Manipulation of the Crowd

As readers of this blog know, one of my favorite activities is WOMing WOMM:

The Latest WOM On WOMM (2009)
Wouldn’t it be nice if this were my last post about WOMM?  I think it will be, since prattle marketing won’t be much of an issue from now on…

I guess sometimes NostraChuckus gets it wrong.  Since the above post I’ve WOMed WOMM a few more times. 

And this post is even another WOMing.

Manipulation of the Crowd: How Trustworthy Are Online Ratings?
By Michael Moyer
… The philosophy behind this so-called crowdsourcing strategy holds that the truest and most accurate evaluations will come from aggregating the opinions of a large and diverse group of people. Yet a closer look reveals that the wisdom of crowds may neither be wise nor necessarily made by a crowd. Its judgments are inaccurate at best, fraudulent at worst.

Pulled from the comment section:

This article does not mention paid shills who do the reviews. As a freelance writer, this is one of the more common things that I am paid to do. Yes, you heard that right. I get paid to write articles about "products". You should try going to freelancer.com and see for yourselves the prices of reviews, articles, tweets, blog posts, facebook friends, etc. Your world is a highly manipulated one.

No kidding.

Add to all this the fact that users just love all the marketing and advertising on social networking sites:

Social Sites Lag in Customer Satisfaction
by Mark Dolliver
… In drawing thematic conclusions from the data, the report suggests that the increasing presence of advertising within social media could be a notable source of customer dissatisfaction.

Which makes me dig up this old chestnut:

When it all comes out in the wash, WOMM will be the best thing to happen to (silly retronym ahead) traditional advertising. Pretty soon, consumers won't believe anybody - even their best friends. They'll realize that they receive the most honest and straightforward information about a product or service from a TV commercial, radio spot, print ad, direct marketing collateral, or product web site. At least we don't lie about who we are and why we're saying what we're saying.

Remember this: Advertising didn't die with the invention of the telephone.

But don't believe me. This is just some blog, and I'm just some blogger. Who knows if someone's paying me to trash word-of-mouth marketing ...

One thing's for sure: You'll never know.

All this sounds vaguely familiar...

Nielsen: This Isn't Your Grandfather's Baby Boomer
Research Titan Claims Demographic's Retirement Upends Old Notions, Younger Consumers Are Losing Dominance
by Brian Steinberg
… Most times senior citizens are still seen in ads selling life insurance or denture cream, yet the older person in the U.S. in the next decade is likely to be anything but helpless and in the market for more than just financial help and medications.

That’s this blog, my book, my speaking and consulting around the world, my articles since 2003.

Like this one:

Boomer Backlash II
… I guess what upsets me about this campaign is not the campaign itself.  I love it.  I see people around my age – they’re entertaining, loose, funny. I’m wondering what the payoff will be. What a letdown.  

Why couldn’t it have been a car?  Laundry soap?  Baked Beans? Gender-specific razors? Aluminum foil? A smart phone? Anything but some age-related malady …

The Backlash: If every time someone over fifty sees a commercial targeting them and it’s always for an age-related product or service, pretty soon their eyes will glaze over, they’ll get itchy and grumpy.

___

Update: Good piece about all this by Eve Troeh of Marketplace: Over the hill but not in a rut

Update: Brent Green’s trenchant take on it all

Webinar: Engaging Baby Boomers

Engaging Baby Boomers:
Communications Tools, Technologies and Strategies
This Thursday, July 22, 12pm - 1pm EDT

If your target market is the 50+ Baby Boomer and Senior demographic, then join the Boomer Authority™ Association and International Mature Marketing Network (IMMN) for this important webinar.

Register here for the July 22, 12pm -1pm EDT webinar!

Generations Beat Online

Even a frenetic web mole like yours truly often digs every which way – and still misses the big, juicy virtual worms.

Years ago I followed Paul Kleyman’s Age Beat.  Then Paul moved on, we kept in touch a bit – but I had no idea that for the last year or so Mr. Kleyman has been publishing a new resource:

Generations Beat Online
This is the home of the Generations Beat Online (GBO), the e-newsletter of the Journalists Network on Generations for writers/producers covering issues in aging and retirement.

The Latest GBO Issue (July 7, 2010)

This should make my life a lot easier.  I can continue to steal from the best.

A Nod To The Netherlands

A few months ago I changed planes at Schiphol. Tramping around the terminals made me giddy. I wanted to stay. That’s because the last time I was there yours truly and a bunch of us had one of the times of our lives:

World’s Largest Event For Active ‘50 plussers’
… And with only an hour and a half to goof off we only saw about one-quarter of the exhibits, maybe.  The four of us were racing around.  That’s how big it was. Nobody could see it all in one day.

The event keeps getting bigger and bigger.  A report from 50 Plus Beurs 2008: 

Last week I visited the 50 plus fair in Utrecht (The Netherlands) to have a look at the world biggest event aimed directly at 50-plus consumers. My first emotion was again astonishment over the numbers of the exhibits and people present.

What this event really is: Hundreds of mini-trade shows open to the public. When I was there about twenty bicycle manufactures had large booths and floor space. Ditto for cars, RVs, motorcycles, cosmetics, clothes, sporting equipment, vacation spots, gardening, cooking, housewares, houses – the list goes on and on.

The information sheet for 50 Plus Beurs 2010 (PDF)

There’s still time to reserve exhibit space or make plans to attend.