What Do People Talk About & Is My Brand Conversation-Worthy?

One common question I get asked a lot is "what brand categories respond best to word of mouth (WOM)?".

This is a loaded question - the real question people want to know the answer to is "can you evoke word of mouth for my brand in my mature, low-involvement, boring, aging target, commodified category" - and with few exceptions, the answer is yes.

One only need to look at the fascinatingly buzzable Mr. Clean Magic Erasers as an innovative product-based way of overcoming lack of consumer involvement and disinterest.

However, never to duck a question - the long answer to the best WOM categories: there are 22 attributes that provide more favourable conditions to word of mouth. Check these out at our AW site.

The short answer:  the brand and brand situations can be bucketed into 4 different camps:
- new products, initiatives or target markets (fuelled by lead user interest and social currency)
- complex or expensive products (fuelled by elimination of personal and financial risk and seeking advice from experts/mavens)
- expert or taste driven products (fuelled by sharing interests and transmitting passions)
- everyday use/purchase products and services (fuelled by common experience and frequent exposure)

For some of the category stats, refer to the rankings by category in the research below:

Top Categories of Conversation:

UK Consumers - Category Rank by Word of Mouth Frequency
#1 - Sport
#2 - Holiday destinations
#3 - Shopping - home/family
#4 - Fashion
#5 - Education
#6 - Healthy Food
#7 - Films
#8 - Cars
#9 - Local Community
#10 - Do-It-Yourself Renos
#11 - Mobile Technology
#12 - Health Care
#13 - Environment
#14 - Technology
#15 - Grocery offers
#16 - Personal Grooming
#17 - Cosmetics
#18 - Savings
#19 - Loans
#20 - Religion
#21 - Advertising
Source: MEC:Medialab

US Consumers - Category Rank by Word of Mouth Frequency & (No. of WOM Conversations per Week)
#1 - Media & Entertainment (12)
#2 - Food & Dining (10)
#3 - Beverages (8)
#4 - Public Affairs (8)
#5 - Telecommunications (8)
#6 - Travel Services (7)
#7 - Technology (7)
#8 - Health & Health Care (7)
#9 - Shopping & Retail (6)
#10 - Automotive (6)
#11 - Financial Services (6)
#12 - Beauty Care & Fashion (6)
Source: Keller Fay

US Consumers - Category Rank - Topics Surrounding Word of Mouth Episodes  (% of total WOM conversations)
#1 - Life/Living (subsets categorized in order of frequency - family, special events, food/dining, casual, review, relationships, plans, support) (24.8%)
#2 - Arts  (sub-sites categorized in order of frequency - movies, music, television, theatre/concerts, culinary/cooking, fashion/culture, literature) (12.8%)
#3 - Buying/Using Services (12.2%)
#4 - Technology/Science (10.6%)
#5 - Buying Products (10.3%)
#6 - Workplace/Professional (4.3%)
#7 - Hobbies (4.0%)
#8 - Sports (3.2%)
#9 - Education/Learning (3.1%)
#10 -  News/Current Events (2.8%)
#11 - Travel (2.3%)
#12 - Home   (1.0%)
#13 - Animals/Pets (0.9%)
Source: Walter Karl,Northeastern University

Conclusion - humans talk and buzz about everything. With the right brand, the right consumer and the right way of connecting the two, people will rave about what inspires and interests them .