Comments on: Trendwatch Report: “Reviews are the New Advertising” http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/09/03/trendwatch-report-%e2%80%9creviews-are-the-new-advertising%e2%80%9d/ Ideas to Help Customers Build Your Business Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:03:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: The “Hidden” Impact of 100 Billion: the New Textbook | Bazaarblog http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/09/03/trendwatch-report-%e2%80%9creviews-are-the-new-advertising%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-108982 The “Hidden” Impact of 100 Billion: the New Textbook | Bazaarblog Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:56:00 +0000 http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/?p=1739#comment-108982 [...] Well, in a world where 80% of consumers seek user-generated content while shopping, impressions of user-generated content are “the new advertising”.  Actually, what is “new” is old – “the voice of the marketplace” [...] [...] Well, in a world where 80% of consumers seek user-generated content while shopping, impressions of user-generated content are "the new advertising".  Actually, what is "new" is old – "the voice of the marketplace" [...]

]]> By: Andrew Ballenthin http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/09/03/trendwatch-report-%e2%80%9creviews-are-the-new-advertising%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-92424 Andrew Ballenthin Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:53:02 +0000 http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/?p=1739#comment-92424 I agree with Jeff, reviews are nothing new. Perhaps what is new is that with the ability for anyone to share a review anytime and anywhere there will be a potential for increasing the quantity and accessibility of reviews. Sweeping trend statements can be a risky business. While any business could potentially have a review posted on it, even with the huge level of online participation statistics indicate there is only a small percentage of the population that are avid online users as opposed to occassional or infrequent. It's not even an 80/20 rule of who is likely to be part of this trend, it's probably realistically 5% or less of a country's population in reality and certain industries will be more prone to this trend than others without a doubt. There was a study released by GFK Retail and Technology that said 85% of people said they would prefer to spend more face to face time than be online. Food for thought. Thanks for your comprehensive blog, very informative. I agree with Jeff, reviews are nothing new. Perhaps what is new is that with the ability for anyone to share a review anytime and anywhere there will be a potential for increasing the quantity and accessibility of reviews.
Sweeping trend statements can be a risky business. While any business could potentially have a review posted on it, even with the huge level of online participation statistics indicate there is only a small percentage of the population that are avid online users as opposed to occassional or infrequent. It's not even an 80/20 rule of who is likely to be part of this trend, it's probably realistically 5% or less of a country's population in reality and certain industries will be more prone to this trend than others without a doubt.
There was a study released by GFK Retail and Technology that said 85% of people said they would prefer to spend more face to face time than be online. Food for thought. Thanks for your comprehensive blog, very informative.

]]> By: Andrew Ballenthin http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/09/03/trendwatch-report-%e2%80%9creviews-are-the-new-advertising%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-131431 Andrew Ballenthin Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:53:00 +0000 http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/?p=1739#comment-131431 I agree with Jeff, reviews are nothing new. Perhaps what is new is that with the ability for anyone to share a review anytime and anywhere there will be a potential for increasing the quantity and accessibility of reviews. Sweeping trend statements can be a risky business. While any business could potentially have a review posted on it, even with the huge level of online participation statistics indicate there is only a small percentage of the population that are avid online users as opposed to occassional or infrequent. It's not even an 80/20 rule of who is likely to be part of this trend, it's probably realistically 5% or less of a country's population in reality and certain industries will be more prone to this trend than others without a doubt. There was a study released by GFK Retail and Technology that said 85% of people said they would prefer to spend more face to face time than be online. Food for thought. Thanks for your comprehensive blog, very informative. I agree with Jeff, reviews are nothing new. Perhaps what is new is that with the ability for anyone to share a review anytime and anywhere there will be a potential for increasing the quantity and accessibility of reviews.
Sweeping trend statements can be a risky business. While any business could potentially have a review posted on it, even with the huge level of online participation statistics indicate there is only a small percentage of the population that are avid online users as opposed to occassional or infrequent. It's not even an 80/20 rule of who is likely to be part of this trend, it's probably realistically 5% or less of a country's population in reality and certain industries will be more prone to this trend than others without a doubt.
There was a study released by GFK Retail and Technology that said 85% of people said they would prefer to spend more face to face time than be online. Food for thought. Thanks for your comprehensive blog, very informative.

]]> By: Andrew Ballenthin http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/09/03/trendwatch-report-%e2%80%9creviews-are-the-new-advertising%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-131432 Andrew Ballenthin Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:53:00 +0000 http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/?p=1739#comment-131432 I agree with Jeff, reviews are nothing new. Perhaps what is new is that with the ability for anyone to share a review anytime and anywhere there will be a potential for increasing the quantity and accessibility of reviews. Sweeping trend statements can be a risky business. While any business could potentially have a review posted on it, even with the huge level of online participation statistics indicate there is only a small percentage of the population that are avid online users as opposed to occassional or infrequent. It's not even an 80/20 rule of who is likely to be part of this trend, it's probably realistically 5% or less of a country's population in reality and certain industries will be more prone to this trend than others without a doubt. There was a study released by GFK Retail and Technology that said 85% of people said they would prefer to spend more face to face time than be online. Food for thought. Thanks for your comprehensive blog, very informative. I agree with Jeff, reviews are nothing new. Perhaps what is new is that with the ability for anyone to share a review anytime and anywhere there will be a potential for increasing the quantity and accessibility of reviews.
Sweeping trend statements can be a risky business. While any business could potentially have a review posted on it, even with the huge level of online participation statistics indicate there is only a small percentage of the population that are avid online users as opposed to occassional or infrequent. It's not even an 80/20 rule of who is likely to be part of this trend, it's probably realistically 5% or less of a country's population in reality and certain industries will be more prone to this trend than others without a doubt.
There was a study released by GFK Retail and Technology that said 85% of people said they would prefer to spend more face to face time than be online. Food for thought. Thanks for your comprehensive blog, very informative.

]]> By: Jeff Neely http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/09/03/trendwatch-report-%e2%80%9creviews-are-the-new-advertising%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-91778 Jeff Neely Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:57:33 +0000 http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/?p=1739#comment-91778 Maybe it's just semantics, but I don't think reviews are the new advertising. I think we're talking about two distinct forms of marketing. Seems like advertising still has a role to play, even as reviews grow in importance. I would certainly agree that reviews trump advertising in the consideration phase of the purchase cycle. That's been true for years. But as more companies realize this fact, and embrace it, it could be that advertising becomes even more about just establishing a brand and building "awareness." You've got to drive people to the product page to see the peer reviews, right? Pique their interest somehow. Maybe it's just semantics, but I don't think reviews are the new advertising. I think we're talking about two distinct forms of marketing. Seems like advertising still has a role to play, even as reviews grow in importance. I would certainly agree that reviews trump advertising in the consideration phase of the purchase cycle. That's been true for years. But as more companies realize this fact, and embrace it, it could be that advertising becomes even more about just establishing a brand and building "awareness." You've got to drive people to the product page to see the peer reviews, right? Pique their interest somehow.

]]> By: Jeff Neely http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/09/03/trendwatch-report-%e2%80%9creviews-are-the-new-advertising%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-131429 Jeff Neely Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:57:00 +0000 http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/?p=1739#comment-131429 Maybe it's just semantics, but I don't think reviews are the new advertising. I think we're talking about two distinct forms of marketing. Seems like advertising still has a role to play, even as reviews grow in importance. I would certainly agree that reviews trump advertising in the consideration phase of the purchase cycle. That's been true for years. But as more companies realize this fact, and embrace it, it could be that advertising becomes even more about just establishing a brand and building "awareness." You've got to drive people to the product page to see the peer reviews, right? Pique their interest somehow. Maybe it's just semantics, but I don't think reviews are the new advertising. I think we're talking about two distinct forms of marketing. Seems like advertising still has a role to play, even as reviews grow in importance. I would certainly agree that reviews trump advertising in the consideration phase of the purchase cycle. That's been true for years. But as more companies realize this fact, and embrace it, it could be that advertising becomes even more about just establishing a brand and building "awareness." You've got to drive people to the product page to see the peer reviews, right? Pique their interest somehow.

]]> By: Jeff Neely http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/09/03/trendwatch-report-%e2%80%9creviews-are-the-new-advertising%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-131430 Jeff Neely Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:57:00 +0000 http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/?p=1739#comment-131430 Maybe it's just semantics, but I don't think reviews are the new advertising. I think we're talking about two distinct forms of marketing. Seems like advertising still has a role to play, even as reviews grow in importance. I would certainly agree that reviews trump advertising in the consideration phase of the purchase cycle. That's been true for years. But as more companies realize this fact, and embrace it, it could be that advertising becomes even more about just establishing a brand and building "awareness." You've got to drive people to the product page to see the peer reviews, right? Pique their interest somehow. Maybe it's just semantics, but I don't think reviews are the new advertising. I think we're talking about two distinct forms of marketing. Seems like advertising still has a role to play, even as reviews grow in importance. I would certainly agree that reviews trump advertising in the consideration phase of the purchase cycle. That's been true for years. But as more companies realize this fact, and embrace it, it could be that advertising becomes even more about just establishing a brand and building "awareness." You've got to drive people to the product page to see the peer reviews, right? Pique their interest somehow.

]]> By: Allen Bonde http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/09/03/trendwatch-report-%e2%80%9creviews-are-the-new-advertising%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-91726 Allen Bonde Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:56:14 +0000 http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/?p=1739#comment-91726 To me, the best way to sell is to tell a good story (when I was at McKinsey, the big-wigs actually used to say: "you don't sell, you have a discussion"). Reviews just may be the new advertising because good reviews tell a story, and have both context AND credibility as a number of the discussions here attest. As I spin up my new consulting firm (www.EvokeCRM.com) we will be looking at the role of reviews and other types of UGC not only in marketing and selling, but also in customer service, where community generated content in support forums has already found widespread success - especially in the tech space. It will be interesting to look at how these models come together, especially when real-time and location-based capabilities provided by mobile platforms are added to the mix! Allen Bonde Managing Director, Evoke CRM Partners To me, the best way to sell is to tell a good story (when I was at McKinsey, the big-wigs actually used to say: "you don't sell, you have a discussion"). Reviews just may be the new advertising because good reviews tell a story, and have both context AND credibility as a number of the discussions here attest. As I spin up my new consulting firm (www.EvokeCRM.com) we will be looking at the role of reviews and other types of UGC not only in marketing and selling, but also in customer service, where community generated content in support forums has already found widespread success – especially in the tech space. It will be interesting to look at how these models come together, especially when real-time and location-based capabilities provided by mobile platforms are added to the mix!

Allen Bonde
Managing Director, Evoke CRM Partners

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