Ken McCarthy’s latest blog post titled “word of mouth marketing dynamics” is reprinted here. [Blog Post print]


Ken McCarthy’s latest blog post is reprinted here.

word of mouth marketing dynamics

A study soon to be published by the International Journal of Research and Marketing confirms it: Businesses with positive word of mouth grow faster than their competitors.

Today with the over-abundance of marketing messages, what friends and neighbors say about a product carries more weight than ever. The Internet makes such exchanges easier and more impactful than ever.
Some interesting comments from a 6/28 Financial Times article on this subject:

1. Positive word-of-mouth is more common than negative word-of-mouth
2. However, when negative word-of-mouth does get going it can spread rapidly and very destructively. (Remember what happened to the Krypotonite lock when it was revealed via an Internet video that it could be “picked” with a ballpoint pen?)

Here’s the take away from the article:

Paul Mardsen of ClickAdvisor.com says that working to cut the level of negative comment about a product has almost TRIPLE the impact on sales as the same investment made to foster positive word of mouth.


     Ken McCarthy

Ken McCarthy organized and sponsored the first conference ever held on the subject of the commercial potential of the World Wide Web. His company Amacord Inc., formerly E-Media, was one of the first Internet-based businesses in the world.

In addition to working with small and mid-sized business clients since 1993, McCarthy was a consultant to NEC’s Biglobe, the largest online service in Japan, from 1996 to 2001. His book The Internet Business Manual was the first book on web entrepreneurship published in that country. He is also credited by Hotwired magazine with being one of the people responsible for the development and popularization of the banner ad, one of the key underpinnings of commercial Internet publishing.

A graduate of Princeton University, McCarthy came to the Internet industry with a varied background which included technical consulting for two of New York’s top investment banks, lecturing on educational psychology at MIT, Columbia, and NYU, and founding and operating a number of small businesses, including one that helped produce an Academy Award winning documentary. Ken McCarthy is associated with the following blogs: Ken McCarthy’s Blog, System Video Blog and Internet Video Marketing Letter

*IMNewswatch would like to thank Ken McCarthy for granting permission to reprint the latest blog posts.

Sharing is caring