Peter Blackshaw, the moderator for the “Measuring Word of Mouth Effectiveness” session, opened with a story about his Honda.
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He was one of the first people in Cinncinnati to buy a hybrid Honda and he even had his wife go with him to video tape the purchase. Then he started a blog to post his video, his thoughts, his pictures, and his passion for his hybrid car.
Then he noticed a discrepancy between the miles per gallon claimed by Honda and the miles per gallon he actually got. He posted his findings, with pictures for proof, in his blog and soon someone at SlashDot noticed and started what became a 1500 post thread.
This garnered Blackshaw wider media attention and suddenly he became a minor internet sensation.
He offered himself up as an example of a brand advocate, and how brand advocates can affect brands online.
During the question and answer session a woman from Honda addressed his claims. She said that the problem was with the EPA, and that they don’t drive like other people do. Honda is working with the EPA to adjust the discrepancy, but they’re moving slowly, at the speed of government agencies.
This session showed what’s fun about conferences though – you get representatives from big companies put on the spot. 🙂
Garrett French is the editor of Murdok’s eBusiness channel. You can talk to him directly at WebProWorld, the eBusiness Community Forum.
