Gord Hotchkiss today provides some great thoughts on WOM. He keyed off a new study from eMarketer, clarifies how profoundly the web has accelerated its impact, and also helps to further refine the definition of word of mouth:

Word of mouth implies that you're getting an opinion from someone who:

• is familiar with a product or service through personal experience; and,
• can be objective because they have no vested interested in whether you buy the item or service in question.
  

For us WOM is at the stage where we're 1000% sold on it but still don't have the tools to easily convince decision makers who are buried in other priorities. We have large WOM initiatives planned for several new clients, but have a lot of internal work to do to get final sign-off and determine the specific programs and plans to put into action. This new report, and Gord's insights, will really help.