WOMMA!

NPH feels like he's on a blogorific soap box here. We also feel like we're way behind and flailing to get caught up on cultural happenings. Few interest us more than word-of-mouth marketing (or "stealth" or "guerilla" marketing).

The Sacramento Bee story linked in the last post made mention of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). This is an organization dedicated to honing the craft of stealth marketing. The banner on their website reads, "We're the companies pioneering the art and science of amplifying genuine consumer enthusiasm."

Two things: first, stealth marketing is both an "art" and a "science." Which means that there are dedicated clusters of artists and scientists out there who's highest aim is to sell things to the citizenry without the citizenry knowing it.

Second, that guerilla marketing is simply a process of "amplifying genuine consumer enthusiasm." Word of mouth marketing is not about "amplifying" existing enthusiasm any more than political propaganda simply amplifies a country's already-existing sentiments. That there is a need for actually creating the enthusiasm in the first place can't be denied. And that manufactured enthusiasm is less-than-"genuine", well isn't that obvious?

NPH has subscribed to the RSS feed of the WOMMA's website. We're looking forward to reading the detailed accounts of viral marketing--how people train for it, how it's done, and how consumers are assumed to be too dumb to figure it out.

We'll keep you posted.