Chapter Reference

Chapter 10: Principles of Marketing Communications

Overview

This activity will help you to earn more about the importance of word-of-mouth in contemporary advertising.

Activity

Today, organizations actively manage word-of-mouth communications to generate positive comments and as a way of differentiating themselves in the market. Viral marketing or ‘word-of-mouse’ communication is an electronic version of the spoken endorsement of an offering.  Toyota Camry has been popular in the US for 13 years. However, it receives a reputation for being boring. People saw buying a Camry as a rational, economic decision — not necessarily an exciting experience worth telling a friend about. So to turn that attitude around, Toyota’s social team created a campaign to promote the car’s ‘bold new’ redesign. They relied on personalized content, spreading the word through influencers, and hitting on some sharing habits customers already have.

Go and have a look at the following video, which is a presentation by Toyota’s Director of Social Media. How does this kind of interactivity appeal to the user and create more brand interest from users?

Visit the following website:

http://wordofmouth.org/blog/video-how-toyota-turned-around-word-of-mouth-about-their-boring-camry/