Given the ongoing debate around the blogs and social networking communities about measurement and results, thought Wharton's recently released story "The BuzzStarts Here: Finding the First Mouth for word-of-mouth marketing".
They find that social networks (not necessarily the online kind...but social networks in general) impact contagion and spread of word of mouth.
The other interesting take away is the "who" underpinning successful word of mouth is crucial for success and not always who we think it is, or should be. The person contributing to success is not always the self proclaimed or even traditionally thought of "leader" in a particular field. In this particular case study Wharton professors found the "leader" underpinning real uptake for market success was actually an individual who connected across the various communities and was known amongst his peers for doing really solid work. ....a sociometric leader is what they call it
In fact, he was not considered by the industry or himself as an opinion leader.....But that is what he was doing, very effectively. And therein lies the rub, right?
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