Louisa Davison Secret Agent Marketing

Jo Dereza Audiences South West

Ros Fry West Mead Creative

9. West Midlands

Stephanie Falkiner Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Katherine Flynn DanceXchange

10. Yorkshire and Humberside

Linda Franklin Square Chapel Centre for the Arts

Kate Sanderson Indigo

11. Northern Ireland

Alice Lewis Audiences Northern Ireland

WALES12. Southern

Jodi Bennett, Welsh National Opera

Rachel Kinchin, The Riverfront

13. Mid

Rhys Thomas Fowler, Aberystwyth Arts Centre

Rachel Taylor, Aberystwyth Arts Centre

14. North

Morwenna Honan, Clwyd Theatr Cymru

SCOTLAND15. East Scotland

Alex Hinton The Audience Business

Julian Stone National Library of Scotland

16. West Scotland

Dianne Greig, Glasgow Grows Audiences

Charlotte Wilson, Glasgow Grows Audiences

17. Northern Scotland

Kirstie Anderson, GASD

AMA network meetings happen all year round, so keep your eyes peeled on your inbox and on our

website to find out what’s happening in your region. You are welcome to bring other arts professionals and colleagues who may not be members. Simply email me and I’ll reserve you (and your +1) a place.

I manage the administration of these network meetings by liaising with our member reps, ensuring they have all the materials that are distributed at the meetings, from delegate lists to evaluation forms. Filling in our evaluation forms gives you a chance to have your say, to let us know what you love about networking, or things you’d like to see in future.

JAM 38 > 13

Emma MetcalfeEvents and Services Administrator, AMAe emma@a-m-a.co.uk

14 > JAM 38

> FEATURE

What is whuffie, anyway?

An extract from The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt 1

Whuffie2 is the residual outcome – the currency – of your reputation. You lose or

gain it based on positive or negative actions, your contributions to the community, and what people think of you. The measurement of your whuffie is weighted according to your interactions with communities and individuals. So, for example, in my own neighbourhood, where I have built a strong reputation for being helpful, my whuffie is higher than when I travel to another neighbourhood where nobody knows me. There, members of that community ‘ping’ my whuffie to find out whether I can be trusted. But for me to be fully welcomed, I can’t simply use my whuffie account; I need to be helpful there as well. And I can do that, as Cory Doctorow points out in Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, in three ways: be nice, be networked, or be notable.

In this futuristic world, if you need a hotel room, a car, or fare for a ride on the bus, you will pay with your whuffie. It isn’t a card or a piece of paper; your whuffie is stored on your person and anyone can ping your internal computer to figure out how whuffie wealthy (or poor) you are.

Yes, this is an idea from science fiction. In reality, though, the importance of social capital is neither fictional nor in the future. In every online community

I’ve been part of, whuffie is a core component of connection; in many cases it is more valuable than money. Since the basis of these social networks is trust, something must determine how I value the differing opinions of the 2,000-plus ‘friends’ I have on Facebook. In online communities, a friend can’t pay me to make a certain choice or have a certain preference. That would be seen as dishonest and would damage my whuffie. Financial transactions don’t mean much of anything in the world of online communities. They work antithetically to it. Financial transactions are part of the market economy, whereas whuffie is part of the gift economy, where services are performed without need for direct payment.

In the gift economy the more you give away, the more whuffie you gain, which is completely opposite from currency in the market economy, where when you give away money, it’s pretty much gone. Saving whuffie for a rainy day doesn’t work as well as saving money for a rainy day. Whuffie

increases in value as it circulates throughout the community; for instance, when I use my whuffie to help you raise yours, there will be a net increase in whuffie for both of us. As it circulates throughout the community like this, it inherently connects people.

You may be saying to yourself, ‘Well, this is very interesting but I live in the real world! What about paying my rent? Paying my employees? Saving for retirement or sending my kids to college?’ Of course! Day to day, you still need $1.99 to buy that quart of milk, but in online communities that $1.99 won’t do you much good. We’re dealing with two parallel but valid economies here. Market capital now flows from having high social capital. For example, if you are on the job market, you are probably competing with dozens of other candidates with similar qualifications. However, having lots of social capital will put you ahead of the competition if you have good connections that can recommend you for the position (network); if you have a list of public accolades on the work you’ve done (notable); or if your references have glowing reviews of your ability to lead a team and your likeability (viewed as being nice). Having high social capital will give you access to better positions with better pay.

The same goes for your business. There is a great deal of competition

In the gift economy the more you give away, the more whuffie you gain, which is completely opposite from currency in the market economy. Whuffie increases in value as it circulates throughout the community.

JAM 38 > 15

in the marketplace. Having lots of social capital will make you stand out: you’ve really connected with many of your customers, who spread the word to their network; people talk about your product because it is notable; or you have a record of having the best customer service, and customers who have bought elsewhere now go to you because they know they’ll be treated better. Having high social capital will help you win customers and sell more product.

There are clear advantages to raising whuffie. For one, as you build whuffie, you build relationships with your customers that yield longer-term loyalty. Second, the more whuffie you have, the more people will talk about you in a positive light. The positive word of mouth carried through networks is the core advantage to involving yourself in online communities. Whuffie is also a low-cost, high-energy type of strategy, whereas buying advertising spots can be quite expensive. And although it is difficult to track the impact of, say, a billboard on the side of a building, the impact of your involvement in online communities is almost immediate. Many of the tools used to connect communities, like blogs and wikis, have direct ways to collect feedback from community members.

But the most immediate reason why raising whuffie is essential for your business is that your competitors are either doing it or thinking about doing it right now. As online communities become a stronger and stronger source of consumer information, your sales will be driven by how well you are received in those communities.

Tara HuntEntrepreneur, speaker and authore horsepigcow@gmail.com

© 2009 by Tara Hunt. Used by permission of Crown Business, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. www.crownpublishing.com

1. Tara Hunt, The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business, New York: Crown Business, 2009.

2. The term whuffie was coined by Cory Doctorow, creator of the popular blog Boing Boing, to describe social capital in his futuristic science fiction novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.

Turn the bullhorn around: stop talking and start listening.

FIVE STEPS TO BECOMING WHUFFIE RICH

Become part of the community you serve and figure out who it is you are serving. It isn’t everyone. Then get out of your office and into the community.

Be notable and create amazing experiences for your customers. It isn’t enough to design something that works. You need to design remarkable products that people love.

Embrace the chaos. Don’t overplan. Learn to be more agile and recognise everyday magic.

Find your higher purpose. Social capital only gains in value as you give it away. Figure out how you are going to give back to the community and do it … often.

16 > JAM 38

> CASE STUDY

Word-of-mouth marketing comes of age

Jo Johnson highlights the potential of online social networks as word-of-mouth channels

Back when I first started working in marketing, word of mouth (WOM) meant knowing who were the people in your

audience, the ‘influencers’, who would go forth and tell all their friends about your next concert, play, exhibition or project. You could call it the trickle effect. It was a bit of an inexact science – we all knew it worked, but there was no way to know how far your message had gone, or whether the ‘Chinese whispers’ effect had changed it beyond all recognition. And, marketing horror of horrors, there was no way to track resulting sales and ROI.

Fast forward 10 years into my career, and along comes the latest phenomenon, online social networking. Not since the invention of email has there been a more discussed topic. Depending on your point of view, it will either destroy our ability to interact with each other as a species or completely reinvent the way we live. There have been discussions up and down the country, around the world even, about whether and how companies should be using these new tools. From the many conversations I have had with colleagues in other arts organisations, there are varying degrees of certainty about taking the plunge into social media. In my mind there is no question – this is WOM for the digital age. Never before have we had instant and free access

to such a large group of engaged people. They’re positively crying out to consume your content, tell you and the world how much they loved it, hated it or want more of it. They want to re-tweet you, write a blog and link to it, and invite their friends on Facebook to experience it with them. The trickle effect is now a flood.

My estimate is that the LSO’s online social network profiles (currently Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, our tour blog and MySpace) are viewed, followed and accessed by well over 150,000 people, amassed in just two short years. As one of the main voices behind our online presence I have enjoyed many conversations and plenty of banter with our new friends. I get to hear people say some lovely things about the LSO, and I get to put things right for them if things have gone wrong. It feels a bit like winning over the world one person at a time, but when someone says that they have just bought a ticket to a concert or a CD as a result of a recommendation made on Facebook or Twitter, it’s the best feeling. And let’s not forget – they’ve not just told me that they’ve bought that ticket, but their entire network of friends as well. We marketers can literally see the trickle/flood effect in action.

But beware – there’s a fine line between engaging your followers and boring the pants off them. And it’s so easy to say the wrong thing

or respond in anger to a negative comment. Your organisation’s reputation can be destroyed online just as quickly as it is built up. It’s worth setting yourself a few rules to follow. Here’s my top … er … seven:1. Endless selling is a turn off.

This should not be all about the marketing, but about communication and relationships. Vary the messages – it’ll make the selling ones much more palatable.

2. Measure your results – but I really believe that if all you use as a measure of success is ROI then you’ve got it wrong. It’s messages like this that should spell success: ‘Been watching you on YouTube, having just recently started to get into classical music, and now I am an avid fan!’ (from Facebook, 16 January 2010).

3. Don’t drink and tweet; no swearing or nudity (particularly for players when tweeting on tour!).

4. Never court controversy or get involved in an argument from a personal point of view.

5. Always speak in the first person plural (‘we think…’), but if asked, identify yourself. Nothing worse than a faceless organisation.

6. Corporate speak is boring. Give it some personality.

7. Be polite: answer questions and take part in conversations. It doesn’t take long. Put aside a few minutes in the morning and afternoon.

Finally, what’s the next step? Is social networking a passing fad? My belief is that it is not – the names may change (although it’s hard to see Facebook failing now) but this way of communicating and the amount of openness required from us as arts organisations is here to stay. At the LSO we (partly) think of social networking as an extension of our already successful student and community ambassador schemes, whereby we mobilise a core of people to engage their own peers in the LSO’s work on their own level. What can we do next with our army of online ambassadors? Can we mobilise them en masse? For example, could we emulate some of the recent successes of the movie industry? (I urge you to check out MGM’s campaign for the film Hot Tub Time Machine – http://mashable.com/2010/01/22/hot-tub-time-machine and www.facebook.com/hottubtimemachine). We very much hope we can and it’ll be exciting to find out.

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Jo JohnsonDigital Marketing Manager, London Symphony Orchestrae jo.johnson@lso.co.uk

Readership of original tweet and Facebook status: 17,987 (7,498 + 10,489)

Clicks on the link to the 2010–11 season overview on the LSO website: 404Re-tweets: @sako0321 – 282 followers@londonist – 7,851 followers@artstamers – 844 followers@wheresrunnicles – 550 followers@LDNstudent – 602 followers@bowers_wilkins – 1,659 followers@donatocabrera – 314 followers@bachtrack – 1,277 followers@thefirstpint – 94 followers@philipvenables – 21 followers

Reactions:@annahill – 583 followers@maggiz – 114 followers @philipvenables – 21 followers: ‘LOVE Sergey Khachatryan ... will definitely be booking for that. Pity it’s not the 1st conc. But 2nd good too!’ @wheresrunnicles – 550 followers: ‘Excellent, my tickets to hear @londonsymphony do Elgar’s The Kingdom with Elder in a year and six days time are sorted. Can’t wait.’ @petesingleton – 80 followers: ‘Ordered my LSO tickets for 2010–11. So many Tuesday concerts! I can’t go on Tuesdays, so remember this for 2011–12 season ;) hehe’ @tommypearson – 305 followers: ‘Huge congrats to @londonsymphony for putting the 2010–11 season on sale today. I know how much hard work goes into it.’ @richbs – 195 followers: ‘Just booked tickets for a @londonsymphony concert in June 2011. Can’t wait! 6 other concerts booked too.’@altclassicalmusic – 131 followers @beccaviola – 45 followers: ‘OMG, Beet 9 sold out already! Wow. Looks like a great year.’ @benanial – 168 followers: ‘Fantastic line up! Did I happen to see just the solitary concert with a certain Sir Simon Rattle??!!’

Facebook:• 12,155impressions• 24likes• 6comments

To sum this up:• 1message=46,000+traceablesightings• Timetaken:about2minutes• Moneyspent:£0.00• ROI:directonlineincomefromsocialnetworksistraceableinGoogle

Analytics, and don’t forget all those that saw the link and then entered the website via a different route later on …

An example from LSO’s Twitter feed

We pronounce the 2010/11 season offically ON SALE!http://bit.ly/6wbKjj9.50 AM Jan 25th from Web

18 > JAM 38

Ozoda Muminova illustrates the Guardian’s research into how word of mouth works

Word of mouth is a very big topic at the moment, and one that is being discussed, explored,

researched and written about across the media world. It is not surprising: most of us often see reviews and recommendations by like-minded people as more credible than marketer-initiated communications. And the technology-fuelled rise in the number of communications channels, from good old email and message boards to social networks, micro-blogging and mobile social apps, has made word of mouth more widespread, long lasting and powerful than ever before.

Art in all its forms, from cave drawings to contemporary dance, from theatre plays to musicals, from street graffiti to cinema, has always had immense and enduring talkability value. Art keeps people energised through the week, prompting them to keep thinking about, discussing and recommending what they have seen, experienced or read. Art is a neutral, yet exciting conversation topic for all, whether that be people who know each other well or less so, at a dinner party or on a blog. In short, art provides a vast platform for conversations and has the power to unify diverse groups of people around it. Consumer surveys support this: for instance, the top reason US audiences cite when asked how they heard about an arts offering is ‘from a friend’, and 90% of UK internet users are influenced by word of mouth in their choice of which film to see at the cinema.

Some of the biggest recent successes in the area of word-of-mouth marketing have come from the arts and entertainment sector.

Think of The Blair Witch Project, which through word of mouth was elevated from a low-budget film to $248 million blockbuster in 1999. In 2005 the Arctic Monkeys have gone from being a cool local band promoted by their fans via the internet to a major act, with their Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not becoming the fastest-selling debut rock release ever, eclipsing Oasis’ Definitely Maybe. Most recently, Trilogy has become somewhat of a phenomenon by growing from an experimental piece to a sell-out performance at The Barbican. And who can forget Rage Against the Machine’s UK Christmas no. 1, which they achieved with no money spent, thanks to an extraordinary underground campaign by a social network group.

Another example of such luck is when Stephen Fry’s recommendation of David Eagleman’s book Sum on Twitter resulted in the book selling 16,000 copies in the following month. Serendipity aside, how can arts marketers find the voices that are passionate about the arts, who are trusted by the others and encourage them to share their experiences of arts and entertainment with people in their networks?

At Guardian News and Media’s Customer Insight department we have carried out research into influence, idea propagation and word of mouth, in partnership with Crowd DNA and BMRB. The study combines existing theory with a new piece of qualitative and quantitative research, including interviews with an expert panel of academics and practitioners in the field of word of mouth, including Steve Barton of agency Advokator (the President of WOM UK at the time

of the research) and Anna Rafferty, Digital Marketing Director at the Pearson/Penguin Group who, as an early proponent of word of mouth, launched Penguin’s social network Spinebreakers.

We found that the core of what makes a person influential consists of:• Weak Ties, or groups of contacts

that are not close friends or family. Having an abundance of Weak Ties gives an individual access to new sources of information and the ability to spread that information widely.

• Bridging Capital, or ability to contextualise information and share it in a more persuasive manner. Bridging Capital enables influencers to package information up in a way that makes it easier for other people to take it on board.

• Status Bargain, or ability to listen to a range of opinions and modify one’s own. Status Bargain helps the influencer to make more informed and trusted recommendations based on a range of opinions.

When combined these factors allow people to access and spread ideas and opinions faster and more persuasively than others.

The core of influence

> FEATURE

Talking about the arts

WEAK TIES

STATUSBARGAIN

BRIDGING CAPITAL

The next step was to test our thinking against real incidents of word of mouth through a network audit. We interviewed 350 people in 10 different networks, and it became clear that Weak Ties, Bridging Capital and Status Bargain were prominent in individuals that others in their networks characterised as ‘influential’. It also appeared that readers of the Guardian and Observer (both online and offline) scored more highly against these characteristics than the average.

In order to measure the three traits of influential people, we carried out quantitative research, which looked at a set of measurable characteristics known by the acronym ACTIVE (first introduced by Emanuel Rosen in his book The Anatomy of Buzz1), which are evident in higher incidence among influential people:

• Aheadinadoption• Connected• Traveller• InformationHungry• Vocal• Exposedtomedia.

In order to measure ACTIVE we conducted a quantitative survey of a nationally representative sample of more than 1,000 people in Britain. We found that ACTIVE was an accurate measure of Weak Ties, Bridging Capital and Status Bargain.

A key output of the research is our word-of-mouth database. With results fused to TGI, it is a practical communications planning tool that can be used to both identify and understand those influential in word of mouth.When it comes to the arts sector,

the research helped us prove what we suspected all along: on average people who are interested in the arts tend to be more influential. Those who go to various arts events index higher than the average British adult on all three traits that define influential people: they have above the average number of Weak Ties, a greater degree of Bridging Capital and are more likely to engage in Status Bargain. They also score highly on all elements of ACTIVE.

We have also learnt that those interested in the arts were more attuned to both passing and receiving information. For instance, 86% of people who attend contemporary dance performances share information on products and services with Weak Ties compared with the average of 79%, and 27% of them share information with people they have never met face to face compared with the average of 19%; 100% of pop or rock concert goers are influenced by other people when it comes to making decisions, and 76% of them are influenced by the things they read online compared to the average of 61%.

Undoubtedly word of mouth can be a powerful technique when it comes to marketing the arts, and it is worth mentioning some techniques that can maximise its impact:

• ‘seeding’afilm,performance,book or exhibition among influential people who are arts enthusiasts

• harnessingmembershipclubsby organising special events, previews, discussions and also

online networks, thus enabling a platform for information sharing

• encouragingpeopletopass word of mouth through viral marketing techniques

• creatingandstrengtheningbrandsto make advocacy more natural.

It is also crucial to remember that word of mouth does not exist in isolation. Influencers are big consumers of media, from which they source information and draw inspiration. Advertising can therefore be used successfully to contribute to or stimulate word of mouth. However, as well as being bold with advertising messages and brand positioning to achieve high talkability, it is important to identify media that reach individuals with the traits and ability to be influential and spread messages. Engaging, trustworthy, high quality media environments provide an ideal springboard for influencing the influencers.

For more information, visit www.adinfo-guardian.co.uk/wom

JAM 38 > 19

Ozoda MuminovaPlanner, Customer Insight, Guardian News and Mediae ozoda.muminova@guardian.co.uk

1. Emanuel Rosen, 2000. The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing. Doubleday/Currency.

Pop/rock concerts

Theatre

Jazz concerts

Average British adult

Classical music concerts

Contemporary dance

Art galleries

The core of influence by index (index for the average British adult = 100)

115

127

110

114

128

121

113

131

113

118

129 129

116

122120

114

126 125

100 100 100

130

120

110

100

90

80Above average Weak Ties Bridging Capital Status Bargain

20 > JAM 38

> CASE STUDY> CASE STUDY

The bloggers who came in from the cold

Eleanor Appleby shares how the V&A used online word-of-mouth marketing to reach a new audience for its Cold War Modern exhibition

The V&A’s major exhibition in autumn 2008 was Cold War Modern 1945–1970. It was the first exhibition to examine

contemporary design, architecture, film and popular culture on both sides of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War era.

Over 300 exhibits were on display, from a Sputnik and an Apollo Mission space suit to films by Stanley Kubrick, paintings by Robert Rauschenberg and Gerhard Richter, fashion by Paco Rabanne, designs by Charles and Ray Eames and Dieter Rams, architecture by Le Corbusier, Richard Buckminster Fuller and Archigram, and vehicles including a Messerschmitt microcar. The exhibition also explored how scientific advances during the Cold War inspired much of today’s cutting-edge technology from iPhones to the internet. As a consequence we were very keen to engage 26–45 year olds, particularly those with an interest in the internet, technology and science fiction.

In order to reach that audience, we wanted to create an online buzz around the show, sparking interest in an engaging and intriguing way. This

led to us to commission 1000heads, a word-of-mouth agency, to come up with a campaign that would entice a network of design-savvy bloggers to write about the exhibition. 1000heads undertook the planning and execution of the campaign, identifying suitable bloggers, developing and placing the digital and real-world clues, and tracking the resulting online activity.

The subject of the exhibition offered the perfect opportunity to work creatively with themes of espionage and coded communications. Over a period of a month, selected bloggers received instructions through covert coded email messages from the 7th Syndikate – a pseudonym set up by 1000heads especially for the campaign. The ‘secret agents’ who cracked the codes and solved the clues followed a trail that invited them to a secret rendezvous at the Albert Memorial in South Kensington, where they discovered what the trail was all about and were led to an exclusive after-hours preview of Cold War Modern. As they went along, many of the participants discussed the mystery in their blogs and on Facebook, and on the night of the reveal proceeded

The ‘secret agents’ who cracked the codes and solved the clues followed a trail that invited them to a secret rendezvous at the Albert Memorial in South Kensington, where they discovered what the trail was all about and were led to an exclusive after-hours preview of Cold War Modern.

JAM 38 > 21

to review the exhibition and also the word-of-mouth campaign itself. One blogger posted: ‘I thought I’d worked out what was going on, but in the end it came as a complete surprise. I couldn’t believe it when we ended up at the V&A. They really had me fooled.’

We always have very strong visual identities for our exhibitions and the word-of-mouth campaign was linked to the rest of the Cold War Modern campaign through the same colour scheme (in fact it was one of the things that enabled some people to crack the mystery). Links were also made with wording and images: as well as traditional exhibition postcards, we distributed business cards with cryptic ‘spy’ messages and used similar messages in the clues, along with visual and verbal references to objects in the exhibition which keen participants could track down on our exhibition microsite.

Our marketing objectives for the whole exhibition campaign were to not only bring in visitors to the exhibition, but also to further enhance the V&A’s reputation as a contemporary and accessible institution and an inspirational leader

in its field. The word-of-mouth campaign was very successful on both counts – over 30 bloggers cracked the clues, turned up to the preview and proceeded to post online reviews of the exhibition. The exhibition was mentioned in 50 different online ‘venues’ and there were 328 separate posts about it – giving a total of 90,000 trackable engagements (the amount of hits on the webpages where it was discussed), so we know we definitely raised awareness: 13% of actual visitors to the exhibition said they heard about it through a website or blog – a very good result comparable with other media such as advertising. An additional benefit was that, having built a relationship with a new group of influencers, we were able to maintain it by inviting them to previews of future exhibitions.

The bloggers really engaged with this intriguing and personal approach. One blogger posted: ‘What a fantastic way to organise a preview! I have never taken part in such a thing before, and was hooked from the very start. It’s certainly effective, and will get more attention than a simple spam email promoting the event.’

Another real bonus was the way it enhanced the V&A’s reputation, showing that we are innovative and experimental: ‘It’s great that the V&A entered into the Cold War spirit by running such a cool campaign’ posted another blogger after the event. ‘A really good campaign and great exhibition, I highly recommend seeing it!’ said another.

Best review and full details of the mystery: http://bit.ly/b5AW8C

Other reviews:• http://bit.ly/btzWA6• http://bit.ly/cK3DFf• http://bit.ly/cPuotn• http://bit.ly/cNEn5G• http://bit.ly/90mfEy

Eleanor ApplebyMarketing Manager, Victoria and Albert Museume e.appleby@vam.ac.uk

> MARKETING TOP TIPS

22 > JAM 38

Honesty of relationship1. Do we insist that our advocates

always disclose their relationship with us – including all forms of compensation, incentives or samples?

Honesty of opinion2. Do we insist that all opinions

shared with the public express the honest and authentic opinion of the consumer or advocate without manipulation or falsification?

3. Are those individuals who are speaking for us free to form their own opinions and share all feedback, including negative feedback?

4. Is all of the information provided to advocates, consumers and the media factual and honest, and are all of our claims accurate?

Honesty of identity5. Have we repudiated and forbidden

all forms of shill, stealth and undercover marketing?

6. Does everyone working on our behalf use their true identity and disclose their affiliation with our company and agencies?

7. Do we forbid the blurring of identification in ways that might confuse or mislead consumers as to the true identity of the

individuals with whom they are communicating?

8. Do we forbid the use of expressly deceptive practices from our employees/advocates, such as impersonating consumers; concealing their true identities; or lying about factors such as age, gender, race, familiarity with or use of product, or other circumstances intended to enhance the credibility of the advocate while deliberately misleading the public?

Taking responsibility9. If we use agents or volunteers

of any sort, do we actively instruct them in ethical practices and behaviours and insist that all of those working under our instructions similarly comply with this standard?

10. Do we instruct all advocates to repeat these instructions and responsibilities in the downstream conversation?

11. Do we have a plan to monitor any inappropriate word of mouth generated by our advocates?

12. Do we know how we will correct any inappropriate or unethical word of mouth done by volunteers or resulting from actions taken by us?

13. Do we insist that campaign organisers disclose their involvement when asked by consumers or the media and provide contact information upon request?

Respecting the rules14. Do we respect and honour the

rules of any media we might use, including all such procedures and stipulations as may be deemed appropriate by specific websites, blogs, discussion forums, traditional media or live events? (Examples of actions that break the rules: violating the terms

of service of any online site, spamming, violating privacy rules, or defacing public property.)

15. Do we prohibit all word-of-mouth programmes involving children aged 13 and younger?

16. If our campaign involves communicating with or influencing minors aged 14 to 17, do we (a) have mechanisms in place to protect the interests of those teens, and (b) have parental notification mechanisms in place, where appropriate?

When hiring an agency17. Does the agency subscribe to the

same high standards of ethical behaviour and practice, and are they willing to guarantee the ethics of their own work as well as that of all subcontractors?

18. Do they have reporting and operational review procedures in place permitting us to ensure full compliance with all ethical standards?

19. Have they previously engaged in unethical practices?

20. If they have ever engaged in such practices in the past, do they now prohibit them, and will they guarantee that they will not use employees who have engaged in fraudulent practices to work on our behalf?

MARKETING TOP TIPS20 questions for an ethical assessment

Source: Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA)http://womma.org/ethics/assessment/20

• Askthesequestionsbeforelaunching any word-of-mouth marketing campaign.

• Getanswersfromyouragencies and vendors, as well as from their subcontractors.

• Thinkabouttheriskstoyourreputation before you cross any ethical lines.

Remember: consumers come first, honesty isn’t optional, and deception is always exposed.

As an extra measure of assurance, ask yourself …• WouldIbeuncomfortable

if my family or friends were involved in this campaign?

• Isthereanythingaboutthiscampaign that we would be embarrassed to discuss publicly?

> RESOURCES

JAM 38 > 23

Guidance and ideas for your arts ambassador programme: www.artsambassadorresource.com

Findings of the Guardian and the Observer word-of-mouth research: www.adinfo-guardian.co.uk/wom

John Grant, Co-opportunity: Join Up for a Sustainable, Resilient, Prosperous World, John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

Tara Hunt, The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business, New York: Crown Business, 2009.

Emanuel Rosen, The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing, Doubleday/Currency, 2000.

Word of Mouth Marketing Association: http://womma.org/

Advertise in JAMPromote your organisation or your professional services to over 2,000 arts professionals and industry leaders in the UK and internationally.Place an advert here for as little as £150 + VAT (1/8 page advert on single issue) or enclose an insert for just £250 + VAT.

For the full price list and to get a quote email andrea@a-m-a.co.uk

Resources

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24 > JAM 38

ADVERTORIAL

Having boldly declared in the last issue of JAM that it’s us arts marketers who should take the lead on sustainability, it seemed only right to go one step further this time

and share some practical next steps with you all.Over the last year and a half of writing these

pieces, I’ve become more convinced than ever of the business and ethical case for a sustainable approach to marketing and audience engagement.

For instance by the time this article sees print we’ll have invested well over £60k into improving our own environmental management practices. A significant sum for a company our size, but one that is already returning benefits to us in terms of cutting our real-world mileage, fuel use and building connections with new people and organisations.

Set up an action groupAs communications specialists, us marketers are well placed to take the lead here, but that doesn’t mean we have to work alone.

London Calling’s own eco-group has been great for building cross-departmental connections and sharing information. A process that green marketing expert John Grant calls ‘Co-opportunity’, and funnily enough he’s recently released a book on just that theme, so you should probably all go read it.

One more thought: there’s no rule that says a group has to be just for staff. Why not look for new partners such as artists, educators, community leaders or friends from your own member lists?

Look for publicly visible opportunitiesI believe there’s a direct and demonstrable link between many arts attendees and those most active in pursuing a sustainable lifestyle.

Can you install recycling points in your front-of-house space? What about organic and fair-trade products in your café or bar, or new product lines in

the gift shop? It’s not just food that benefits from being locally sourced.

Green your print to the highest standardSwitching to sustainable print stocks and vegetable inks is not only a bold and visible statement of intent for staff and audiences alike, it’s also one of the easiest to put into action.

We never tire of saying that print production doesn’t have to cost the Earth, and if you’re looking for a professional second opinion we’d like to recommend our production partners who’ve brought you this copy of JAM. Please do call Greenhouse Print on 01702 546 495, and don’t forget to say London Calling sent you.

Challenge your suppliersNot every aspect of environmental management is super-sexy, but it is important you know the facts.

There are plenty of companies out there happy to jump aboard the green bandwagon, but when the price of entry is a quick credit card call for a cut-price carbon neutral sticker, wouldn’t you rather know you’re working with companies committed to delivering real-world change in their own business, not simply offsetting the responsibility elsewhere?

Know what your audience is thinkingAnd finally a direct plug for our exclusive licence to provide Experian’s Green Aware audience profile reports.

Mosaic profiling has become a touchstone for the arts in the past five years, and it’s probably easiest to think of Green Aware as a version of Mosaic for understanding how consumers are interacting with issues like climate change and sustainable lifestyle choices.

Knowing more about the green aspirations of your audience can help influence your own sustainable commitment and, where needed, provide a business case for change.

Your green action plan: simple steps that won’t cost the Earth

Let us know what you think about this and other topics on Have your say at www.a-m-a.co.uk

Tom HunterSales and Marketing Director, London Callinge tom@londoncalling.com w www.londoncalling.com