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Ajita Shashidhar

Mumbai , Oct.. 4

PUBLIC relations major Edelman plans to invest close to $100,000 in the Indian market through its joint venture partner R&PM: Edelman, to carry forward its strategy of Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOMM) which it recently launched in India. The investment would be for conducting primary research on stakeholders and stakeholder relationships and investment on intellectual capital.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Alan VanderMolen, President (Asia-Pacific), Edelman, said the concept of WOMM is all about getting companies to get their stakeholders and customers involved in their business both online and offline.

"It is all about facilitating conversations and discussion between customers and stakeholders about the various issues and products of the company. In an era where trust erosion is on the rise, it has become extremely important for corporates to engage their stakeholders in their business."

The various media of interaction, according to Mr VanderMolen, could be creating a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual; a Rich Site Summary for syndicating Web content or using high-profile entertainment or news to get people to talk about a brand.

He said that according to a McKinsey report, word-of-mouth influences 67 per cent of the US economy.

"It is relationships which drive business success and not perceptions."

He said that marketers in India have shown keen interest to create a dialogue with their stakeholders and hoped that the concept would take off here.

"The sectors we are looking at are consumer healthcare, consumer electronics and financial services."

These are areas, according to Mr VanderMolen, in which there is a lot of mistrust, and consumers are on the lookout for more information.

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