I'm a Disney Princess!

So I was procrastinating on Facebook and wondering to myself what the heck I was going to blog about today. That's when it hit me! All day, I had been seeing my DZ sisters posting on Facebook pictures of Disney Princesses that they had created. Some looked like actual Disney characters and others were made to look like the girls that created them. It was really cute so I went to the website to check it out for myself. The website is called "Azalea's Dress up Dolls." The website allows users to create their own "heroine" by choosing eye shape and color, lip shape and color, hair color and styles and the desired outfits. I'll admit, it can get addicting. For most girls, playing dress-up and pretend is something you never really grow out of.

The reason this idea hit me so hard was because it made me realize that the only reason this website was getting so much action was because of one person. An alumna posted a princess she created on her little's Facebook wall. From there, the picture and website spread like wildfire. Multiple DZ sisters began making their own princesses and posting it on Facebook. I have three words for you that describes this: word of mouth. Granted, it's not truly word of mouth, it's more like word of social media, but you get the idea. Word of mouth is a powerful strategy for any PR or marketing professional. Having the ability to spread a positive brand image by word of mouth can be huge to the organization's reputation. According to Wikipedia, word of mouth can be defined as "the passing of information from person to person by oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day." Word of mouth is a strong PR tool that many practitioners don't think about. WOM is more easily spread on the Internet. Through blogs, social media networking sites, email, etc., it creates that "buzz" that PR practitioners want for their organization. Recommendations, stories, testimonies and weighing in on conversations about organizations are ways word of mouth is spread.

 Did you know that there are agencies out there that specialize in WOM? Brains on Fire is an agency that works to give organizations an identity through marketing and word of mouth. I distinctly remember from PRSSA National Convention 2011, Brains on Fire speaking about their Love 146 campaign. Check it out because it is a great story. Other companies that have used WOM include: Toyota, Walmart, Honda, Apple and Chevy.

Okay, sorry for the digression. This "create-your-own" princess website is a prefect example of word of mouth. One person used it, loved it and passed it on to the next. From there, other people began seeing the results, hearing about how great of a website it was and using it themselves.

I kind of like myself as a Disney princess!