By Atheer Al-Salim, account director

Everyone’s talking about the Microsoft ‘Windows 7’ campaign. Carrying the theme ‘I’m a PC and Window’s 7 was my idea,’ the campaign is based around the idea that showing that the users of Windows were involved in the development process is a selling point.

After the shambolic launch of Vista, which experienced unprecedented levels of negative Word of Mouth, it’s interesting to see Microsoft’s new strategy. According to David Webster, GM for brand and marketing strategy at Microsoft, “our customers co-create the product with us. We’re using the customers’ voice to tell our story.”

So, in true Citizen Smith style, Microsoft is effectively positioning Windows 7 as a product for the people, by the people.

This kind of Empowered Involvement harnesses a powerful psychological phenomenon known as the Hawthorne Effect, which according to Dr Paul Marsden “is simply the ‘I did that’ effect, the consequence of being asked one’s opinion and seeing it acted upon.”

For evidence of this technique in action on a massive scale, look no further than reality TV shows such as X Factor or American Idol. The viewing public create the next Will Young or Leona Lewis. We feel a part of their success and this is reflected in the number of singles and albums they shift.

The recent Walkers ‘Do me a flavour’ campaign is another great example of highly successful Empowered Involvement. Personally, I’m not a big crisp fan, but I lost track of the number of conversations I had with colleagues, friends and family about possible combinations and I made sure I tried some of the winning flavours, triggering further conversations. The campaign attracted more that 1.1 million entries – that’s at least 1.1 million advocates talking about the Walkers brand.

The only problem with this kind of campaign is that the product needs to deliver. Positive Word of Mouth is primarily based on a good customer experience, so Windows 7 needs to be more than a clever advertising campaign and deliver what it says on the tin.

Next WOM UK event, Nov 18: Dr Martin Oetting discusses ‘The Ripple Effect’.