Can we still all trust one another?

[John Russell]

I read a disturbing report in today's newspaper about a new marketing trend in the U.S.
Hundreds of thousands of ordinary consumers are being recruited for word of mouth marketing - some call it guerilla and stealth marketing.
As a reward for recommending certain products they receive free samples or take part in draws for prizes.
So, caveat emptor and try before you buy!
That said, there are several regular contributors to this forum, from whose knowledge we can all learn and profit.
BTW, I will be visiting Photokina next month and shall try and give a report on the birding optics on show. I trust everyone will take the impressions with a grain of salt ;-) !

John

[Tero]

You mean spam? We get spammers on all message boards. They come and leave 1 message plugging some movie or product. Easy to spot. Is that what they were referring to?

[hornet]

You mean spam? We get spammers on all message boards. They come and leave 1 message plugging some movie or product. Easy to spot. Is that what they were referring to?

Sadly that's at the amateur end of the scale. As you say, easy to spot, and easy to ignore.

At the other end of the scale are very professional set-ups where people are assuming long term personas in key online locations ie Birdforum. That way they can build credibility as members and apply their 'recommendations' much more discreetly.

The ethical way for manufacturers to engage with customers via forums is openly and honestly - the chap from Paramo who recently signed up has got it spot on, and I think there's another member who works for Minox.

There's one or two postings I can think of over the last year or so that have made me raise an eyebrow in mild scepticism, but if they're good enough at this, we'll never be able to prove anything.

Let 'try before you buy' be our mantra for evermore (and therefore, 'support your specialist retailer' - and no, I don't work for one!)

[Otto McDiesel]

You mean spam? We get spammers on all message boards. They come and leave 1 message plugging some movie or product. Easy to spot. Is that what they were referring to?

He refers to verbal communication. You talk to someone, and they tell you about products and stuff in a subtle way.

[hornet]

He refers to verbal communication. You talk to someone, and they tell you about products and stuff in a subtle way.

Word-of-mouth marketing inevitably infiltrates non-verbal communication,such as forums, yahoo groups, wiki environments, blogs etc.

Anywhere people express genuine views could also easily have people expressing commercially-biased views in this way. Perhaps not a huge problem now, but set to grow according to most marketing authorities.

[FrankD]

nywhere people express genuine views could also easily have people expressing commercially-biased views in this way. Perhaps not a huge problem now, but set to grow according to most marketing authorities.

I know that of which he speaks. I visit other outdoor activity related forums and this type of behavior is much more prominent there. In many cases forum members may post quite often and may show their intelligence regarding the subject matter. At that point they may be "recruited" to represent a certain manufacturer in exchange for demo merchandise. I have not read the article in question but I can verify that it is becoming more and more common.

[g8ina]

Im a member of over 15 forums, and this is the first Ive heard of this !!

I'll keep em peeled though, thanks.

[Jos Stratford]

If Leica or Canon, or any other optics companies come to that, wish to give me their latest offering, I'll happy spout how great they are over these here pages (so should I ever become strangely attacked to some particular company, don't say I hadn't warned you). ;)

[birdpotter]

If the person in question honestly can stand by a company's product, maybe it isn't so bad...I have a feeling, though, that there are those out there who will do it for a quick fix, free stuff or the like.
Man, this blows. What is this world coming to, when word of mouth has to be paid for?

[notnormal]

It's nothing new as product endorsement has been going on for a long time. Advertizers pay celebrities all the time to promote their products. If they choose to start paying ordinary people than so be it.

Like hornet said "Let 'try before you buy' be our mantra for evermore". I'll consider the views of several posters, but also judge the products for myself via first hand experience.

[John Russell]

[QUOTE=notnormal]It's nothing new as product endorsement has been going on for a long time. Advertizers pay celebrities all the time to promote their products. If they choose to start paying ordinary people than so be it.

Yes, the subtle difference though is that the consumer KNOWS the celebrity is being paid for his endorsement.