[September 29, 2005] Word Of Mouth Marketing Goes Mainstream: 200 Companies Join Word Of Mouth Marketing Association Tweet CHICAGO --(Business Wire)-- Sept. 29, 2005 -- The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) announced today that it hit the 200-member milestone only 11 months after it began accepting members, an unprecedented growth rate that clearly shows word of mouth marketing has become widely recognized as an important part of the marketing mainstream. Major brands and agencies are turning to WOMMA as they integrate word of mouth into their core marketing strategies. As the official trade association for the word of mouth marketing industry, WOMMA's role is to accelerate the adoption of word of mouth by building a strong foundation of ethical principals, measurable ROI, and best practices. "WOMMA's growth clearly shows that word of mouth is no fad but a substantive part of the marketing landscape," said WOMMA CEO Andy Sernovitz. A Strong Foundation: Ethics and Measurement WOMMA was created in mid-2004 to champion high ethical standards for the emerging specialty, and immediately developed an enthusiastic following among marketing professionals and major brands. The group was formally organized in November, 2004 when it began accepting members. Enrolling 200 corporations and organizations in under a year makes WOMMA the fastest-growing association in recent memory. "Word of mouth is here to stay," said Dave Balter, WOMMA co-founder and CEO of BzzAgent. "It has gone mainstream, as the association's tremendous growth shows. There's a fundamental change going on in marketing and word of mouth is leading that charge." Balter is author of Grapevine: The New Art of Word of Mouth Marketing, to be released this November. WOMMA's first major initiative was to publish the WOMMA Ethics Code. By leading with a focus on ethics, a highly unusual move for a new association, WOMMA set a clear priority for this new industry and continues to drive discussion of this critical issue. "WOMMA's amazing growth proves that listening to the voice of the consumer, respecting the consumer, and putting ethics first are topics that are resonating with corporate America," said Pete Blackshaw, co-founder of WOMMA and CMO of Intelliseek. In July, 2005, WOMMA released the first standards for measuring the effectiveness of word of mouth, and WOMMA also has developed an essential terminology framework for the industry. "The future of advertising and marketing is accountability. WOMMA's work on standards, terminology, and measurement has laid the foundation for word of mouth to be an accountable and important part of the marketing mix," said WOMMA co-founder and BuzzMetrics CEO Jonathan Carson. -0- *T WOMMA's 200 Members Advertising Research Foundation Advertising Specialty Institute Agency.com Alloy Media & Marketing Amway AOL Arnold Worldwide ASATSU-DK Association Forum Avenue A/Razorfish Azoomma Marketing Lab barracuda digitale agentur Beck Ag Com Best Buy BetFair BigChampagne Biggs - Gilmore BIGresearch Boardreader.com Bolt Media Brains on Fire Brand Autopsy Brandimensions Buena Vista Home Entertainment Burson-Marsteller buySAFE Buzzmarketing LLC BuzzMetrics BzzAgent Carlson Marketing Group The Cartoon Bank CEI-Star Ciceron Cercone Brown Curtis Chautauqua Communications The Clinton Group The Clorox Company The Coca-Cola Company Cold Stone Creamery Cole & Weber / Red Cell Coleo Marketing Group ComBlu comScore Networks Conceptus Conference Calls Unlimited Conkling Fiskum & McCormick CRM Metrix Cross Warp CTSG and Kintera Customunity Cymfony DDB Chicago DDB Issues & Advocacy Decision Analyst Decision Power DEI Worldwide Dell Dentsu Dewey Square Group DIG Business Design Digital Cement Digital Media Strategies Digital Palette Direct Impact Discovery Communications Dotglu DuPont Company EchoDitto Echopinion eCRUSH Edelman Electric Artists eLife Endeavor Realty Evangelist Marketing Expo Communications FanPimp Fidelity Investments FieldWorks Fila Online Fleishman-Hillard Foote, Cone & Belding FreeSuper Friendster Future Now Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp GasPedal Genuosity Gillespie GfK NOP Globat.com GolinHarris Greater Louisville Ground Force Network GSD&M Hadrian's Wall Harvard Business School Hass MS&L Hill & Knowlton Higher One Hosting.com HypeCouncil Ice.com Ignite Health iKarma Informative Integrasco Intelliseek Interpret-Her InterMedia Survey Intuit IPC Judy's Book Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Kaava Keith Bates & Associates Ketchum Communications Kimberly-Clark Kraft Foods Lawton eMarketing Lemon Foundation Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Liquid Intelligence Loyalty Research Center Lucent Technologies Lucid Marketing Lumin Collaborative M80 Market China Marketing Technology Solutions Matchstick Maxwell PR Studio Mediaedge:cia UK Medicis Aesthetics Millward Brown Mona Lisa Consulting Moroch MotiveQuest Motorola MSHC Partners Murad National Marine Manufacturers Association Network Century Nielsen//NetRatings Northlich Omotion 1QuickReferral.Com OnMessage Communications Organic Oslo - Inteligencia de Mercado Paterno Wines International Pearson Education The Phelon Group Pollinate Postscript Presslaff Interactive Revenue ProFlowers Pronto Communication TAP Interactive The Prostate Net Public Relations Partners Qtags REACH Media Renegade Asia Renegade Marketing Group Rex Public Relations Richards/Gravelle Rowland Communications Worldwide Ruxton Ventures S.C. 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