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WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING IS CHANNEL OF CHOICE
Pinnacle Worldwide launches Practice Group to help clients cut through clutter
MIAMI - JUNE 21, 2005 - Members of Pinnacle Worldwide, an international corporation of independently owned public relations firms, have launched a Word-Of-Mouth (WOM) Practice Group. Recognizing that marketers need to integrate word-of-mouth to increase the efficiency of traditional marketing, the Pinnacle WOM Practice Group will help clients cut through a media-saturated marketplace by leveraging their most loyal customers and influencers to extend the brand, as well as to reach and communicate with new customers and prospects.
Today, people increasingly are turning to their own networks for information about products, services, resources and information. This vetting process makes WOM the only channel that actually reduces information overload. In fact, studies show that a recommendation from a trusted source is now valued two times more than advertising. Knowing how to identify those trusted people, activate them as a WOM channel and measure their impact is key to securing a product or service’s continued and/or future success. Great WOM is a cost-effective, micro-marketing technique that reaches people in their natural social networks.
The task force for Pinnacle Worldwide, chaired by Kathy Baughman of HLB Communications and a partner in Com-Blu in Chicago, Ill., has met for months to develop a process for clients to leverage word-of-mouth marketing. Seventeen representatives from Pinnacle member firms met last week in St. Louis to finalize the WOM practice group.
“Pinnacle Worldwide firms around the world serve a wide cross-section of industries and markets. This breadth and depth helps us quickly identify strategies and deliver results for those clients who want to keep pace with a word-of-mouth marketing approach,” Ronald Hanser, President of Pinnacle Worldwide, said.
Charter firms participating in the WOM practice group include Allison & Partners, San Francisco; Coles Public Relations, Indianapolis; Conkling, Fiskum & McCormick, Portland; Hanser & Associates, Des Moines; HLB Communications, Inc. and Com-Blu, Chicago; The Vandiver Group, Inc., St. Louis; and Wragg & Casas Public Relations, Inc., Miami.
“Com-Blu, The Vandiver Group, Inc. and Conkling, Fiskum & McCormick are charter members of WOMMA -- the Word-Of-Mouth Marketing Association. We know from our discussions with other WOMMA members that the process we have developed is one of the deepest offerings in the marketplace,” Kathy Baughman said.
“We were looking for a process that would be predictive, sustainable and measurable, and we have that,” Donna Vandiver, President & CEO of The Vandiver Group, added.
ABOUT PINNACLE WORLDWIDE
Pinnacle Worldwide, Inc. is an international corporation of independently owned public relations firms with offices in 55 major cities in 30 countries. Its members develop and implement strategic communications plans that affect audiences on both a regional and a global scale. For more information about WOM marketing and Pinnacle Worldwide’s Practice Group call Kathy Baughman at Com-Blu at 312-649-0371 or Donna Vandiver at TVG at 314-991-4641.