Psst...have your heard about the new way to advertise?, by Eamonn Duff -
12th October 2003 (Credit: Sydney Morning Herald)

An advertising trend so new that the authorities governing ethics have yet to form policies on it has hit Sydney - and is causing concern among consumer groups.

Whisper marketing is said to be so clever that targeted people rarely realise they are the targets.

It has been hailed as the first concept to successfully harness the extraordinary power of word-of-mouth endorsement.

It works in the bus queue or at the bar, at a restaurant or even the office.

But that young couple loudly extolling the virtues of a drink, telephone company or new pram are not there by chance. They are being paid to provide endorsements which the audience believes are real.

Woollahra-based Love PR is one of the first companies implementing regular stunts across the city.

Each week, the agency sends its "F2F Army" out onto the streets to sell the benefits of clients' products on a face-to-face, one-on-one basis.

For the first time, it has revealed some of the capers that recently captured hundreds of unsuspecting shoppers.

If, for example, you are a mother who was recently approached in a department store by a "fellow parent and her children", you did in fact fall victim to the F2F Army.

Love director Monique Haylen said: "If you are a mum out buying a pram and it is an older salesperson assisting, you are generally confused because they are recommending something you know they probably don't use. But along comes a mum with two kids and she tells you she used Pram X, explains the design and said it was fantastic. What are you going to do?"

Another real-life stunt involved someone sitting in Martin Place at lunchtime, reading a text message on their mobile phone. They suddenly laughed uncontrollably, turned to the person next to them and said: "I'm so sorry, I just received my joke of the day from [the pitch] ... here take a look!" Once the rib tickler has been shared, the F2F Army member talks them through other aspects of the service.

Ms Haylen said: "Or perhaps you were at a party and someone started telling you about an amazing experience they had at a [particular] bank. You wouldn't believe it if you heard it in an advertisement, but this person seems believable ... the opportunities are endless."

The effectiveness of the F2F Army relies on the fact they never disclose involvement. "Army members can be uni students, parents, backpackers," Ms Haylen said. "It can also be the person sitting next to you at a dinner party. That's the whole beauty of it."

But she added: "They do have to be normal people who reflect the target audience. They also have to possess the personality to approach strangers in a non-threatening way." Sydney-based communications agency Host is another firm talking up the potential benefits of the whisper phenomenon.

Host spokesman Rod Soames said: "People these days hate being bombarded with advertising, but it's hard to dislike something you don't know about.

"It's still essentially word of mouth ... just a new spin on a very old form of marketing."

Regardless of whether it is a whisper marketing stunt, a logo-emblazoned streaker at the rugby or an email-based "viral campaign", the latest consensus among advertising gurus is that it has to be different.

Ms Haylen said: "Traditional forms of marketing are not generating the uptake of new products and services across the board. These days, many people base purchases and decisions on word-of-mouth referrals ... our own research tells us one in three do."

A Fair Trading spokesman said: "It is not an issue we have received complaints about.

"There are, however, strict code of conduct guidelines in place to protect consumers, and if there are people with concerns about this issue, they should not hesitate to contact our office."

But Australian Consumers Association commercial policy officer Charles Britton said: "This is one of those occasions when the regulating authorities will have to step outside the complaints mechanism because the very art to this scheme is the fact that it escapes detection."

Massage is the message in Fox DVD promo.

Filmmaker 20th Century Fox has experimented with a new form of marketing, using masseurs Three Minute Angels to promote the DVD release of Just Married.

Angels staff provided their regular massage while at the same time referring to the movie. At the end, customers were handed a voucher for a 20 per cent discount off the DVD at all Target stores.

A Fox spokeswoman said the masseurs spread the message around the city, including hotels.

"We found that a lot of the bars they worked at were indeed full of the same people we were trying to reach with the video release," she said.

But Angels founder Andrew Ward stressed that unlike those who specialised in whisper marketing, his firm was always upfront about promotions.

"When we have sponsors, we carry their names on our shirts," Mr Ward said. "Customers deserve total honesty. Anything less is deception."

Links:

The Sydney Morning Herald

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