"In a stunning last-minute change of plans, Intel has postponed the launch of its highest-performance PCs, previously scheduled for Monday. Calling system vendors on Thursday night, Intel acknowledged memory problems associated with the Rambus memory design in its 820 chip set. Intel reportedly found a "memory bit error" that curtails top memory capacity and speed. Intel has declined comment on the situation. (Spring, 1999) Intel did not hesitate to recall the problem chip because of the lasting power of Word-of -Mouth on the company. They were not going to go against its power a second time.
A major secret of word-of-mouth marketing is the ability to speak face-to-face with consumers which adds credibility to a product or service. Consider that face-to-face marketing has a consumer's undivided attention and therefore does not compete with any other advertising media. Word-of-mouth marketing is more often than not considered totally credible makes a friend, neighbor, co-worker, or family member's opinion about a great movie, product, or service completely believable. Word-of-mouth is much more effective than any print or television ad because consumers are overly saturated by those other mediums. This makes word-of-mouth more important now than at any time in the past. Current 'get out the vote campaigns' for the recent Presidential election, the buzz around the
"If, for most products, it is the word of mouth that triggers the sales, is it not important to look at what triggers the word of mouth? What if all elements of marketing, such as sales, advertising, direct mail, etc., were not oriented toward directly persuading people to use the product? Instead, what if all your marketing elements were organized around causing people to talk about the product in a way that would get them to use more, and get their friends and colleagues to use more?" (Silverman, 1997)
There are four major promotional concepts and they revolve around the ideas associated with the four P's: Product, Price, Placement and Promotion. Each of these terms can be addressed by word-of-mouth marketing. Today's younger generation has been forcing advertising and marketing companies to try new tactics and methods of selling and advertising. First, in regard to promotion, marketers have begun to use an underground
