Fizz

Consider the following:
 

• Percentage of Americans who trust recommendations from friends and family more than all other forms of marketing: 92 (Nielsen)
• Amount spent on TV advertising last year: $63.8 billion (PwC)
• Percentage of large companies who describe word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) as a major spending category: 17 (AMA/WOMMA)
• Top obstacles to pursuing WOMM, according to marketing executives: difficulty measuring offline WOM; difficulty showing return on investment; lack of understanding about WOMM (AMA/WOMMA)

 
Here to make sense of the promise–and navigate the pitfalls–of WOMM is Ted Wright, a WOMM pioneer and author of Fizz: Harnessing the Power of Word of Mouth Marketing to Drive Brand Growth (McGraw-Hill; hardcover; November 11, 2014). In it, he offers a replicable and remarkably consistent method for using conversations between consumers to sell product in a world where traditional advertising is dead.
 
Wright has been at the forefront of WOMM since he helped reignite the Pabst Blue Ribbon brand in 2001. After 23 straight years of declining sales, PBR experienced combined annual growth of 55% by 2006 as a direct result of the WOMM program. Wright thought he just got lucky. But then he did it again. And again. If you've ridden an Italian scooter in Asia, bought a 4G LTE device, used chocolate milk to recover after a tough workout, or cleaned your carpets with a Bissell sweeper, then you have been touched by word-of-mouth. In FIizz, Wright provides a roadmap to developing a successful WOMM program while avoiding the most common mistakes and misconceptions. In the book, Wright reveals how to:
 

• Understand the power of influencers, including their three key attributes
• Craft a story that makes a product or service "talkable," and then find the community that cares the most
• Develop an effective brand ambassador program to connect your story to your community
• Measure the effectiveness of a word-of-mouth marketing program
• Take advantage of Big Data to stay on top of what is relevant to customers

 
Using real-life case studies of word-of-mouth marketing in action, Fizz provides a much-needed alternative to traditional advertising, as well as a proven and practical approach for driving sales through conversation.

About the Author

Ted Wright is CEO of Fizz, a pioneering, award-winning word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) firm.
 
Wright has been at the forefront of Word of Mouth Marketing since he helped re-ignite the Pabst Blue Ribbon brand in 2001. Over the past 13 years, Fizz has become the global leader in WOMM with clients on every continent. If you've ordered a PBR, ridden an Italian scooter in Asia, bought a 4G LTE device, used chocolate milk to recover after a tough workout, cleaned your carpets with a Bissell sweeper, or bought numerous other products because of a friend's recommendation over the past 13 years, then you may have been touched by the work of Wright and his team at Fizz.
 
Often called the best WOMM speaker working today, Ted challenges his audiences to rethink conventional wisdom, take risks, and relish the cutting edge. With appearances ranging from the Craft Brewers Conference and the Mexico Tourism Board to GM and Harvard Business School, Ted has won numerous public speaking awards and always elicits more questions than a Q&A can handle.
 
An alumnus of Booz Allen & Hamilton, Ted holds an MBA with honors from The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. He also enjoys great bourbon and drives too fast, but never at the same time.