The FTC weighed-in on deceptive ways of word-of-mouth marketing, saying that companies must disclose when are compensated to promote products to peers.

One of the landmark instances of such behavior came from 2002 when Sony Ericsson paid people to promote one of the first camera phones.

From today’s Washington Post:

The initiative, called “Fake Tourist,” involved placing 60 actors posing as tourists at attractions in New York and Seattle to demonstrate the camera phone. The actors asked passersby to take their photo, which demonstrated the camera phone’s capabilities, but the actors did not identify themselves as representatives for Sony Ericsson.

Since then, savvy marketers have weighed the implications of using such tactics to generate buzz, build a brand, and encourage sales. Feeling pressure from the marketplace and its expansion of user-generated media to ease such disclosure, the FTC felt the need to tip-toe forward and issue the guidance.

Recently, PRpulp cited WOMMA, the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association’s efforts to establish ethics guidelines for contacts with bloggers, which are now established as being credible influencers (albeit with varying degrees of authority).

WOMMA has since issued a press release commending the FTC for not regulating buzz marketing.

From the release:

WOMMA had urged the FTC to understand the distinctions between buzz marketing, which is a legitimate marketing tactic and strategy, and stealth marketing, a practice we strongly condemn and oppose.

Via Seth’s blog.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 13th, 2006 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Interactive, Marketing, PR. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.