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Strategy for Sustainable Stealth Marketing

Based on our evaluation of the existing business models employed by various companies and literature search, we have identified key parameters that serve to define the usage
of stealth marketing as a tool for delivering an integrated communications mix.

Stealth Marketing Enforced with Customer Engagement

Customer engagement is crucial to building sustainable long term relationships and fostering trust with the consumer. The practice of Customer Engagement enables organizations to respond to fundamental changes in customer behavior brought about by the Internet and information savvy consumers, as well as to the increasing ineffectiveness of the traditional 'interrupt and repeat', broadcast model of advertising (Wikipedia)⁸.

Reduce Message Content Distortion through Codification

When innovators encounter new products or services, they pass on information about their experiences to their social network. This is a sort of uncodified buzz (Thomas, 2004). This is propagated through various channels with the Internet assuming increasing importance in the dissemination of information. According to a study by Jupiter Media Metric (2004), more than 90% of consumers referred at least one other person about a website when the original recommendation came from a friend. But companies should be focusing on encouraging and developing codified buzz. Codified buzz is that which is incubated, fostered and underwritten by the firm (Thomas, 2004). Some of the tools available to marketers are highlighted in Exhibit 6.

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8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_engagement

* Contributed by: -
Ramkishan Rajan has completed his Bachelor's (Mechanical Engineering) from College of Engineering, Trivandrum, and is a marketing enthusiast with specific areas of interest in Marketing of high technology products and consumer behaviour.
M. S. Diana has done her Bachelor's (Computer Science) from IIT Chennai, and has a strong analytical approach to marketing. Her specific areas of interest include marketing strategy and brand management. She is also majors in operations.
Both are currently students of the PGDM Programme (Batch 2006-08) at IIM Kozhikode.