Lessons learned from building
Word of Mouth Movements
Geno Church I Social Media Business Forum
October 23 Durham, NC
@genochurch

What
is your
Purpose?

Everything you’ve
heard today is
complete and total
CRAP

unless you have a
strategy behind it.

I’m a…
Social Media
Agnostic.

Is this your SM strategy?
1. Listen
2. Blogger outreach
3. Twitter
4. Facebook Fan page

PEOPLE
TRUST
PEOPLE

We need to use our BRAND AMBASSDORS
so they can get some VIRAL BUZZ and our
COMMUNITY INFLUENCERS can EVANGELIZE
the PRODUCT SEEDING and create some
SOCIAL MEDIA about it. Then we’ll TWEET
about it and update our FACEBOOK status.

I’m sorry, but WTF?

It’s the TACTICS
that are bogging
us down.

JUST MAKE
PEOPLE TALK
ABOUT US
DAMIT!

Why are we so
darn concerned
about creating
a conversation?

NO!IF YOU
BUILD IT
WE WON’T
COME!

90%
OF WOMM HAPPENS
OFFLINE
75% FACE TO FACE
15% VOICE TO VOICE
7% EMAIL /TEXTING
2.5% SOCIAL MEDIA

FIND THE
MOTIVATION!
why are your customers
MOTIVATED to
PARTICIPATE and SHARE?

PEOPLE
ARE THE
KILLER
APP.

WE WANT PEOPLE TO
DO MORE THAN JUST
TALK ABOUT US.
FIGHT
FOR US!

REFRAME the
CONVERSATION.

And the TACTICS will come.

MOVEMENTS Elevate and empower
people to unite a community
around a common cause, passion,
company, brand or organization

GIVE PEOPLE THE
POWER TO CRANK IT
PARTICIPATE
UP
EVANGELIZE
SHARE
OWNERSHIP

10 Lessons Learned Igniting
Brand Ambassador Movements

CHALLENGES:
• Fiskars was seen as the “milk and
saltine crackers” of their industry.
• Bland and not memorable.
• Internal skepticism that brand could stand for
something more than orange-handled scissors.

1: Movements
are built on
passion

THE PASSION CONVERSATION:
Reframe the conversation from about scissors to about people
celebrating their creativity and sharing their personal lives
with each other.
Create and support a positive blog community, supported by Fiskars.
A community led not by the best technical scrapbookers,
but by the most passionate.
Empower the community to collaborate with Fiskars, share ideas,
and spread the love.

2: Movements
begin with the
first conversation

3: Movements
have inspirational
leadership

4: Movements
have a barrier
to entry
INVITE
ONLY!

5: Movements
empower people
with knowledge

6: Movements
encourage
ownership

When someone has a
problem with a product
on another website,
or at a craft event.
Fiskateers explain the
proper way to use them.

7: Movements
have powerful
identities

We’ve got your
number!
Love your
fanatics

8: Movements
live online
and offline

9: Movements
make advocates
feel like rockstars

10: Movements
get results

FISKATEERS SUCCESS:
• Less than 24 hours after allowing Fiskateers to be invited in,
we had reached our original six-month goal of 200 members.
• 600% increase in online conversations calling Fiskars by name
in first year of the movement.
• 1,800+ active and engaged Fiskateers within the first
12 months.
• Visitors to the site from 50 countries, and members from all 50
U.S. States as well as Canada, Australia, South Africa, the
United Kingdom, New Zealand, and other countries.
• In Q1 2007, stores that had a visit from a lead Fiskateer
experienced 3 times the sales growth of other stores.
(source: FISKARS sales dept)
• Currently 7,500+ members; 83% increase in membership
from 2007-2008.
• 85% of Fiskateers are highly likely to recommend Fiskars.
57% say they recommend Fiskars all the time. (source: 2008 Annual
survey)

PRODUCT INNOVATION:
• Fiskars’ product development engineers host live chats
with the Fiskateers.
• 26 online surveys to gather input and ideas in 2008 alone.
• Idea engine on site where Fiskateers can make
suggestions, and rate each others’ ideas.
• 30% community response rate for product surveys.
• Average 13 new product ideas per month.
• In 2008, Fiskateers named 12 new ink colors, Fiskars’ new
squeeze punches, and helped the Fiskars engineers redesign
4 paper trimmers and other products set to launch in 2009.

BEST BUY | AMPLIFYING THE MUSIC INSIDE

Within each of us there is a song waiting to be let out.
Celebrated. Amplified. Whether you are 8 or 80. Looking
to perform for thousands or just your girlfriend. Whether
you are a beginner or a guitar God. The song should be
played. You feel the power of the music inside.

Cheat Sheet:
Why do people tell stories?
• Support A Cause
• Enable an Experience
• Ethos of a Brand

Is your BRAND ethos
made of STORIES
or ADS?

We’re building
BRAND ETHOS
not EGO.

BE FAMOUS
FOR THE PEOPLE
WHO LOVE YOU
FOR THE WAY
YOU LOVE THEM
MAKE THE COMMITMENT

Geno Church
Brains on Fire
brainsonfire.com
e: genoc@brainsonfire.com
twitter: genochurch
p: 864.676.9663
business is good.

“Everyone will be
famous for 15 minutes”
– Andy Warhol

The Social Media See-Saw

Advice from my community
Rule #1 There is no privacy act in
a home you pay for. Translation -
don't let children run your
home or tech within.

Rule #2 Let your children
know they are so important
to you that you will do
whatever it takes to keep
them safe!

Rule #3 Get support
from other engaged
and embattled parents.

Rule #4 Tell your
children the awful, dirty,
messy truth... all the time.
It will help them later
develop a BS forcefield!

Rule #5 What’s your
fire escape plan. Now think
Social Media. What’s my
ladder, rope, window, route?

Do your Research

Teach your kids

Check-In

It’s not HOW
you do it.
The Killer App
is YOU and what
YOU do with it.