Who is Fizz?
Fizz is a word of mouth marketing agency based in Atlanta, Georgia. Our goal at Fizz is to help you build your brand. Our focus is simple to identify the customers and potential customers most likely to talk about your brand (we call these people influencers) and then use creative tactics to encourage communication. We call this “Influencer Marketing” and it is the most effective technique available to you for growing your brand.
Influencer Marketing includes tactics such as evangelist, viral, grassroots and seeding, to name a few. Although these may seem like buzzwords, each is a distinct tactic that has its proper time and place. They are often used together to create great stories about your brand that people will want to share with one another over an extended period of time.
All Influencer Marketing techniques are based on the concepts of customer satisfaction, two-way dialog and transparent communications. The basic elements are:
- Identifying the people most likely to share their opinions
- Studying how, where and when opinions are being shared
- Providing the tools to make it easier to share information
- Listening and responding to people that have good, bad or indifferent things to say
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Fizz has in-house strategic, creative and executional staff making Fizz a one stop shop for all aspects of a successful word of mouth campaign.
Who are the Influencers?
You know them; the person who always has the best recommendation for restaurants, new drinks, music, books; whatever they are passionate about. They have a lot of information that is valuable to their friends. In short, Influencers are a personality type; not a person. They represent about 15% of the North American population. Influencers have three distinct personality traits.1. They search for new things because they are new
2. They share information with their friends by communicating with stories
3. Friends like being around them because Influencers always know what’s new; this saves their friends time and effort having to discover everything for themselves
It is this combination of traits that makes Influencers so effective as well as makes them identifiable using Fizz’s methodology. These people exist in different demos, cultures and subcultures and typically influence more than one group since they have a broad range of interests and social circles.
How does Influencer Marketing work?
For Influencers, great stories are social currency. They thrive on being at the center of each of their social circles and are constantly searching for new ways to increase their collection of stories. They do this by finding new information and sharing it in an entertaining way.From this word-of-mouth process, brands gain awareness and credibility. The Influencer's status continues to grow as their friends try the brands recommended to them and report back with positive feedback. As the positive feedback grows, the Influencer becomes more vested in the brand's success.
How many Influencers do you have?
Our proprietary database, Fizz Corp, controls thousands of passionate Influencers across all beverage styles and brands. Many of you are used to talking about the quantity of people that see a particular message. We, however, are talking about quality, not quantity for Influencers. Demographics are a range of ages, not a target market. We use a proprietary methodology which focuses on the quality of your audience. This is grounded in a strategic mix of account planning, research and in-depth data. Each campaign results in a different number of Influencers. We can provide numbers for you if you’re interested in the specific details of our case studies.
What sort of creative does Fizz do?
We have award winning in-house creative capability in a number of disciplines. We also work with your pre-existing creative such as promotions, TV commercials, PR campaigns, etc. The type of creative we ultimately use is determined by listening to the target audience and understanding the format they are going to respond to. This means that after we have enough information for the particular audience, we use one of our tactis in order to encourage them to communicate.
How do I know if Influencer Marketing will work for my brand?
Do you have a good brand story that once people learn it, they will want to share it with others? If you answered “yes”, then Influencer Marketing will work for your brand.
Can we use you even if we’re doing TV/radio/insert tactic here?
Yes. Broadcast advertising pushes messages out to a broad audience. Influencer Marketing can help your message circulate faster as long as it is relevant enough for the Influencer to repeat to others. Influencer Marketing may not replace traditional brand efforts; it can be used to complement existing campaigns.
How do you measure results?
In our former professional lives, the number one objective we had was delivering a return on investment for all marketing efforts. We have several case studies where we can show you solid returns that you can even calculate for yourself.We always look at profitable volume as the ultimate return on investment, however, we’ll work with you, your third party vendor or in-house research department to put in place quantitative and qualitative metrics and defined goals such as:
- Sales tracking, including sell-in, velocity and margin
- Contact/referral tracking including offer redemption
- Cost per acquisition, cost per activity and cost per impression
- Sales conversion rates
- Media impressions
- Brand health, attribute shifts and awareness measures
We also monitor in real-time, which allows us to modify tactics on an ongoing basis as needed.
What makes Fizz different?
- Our pre-existing Influencer Marketing network
- Previous success in harnessing word-of-mouth
- Measurement services
How do we do it?
We work in four distinct stages; Focus, Design, Delivery and Report. Each is outlined below. Our process is designed to be modular, so if you have already completed one of our steps, we’re ready to seamlessly meet your needs without having to charge you for work that you have already done.
Focus: Planning Stage
The purpose of this is to familiarize Fizz with all current business plans and information regarding brand(s). Then Fizz facilitates a meeting or series of calls based on a set of questions designed to elicit spontaneous conversation.
The purpose of this stage is to also understand what every brand audience group is feeling about a specific product/brand. Amongst the audiences and various meetings, a format that Fizz uses to elicit information is much like a “chat”. Based on the findings, we prepare a Brand Brief to act as a backgrounder informing the Fizz creative team.
Design: Campaign Development Stage
The Fizz team gathers for an efficient free-form session that honors all ideas. As the session progresses, there is a natural, organic shape that quickly gels to form a roadmap for the Campaign. That roadmap is also a result of our unique methodology, which allows for the development of a brand story over multiple audiences. Overarching strategic questions include:
- What story can be told about the brand?
- What outcome do we seek as a result of our interaction with the target?
- What are the messages we will convey to support that outcome?
- What is the most effective way of delivering those messages?
- How the targets should feel and what they think or what action they should feel compelled to take after hearing the story?
Fizz delivers the results of the internal creative sessions to the client in the form of a Formula. This is a high level outline divided into specific sections that represent the key components of a Campaign. The Formula will include:
- Campaign Overview – product identity; dates; # of team members
- Product Description
- Campaign Goals
- Targets
- The key messages
- Facts, Stories, Triggers [supporting messages]
- Suggested Activities
- Recruitment process
- Composition of Formula Kit
- Ideas for back end rewards and/or incentives
Delivery: Execution Stage Many events are triggered when Fizz launches a Campaign. Fizz communicates with Influencers, sends out Formula Kits, the message starts spreading, performance measures are received and the Client receives Reports. The major components of a Campaign are:
- The Formula Kit – This is a vehicle serving numerous functions. It educates all involved in the Campaign about your brand and trains them to be effective in their activities; it employs the reciprocity theory to Influencers to be active participants in the Campaign; and it provides affirmation to the Influencer that they are appreciated; that the Campaign is “real”, and worthy of commitment. The Formula Kit may be delivered in many forms, such as a tactile, personalized, direct mail piece or an electronic version over e-mail or on a website.
- Activities – One-to-one communication happens naturally. It happens everyday. We all do it. For each Campaign we develop Activities that Influencers may perform. These are designed to accommodate and fit comfortably into the lifestyle of the target audiences. Activities are only suggestions, thinking “outside the box” is encouraged by all so that Influencers can do what comes naturally.
Report: Reporting Stage
- Daily Two-Way Communications
One of the things that sets Fizz apart from other agencies is the daily communication we have with our Influencers. The program is designed to be a continuous feedback loop. Each Report (instance of Activities reported by an Influencer) is reviewed independently and replied to individually by a Fizz Client Partner, with feedback about the report, the effectiveness of the Activity and further training advice. - Detailed Measurement
In addition, each report is measured for report quality, effectiveness of Activity, potential influence, credibility, the number of interactions, and the quality of the target. A check and balance process occurs by having at least two Fizz staff members and a Client Partner review each report before comments are sent back to the Influencer. - Training and Trust
The benefits of our one-on-one approach are enormous. Influencers value the comments the Fizz Communications staff offers and a relationship of trust is quickly built. The staff provides constructive criticism and helps train the Influencers to be more effective in their activities. Influencers also contact Fizz daily via email, instant messaging, telephone, and mail. - Real Time Updates
Other communications initiatives include Campaign updates, informal polling opportunities and spotlights of great reports or new effective activities, etc.
During the Campaign, Fizz provides Clients with a weekly update of their Campaign. This includes some basic metrics as well as individual reports received. When a Campaign is over, Fizz prepares a report summarizing the entire Campaign results and includes an analysis of the data collected.
The report consists of two sections:
- Quantitative Analysis
This provides Campaign metrics including the location and quantity of Influencers and their Activities, the projected exponential penetration into communities, and polling and survey results. The metrics are analyzed to assess how individuals received certain messages, which activities are most effective, product awareness and perception changes. Results often include specific information about Campaign goals and changes to previous measured sales or activity patterns. - Qualitative Analysis
This is the complete set of reports received. Specific sections or notable data is highlighted. Clients often use these to determine the exact nature of consumer’s communications about their product or service. Often these reports hold the key to understanding what people say and how people respond to marketing messages.
Why is WOMM right for you?
Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) is right for your brand if your brand has a story such that once people learn it, they will want to share it with others. WOMM is especially effective when it comes to newer brands, challenger brands, brands that could create a whole new category and brands with a great deal of latent equity.
Fizz Bios
Ted Wright
The founder and Managing Partner of Fizz, Ted Wright has been at the nexus of beverage and word of mouth marketing since he helped Neal Stewart’s team bring back Pabst Blue Ribbon. Often quoted correctly in the press about beverage marketing, Ted leads his team of word of mouth marketing professionals from Fizz’s Atlanta offices. With years of experience and beverage clients in every vertical imaginable, Fizz has become the leader in word of mouth marketing for the beverage industry. Ted and his team at Fizz have been honored for their work with a variety of awards and the occasional bomb threat. They take neither seriously. A 15 year veteran of beverage marketing and an alumnus of Booz Allen & Hamilton, Ted also holds an MBA with honors from The University of Chicago, enjoys great bourbon and drives too fast.
Bob Garfield
Bob Garfield has never worked in marketing a day in his life. He has no relevant education, experience or data. He owns exactly one dark suit.
He is also the most prominent commentator and analyst of advertising and marketing who has ever lived. For 25 years, his AdReview column in Advertising Age evaluated, vetted, parsed, deconstructed and offered uncanny prognostications for thousands of ad from hundreds of agencies worldwide based on such criteria as strategy, communication, taste, ethics, brand relevance, cultural relevance and craftsmanship.
As far back as 2004 Bob also famously – and presciently -- foresaw the marketing revolution we are experiencing today, culminating in his landmark 2009 book, The Chaos Scenario. His new Ad Age column, “Listenomics,” explores the frontiers of 21st-century marketing and media.
In another life, Garfield is co-host of National Public Radio’s weekly Peabody Award-winning magazine program “On the Media.” He has been quoted by every major American newspaper, news magazine and broadcast news program and has labored for many of them, from ABC News to, ahem, Playboy. Bob also lectures across the planet on how businesses can and must, amid the rapid decline of broadcast advertising, take advantage of word of mouth marketing. That’s why he bought the suit.
Tyson Yirak
Tyson Yirak is the National Director of Operations at Fizz. Tyson brings over 10 years of experience creating and managing national on-premise programs for some of the leaders in the beverage alcohol industry. From conceptualization to brand launches, Tyson has executed over 6,000 events and managed program budgets exceeding 5 million dollars. He has also executed some of the most effective on-premise programs to ever be launched in the industry. This type of work has also allowed him to build up a network of servers, bartenders, venue owners and patrons which is second to none in the industry.
Tyson holds a BA from Xavier University and was a State Champion basketball player in Ohio while playing against the likes of Kobe Bryant, Mike Bibby, and Jermaine O’Neal. He also enjoys music and anything that involves the outdoors.
Monica O'Brien
Monica O’Brien is the Director of Digital at Fizz. Her claim to fame in digital is coming in at #20 on ChicagoNow's list of top Twitterers in Chicago, two spots behind Playboy. Monica was born in Germany and spent her childhood jet-setting around the world with her Air Force parents. Her travels include most of the US, Europe, Guam, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and the Philippines. At 25 years old, Monica graduated from the Chicago Booth School of Business with an MBA in marketing, strategy, and entrepreneurship. She also holds a BS in Computer Science from Truman State University. She recently wrote a book called Social Pollination: Escape the Hype of Social Media and Join the Companies Winning At It. The book is based on her popular blog by the same name. Monica’s accomplishments and drive extend beyond the professional world. She served as president of her college sorority, holds a black belt in ju-jitsu, and has run the Chicago marathon.
Janie Meeks
Janie Meeks is Assistant to Ted Wright, Fizz's Founder and Managing Partner, and the Fizz Office Manager. Janie has many, many years of experience making sure that everything "office" runs efficiently, effectively and effortlessly. From keeping Fizz's busy calendar of events, meetings and travel up to date to keeping everyone and everything organized and on task, Janie does it all. Interestingly, her first job out of college was with an upstart advertising agency that coined the popular tag line "El Yum!" for a nationwide Mexican restaurant chain. She doesn't like to talk about exactly how long ago that was. Suffice it to say disco had not been dead for long. From there, she has provided her office acumen to companies across the country in fields ranging from trade associations to high-tech manufacturing. Janie also has a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics and can answer any question you probably don't have about English punctuation, grammar and syntax. She deeply misses the serial comma.
Tanya Fraser
Tanya Fraser is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Georgia State University and currently the Marketing Coordinator for Fizz. Tanya has years of experience in marketing campaigns at all stages from guerrilla to on-air. Deeply moved by the likes of The Anatomy of Buzz and The Influentials, she has found her home working with the wonders of Word of Mouth Marketing. She loves French and the fine arts and has acted professionally for years including a stint in Atlanta's longest running show, Peachtree Battle. Tanya's beverage of choice is cranberry juice.
Tim Washburn
Tim is Fizz’s resident “Creative Genius”. With over 20 years of creative work experience, Tim Washburn has accumulated a huge arsenal of original styles and techniques that gives his work a unique look that separates him from his competition. Tim is passionate about what he does and believes the philosophy that “it is easier to set trends then to follow them” and strives to be better today than he was yesterday. He also prides himself in delivering cutting edge creative solutions via art direction, design, illustration, and photography. Tim has worked with many clients in the past such as Coca Cola, Red Bull, Cingular, and Cartoon Network and even has his own t-shirt design in Urban Outfitters.
