Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter One: Understanding Word of Mouth Marketing

Every Marketing Problem Is a People Problem

Ditch Your Title

Forget Marketing Problems

Every Marketing Solution Must Focus on People

If You don’t Love People, Get out of Marketing—Period

Let’s Revisit the Future of Word of Mouth Marketing

It’s About The Passion Conversation

Marketers Do Not Decide What Gets Talked About—People Do

Conversation Leads to Consideration

People Believe People They Know and Trust

Sometimes You Want to Be Invisible and Indescribable

Provide More; Promote Less

Meet Ursa Major

Kitchen Table Passion

Chapter Two: Sparking Word of Mouth Marketing

Let’s Un-Geek A Little Smart Research Together

The Word of Mouth Opportunity

What Motivations Spark Conversations?

There are Three Motivations That Spark Conversations About Brands and Organizations.

Share Information | Factual & Functional

Here’s How Passion Fits In

Signal Uniqueness | Distinctive & Interesting

Here’s How Passion Fits In

Show Emotions | Love & Hate and Shock & Awe

“Like” Is Not a Brains on Fire Word

Here’s How Passion Fits In

Keep Emotion Top of Mind

Create Meaningful Conversation Tools

Stories are Easier to Remember and Share

Another Way to Create Emotion and Spark Word of Mouth? Disrupt Someone’s Schema

Passion Tips Conversation to Advocacy

Now, Here’s Where all This Academic Learning Gets Really Interesting

Offline Motivation

Online Motivation

This Leads Us to Ask the Question: Can the Conversation Channel Itself—Whether Online or Offline—Shape What People Talk About?

Another Important Point About Online Conversations: They are Intermittent and Sporadic

Offline Conversations, However, are Flowing and Continuous

When Does Conversation Become Advocacy?

People Talk About Things They are Passionate About

How to Make the Most of the Love Stories You are About to Hear

Be Open to Finding Your Cause

Chapter Three: Heroes: A Love Story

Addiction Is an Equal-Opportunity Employer

Today’s World Is a Connected World

The Heroes in Recovery Community Begins Internally

The Journey Box

Lead the Way

Anonymity Is Not Secrecy

There’s Power in Just Being there

Connections are a Powerful Force

How Do You Measure Success?

Uncovering the Passions Within Your Team

Ask the Following Questions to Help Spark a Meaningful Discussion

Dear ________, You are My Hero

Ask the Following Questions to Help Spark a Meaningful Discussion

What’s our Cause?

Ask the Following Questions to Help Spark a Meaningful Discussion

Chapter Four: The Fitness Rebellion: A Love Story

It was Time to Change the Fitness Conversation

It’s About People, Stupid

Togetherness Is the Key

Meet Anya’s Little Whiteboard

Working with People Is Messy

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Ask the Following Questions to Help Spark a Meaningful Discussion

Now, Show Your Organization’s Logo and Have the Same Discussion

Winsday Celebration

Ask the Following Questions to Help Spark a Meaningful Discussion

Now Create Your Own Winsday

Function Junction

While They are Out Playing

When You Return and Gather

Chapter Five: The Driven Class: A Love Story

Role Models and Encouragement are Power

Sometimes a Community Names Itself

We were Searching for Leaders Whose Plates are Really Full

It’s the Right Thing to Do

How Do We Carry the Torch Forward?

A Community has to Be Ready to Connect and Evolve

Speaking of Connections . . .

Sparking Word of Mouth in the Classroom

A Community Is About People

How Can You Really Measure the Roi of Dave? or Tamiera? or Anyone?

Would You Be Missed?

Gather a Small Group for 30 Minutes, and Answer the Following Questions

Breaking Schemas

Find it and Bust it Open

Find the Founders’ Story

These Questions Might Help the Team Get Started

Chapter Six: Wonderopolis: A Love Story

The Power of Show-and-Tell

It’s Not Just About Kids

Creating a Three-Legged Stool

Going Beyond a Name

On October 4, 2010, Wonderopolis was Born

Ready to Wonder

Jumpstarting Early Interest

Trusting the Journey

Comments are a Gift

Growing the Community

Evolving and Growing in Year Two

People are the Messengers

Responding Is Part of the Magic

Most Marketers are Still Looking for Volume

Valuing Relationships Leads to Numbers and More

Appreciating the Intangibles

Why Finding the Passion Conversation Inside Your Organization Matters

Just One Thing

Use the Following Questions to Spark a Group Discussion

The Passion Wall

Use the Following Questions to Spark a Group Discussion

Love Bomb Your Customers

Ask the Following Questions to Help Spark a Meaningful Discussion

Chapter Seven: Sustaining Word of Mouth Marketing

What Gets Measured Gets Manufactured

Another Thing Marketers Get Wrong

Open Hearts can Happen to You

And Guess What—You can Do It, Too

Can Every Organization Find the Passion Conversation?

Here’s Something You Must Be Willing to Hear

Want to Know a Secret to Long-Term Success?

What Do You Do When You’re “On to Something Powerful”?

Here’s One Last Moment of Truth Telling

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Index

Cover image: Nathan Spainhour

Cover design: Eric B. Whitlock and Rachel G. Bass

Copyright © 2013 by Brains on Fire, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Phillips, Robbin.

The passion conversation : understanding, sparking, and sustaining word of mouth marketing / Robbin Phillips, Greg Cordell, Geno Church and John Moore.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-118-53333-8 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-76794-8 (ebk);

ISBN 978-1-118-76830-3 (ebk)

1. Word-of-mouth advertising. 2. Business referrals. 3. Marketing. I. Title.

HF5827.95.P45 2013

658.8′72—dc23

20130194

PRAISE FOR THE PASSION CONVERSATION

“It’s a fast read, a fun read, a smart read. Short sentences, huge heart. Read it. Why? To absorb an important truth from the masters of word of mouth movements: Conversations spring from passions, not products.”

—Dan Heath, co-author of Decisive, Switch, and Made to Stick

“Have you ever gotten teary-eyed over a business book? Better yet, over your own business? Prepare yourself for The Passion Conversation, where the folks at Brains on Fire tell how their business connected them with people in very moving and powerful ways, redefining words like marketing, sales, and success. Read this book to move your perspective from business to people, and experience the incredible effect it will have on your life and work.”

—Jon Mueller, General Manager of 800-CEO-READ

“Love is the missing ingredient in developing loyalty with customers. In The Passion Conversation, the smart folks at Brains on Fire expertly explain how to develop deeper connections with customers who in turn sing your praises to everyone they know.”

—Jackie Huba, author of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics

“I’ve had my eye on Brains on Fire for a while. Their humanity makes them quite distinctive, and The Passion Conversation captures that unique voice.”

—Peter Sims, author of Little Bets, and founder of The BLK SHP Enterprises

Join the conversation at brainsonfire.com/blog.

This book is dedicated to the heroes, the driven, the wonderers, the rebels, to those who answer a calling—to those who wear their hearts on their sleeves and 146 on their hearts. You remind us that becoming more human is the journey to greatness for any brand. Because ultimately, the best brands, the brands we love most, are the ones that never let us forget how it feels to be good people.

Preface

We won’t lie. This was a hard book to write.

You see, at Brains on Fire, we believe that we owe it to our courageous customers to spend most of our time and efforts finding and sharing their passion conversation and growing their tribes. As people who practice word of mouth marketing, just finding time to write this book was a really, really big deal.

We burned some serious late-night oil.

But it was worth it because we learned so much along the way. And we grew even closer to our customers. We had someone ask us the other day, “Aren’t you afraid you’re giving away your secrets?” We smiled and said, “Nope.” See, we don’t believe there are any marketing secrets. We’ve learned that sharing and connecting with other like-minded people in the world is what’s magical these days. By sharing knowledge with others, we’ve learned good things will happen.

Our first book, Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements (yes, Brains on Fire is the name of our company and our first book) was a really remarkable ride. It connected us with some super-cool people. Some of those people have become our friends and kindred spirits. Some of them knocked on our door and joined our tribe. Some we’re honored to call our customers and advocates. You’ll get to meet a lot of them in the following pages.

Consider this book a continuation of the lessons we shared in our first book. Here’s a quick review:

We love hearing people recite these lessons back to us. We love it when they let us know how they have applied some of them to their own businesses. And you’ll absolutely see the lessons from our last book brought to life throughout these pages. Still, we knew we had learned more in the three years since our first book was published, and we wanted to spend some time digging deeper. We felt that we owed it to our readers, our customers, and ourselves.

We’re big believers in the notion that writing (and speaking) inspires thinking, and writing this book and telling these stories has truly been a gift to us. We’ve talked to many wise and wonderful people including our customers, their customers, and even each other. Writing this book and having these conversations has helped us really think about the work we’re doing in the world and define what matters. It has helped us grow. It has opened our hearts, and helped us fall even deeper in love with the people we serve.

Our only hope is that it does a little bit of the same for you.

With LOVE always,

Robbin, Greg, Geno, and John

(and the entire Brains on Fire tribe)

When you have a book with four authors, you have to make some style decisions. So just like several other author teams have opted to do, we talk about ourselves in the third person. Please know that none us ever, ever, ever refers to ourselves in the third person when you’re actually with us face-to-face. (Geez, that’s weird when people do that.) We did it here to make it easier to follow. You’ll even see us quote ourselves. Think of it this way: We simply decided to let you inside our walls and let you listen in on our passion conversations: conversations with our clients, our teammates, some smart people we know, and even among ourselves. Enjoy. And do us a favor: Please reach out to us and let us know what you think. You can find us thinking out loud most days on our blog at www.brainsonfire.com.

We know what you’re probably thinking: The last thing the world needs is another business book.

Don’t worry. This is not a business book. This is a love story.

It might sound strange, but hear us out. The Passion Conversation is a story about being famous for the people who love you, for the way you love them.

We’re going to share some remarkable love stories.

In the three years since our first book, Brains on Fire, was published we’ve done a lot of thinking about love and how it relates to business and to word of mouth marketing. We’ve also given a lot of thought to the word passion, which we actually mention 67 times in our last book. (Sixty-seven times? Yup. John Moore, the self proclaimed “ticky-tacky detail geek” among us counted.)

Since that first book, we’ve wondered over and over again—at first to ourselves, then aloud to one another—is passion something that can be unearthed in someone? Can it be taught? Is it real? It is overused or misused? Did we misuse it one or more of those 67 times? Does it belong in business, or is it a word best saved for artists, romance novels, religious stories, or 20-year-old lovebirds who can’t stand the thought of being apart?

We’ve asked ourselves over the years why the following lesson from our last book gets tweeted and repeated over and over and over again.

“It’s not about the product conversation; it’s about the passion conversation.”

Hmmmm.

The book you’re holding in your hands is called The Passion Conversation. We don’t take that deliberate choice of words lightly. Can we really write a book worthy of such a lofty title? Who knows? But we do know the following:

We’re all in marketing grad school. And there are some valuable lessons to be learned inside the passionate love stories we’re about to share with you. They’re lessons that can make our businesses better places to work. Lessons that can make us feel more alive and more purposeful in how we spend our time and talents. Lessons that can help spark social change. Think about it: Can you imagine a world where more of us are happy at work? A world where the majority of us are working with passion?

In the following pages, we’ll share the stories of four amazing organizations—Foundations Recovery Network, Anytime Fitness, DeVry University, and the National Center for Family Literacy—that took the time and effort to bring their passion conversations to life inside and outside of their office walls. Regardless of their for-profit or not-for-profit status, each of the companies we’re highlighting is adding value to people’s lives, and in doing so, they’re sparking word of mouth.

It’s in our DNA as human beings to share things we find valuable and meaningful with others. We talk about things (and people) we love often and with a force that sticks. You might not be a recovery business, a fitness franchise, a higher education university, a not-for-profit, or any of the other businesses we’ve sprinkled in, but chances are these stories will inspire you to take action nonetheless.

We believe with all our hearts and souls, it is possible, absolutely possible, to fall madly and passionately in love with the people you serve.

And we believe that it’s possible for those folks to fall in love with you, too; and, yes, for you to become famous and grow your organization because of that love. If you want people to be in love with you and talk about you, you must fall in love with them first. Your clients, customers, donors, tribe, employees, advocates—what you call them doesn’t really matter—can and should become beloved heroes in your organizations.

Because guess what naturally happens when you’re in love? You talk about that person you love constantly. You can’t wait to be with them. You think about how you can surprise them. You inspire them. They inspire you. You share secrets. You want to understand them. You have empathy. You defend them. You have compassion. You don’t mind taking out the trash. You are deeply connected.

Passion is contagious.

As business owners, marketers, or Chief Love Officers (a title we think more relevant than Chief Marketing Officer) we should feel wildly romantic and passionate about the people who help fuel our businesses and spread our causes. Passion fuels word of mouth conversation and excitement. Our passions make us happy and let us know that life is worth living. They motivate us to do remarkable things. When we are passionate about someone, we really do talk about that person all the time. We’re eager and excited to share the tiniest details. Spend just a few minutes around a new parent and you’ll see what we mean.

Passion is not something you own; it’s something you pass forward. So if you take the time to understand your own unique passion conversations—and yes, we believe everyone has them—as well as the ones that excite those you serve, something amazing will happen.

That’s exactly what we’ve done to grow our own business over the years. Not only have we fallen in love with our customers, we received the permission and indeed the honor to get to know and care for our customers’ customers. We are village matchmakers, facilitators, the Cupid of marketing companies. It’s our role to help connect our customers with their employees and customers through shared passions.

Don’t just take our word for it.

We’ve studied the work of some smart people who are also digging deep into why people talk—we’ve even become friends with a few. We’ve mixed and kneaded some of our in-the-trenches knowledge with the areas they’ve been researching and learning. We found that there’s magic in that recipe, magic we feel compelled to share with the world.

What does it take to fall in love with your advocates, the customers and employees who are ready, willing, and happy to fall in love with you? The people who therefore willingly and passionately talk about you?

Here are the key things we’ve learned that you’ll see come alive in the following pages: