A Facilitated Word of Mouth Research Study completed by Purdue University Agricultural Economics Department (2002) verifies that word of mouth marketing has both long lasting and measurable positive impact on the market by effectively reaching customers. Significant sales increases resulted following Beck Ag, Inc. AgTelecom^® participation.

Definition
Word of mouth marketing is communication about products and services between people who are perceived to be independent of the company providing the product or service, in a medium perceived to be independent of the company.

Beck Ag
Beck Ag, Inc. offers ag professionals an opportunity to learn about products, innovative technologies and business practices from their peers through interactive telephone conversation. Beck Ag consults with organizations to develop and deliver customized word of mouth marketing strategies through various forums that utilize peer influence tactics. Beck Ag is agriculture's word of mouth marketing leader.

This Research
An agricultural marketing research study conducted by Purdue University Agricultural Economics department evaluated Beck Ag facilitated conferences held Aug. - Sept. 2000 involving 383 veterinarians and veterinary professional participants. Teleconferences ranged between 8 - 12 veterinarian participants per conference. Purdue surveyed 20% of the total veterinarian participants. The majority of those vets surveyed (82%) have between 11 and 40 years of experience.

The Subject
The Beck Ag client in this case was a pharmaceutical company marketing an animal health product to veterinarians. Veterinarians surveyed in these 2000 AgTelecom conference calls were contacted by telephone and participated in a facilitated educational conference. Some of the participants had used the animal health product previously, others had not. The conferences were strictly peer-to-peer and no company representatives participated in the calls. During the call, participants each had an opportunity to learn from other participants through conversation and interaction. Beck Ag moderators with animal health industry backgrounds facilitated the AgTelecom programs.

Analysis
Immediate sampling through polling of participants is standard practice by Beck Ag with results averaging 95 - 98% of participants find value in conference participation. The Purdue University research measured the participants' recall and actual increase in product use over the next two years following the conference participation.


The Results
Both long lasting and measurable positive impact on the client's bottom line resulted from participation in Beck Ag teleconferences. Based on the Purdue research findings, Beck Ag calculated their client's increase in sales generated following participation in Beck Ag's word of mouth marketing tactics. For each dollar invested in Beck Ag, the client realized an additional $3.41 increase in sales the first year following participation in a Beck Ag teleconference. Second year following AgTelecom participation, the client realized an additional $4.72 increase in sales. Total increased sales generated over the 2-year study period showed a sales increase of $8.13 for every dollar invested in Beck Ag, Inc.


Additional Significant Research Findings
Significant findings calculated in this research show that veterinarians who participated in facilitated word of mouth marketing done by Beck Ag, Inc. not only recalled participating up to two years post conference, but also indicated they would be willing to participate in future conferences. Participants actively referred program participation to other veterinarians. The ripple effect, demonstrated through veterinarians actively sharing information with their peer veterinarians post conference was significant. In addition, 90 percent of the veterinarians polled were those who were maintaining or expanding their operations - optimum targets for future business with the client.


Information Sources
Additional findings in the Purdue research revealed that sources of information considered "important" to surveyed veterinarians included other vets and professional meetings - situations where interactive conversation occurs. Manufacturer reps and Internet were generally considered "less important" sources of product information.

AgTelecom^® is a registered trademark of Beck Ag, Inc.