Recently I waited in ridiculous line for the hottest opening in Manhattan. A new musical? Nope. A SOHO gallery? Guess again. A Barney's Co-op sale? I don't think so....
As embarrassing as it is to admit, I was actually waiting to be let in to the new Trader Joe's on Union Square. For those unfamiliar with the state of grocery stores in Manhattan, we are in the midst of a brutal war. Chain markets, upscale purveyors of organic goods and even the Green Markets have engaged in a fierce battle for customers. The irony, of course, is the fact that most New Yorkers don't even know how to turn on their oven.
It was mid-2005 when a few blogs broke the news of a new grocery shopping option a block away from Whole Foods and the Union Square Green Market, not to mention countless grocery stores that have since folded. I followed the story on Chowhound, Gawker and Curbed, not to mention the print dailies and weeklies.
And of course, there was word-of-mouth. Foodies relished in endless conversation on when Trader Joe's was opening, what one could find there, and how our shopping patterns would be forever changed. Trader Joe's arrival was going to save us all from grocery purgatory, bringing us to culinary salvation.
Once inside the store, I was crushed. Perhaps I arrived too late, but the produce was marginal, the shelves looked ransacked, and the cashier charged me $70 for some avocados, instead of $7. Friends recounted similar stories, and suddenly the year of spin seemed silly, if not an outright waste of marketing dollars.
The double-edged sword of spin should be wielded wisely, less it cut both ways. While it can be most powerful in creating awareness, setting unrealistic expectations can be a marketer's fatal mistake.
Continue reading "The Double-Edged Sword of Word-of-Mouth" ... Read the full article
Subscribe today...it's free!
MarketingProfs provides thousands of marketing resources, entirely free!
Simply subscribe to our newsletter and get instant access to how-to articles, guides, webinars and more for nada, nothing, zip, zilch, on the house...delivered right to your inbox! MarketingProfs is the largest marketing community in the world, and we are here to help you be a better marketer.
Loading...
Brand Management Articles
You may like these other MarketingProfs articles related to Brand Management:
- The Role of Music in Your Brand: Sam Parvin on Marketing Smarts [Podcast]
- The Power and Value of Brand: Maggie Gross on Marketing Smarts [Podcast]
- The 10 Brands Americans Feel Most Intimately Connected to in 2021
- Are Businesses Creating and Using Brand Guidelines?
- Why B2B Branding Is More Important Than Ever
