Generating positive word of mouth can be done in three easy steps:

Regular readers of the marketing press will be familiar with PWOM and NWOM, but as I discovered recently during a conversation with an alarmed-looking friend, people outside the comms world tend to think these acronyms describe the latest smart bombs on Spooks. However, brands are rapidly getting to grips with positive word of mouth (PWOM) and negative word of mouth (NWOM). The latest Tech Tribe report highlights significant factors in social diffusion, and what this means for marketing and PR?

The really big change is the confidence consumers now have in their own voice, their own creativity and their ability to express themselves. For brands, their lack of control over this new order is worrying. How do you engage consumers so that you can stimulate more natural conversations in specific communities? More importantly, how do you do this in a credible way?

From a youth perspective, leading brands like Unilever and Google have the answer to this: co-creation. They’ve decided it’s time to stop marketing at young people, and instead market with them. And that means sticking to a few basic but important principles.

First, to co-create with young people effectively it is essential to identify youth advocates and decide how to engage with them. This means that brands need to seek out the approximately 10 per cent of young people who regularly upload content and write blogs. They are not as hard to find as you may think: 17 per cent of 16-25 year olds already have their own brands, as they market themselves to their friends on their social networking profiles.

The second principle involves understanding what is important to these young people, and what gives them a sense of identity. The Tech Tribe report shows a generation where creativity has huge social currency. Friendship groups are defined by it and social standing is enhanced if you create and share content amongst your friends. Its no longer just about music and fashion, but about every part of their lives.

Getting the most out of this creativity brings us to the third key principle the need for a co-creation? Structure that can work in both the virtual world and the real one. Unilever have shown that consumers can come up with their own ideas and product designs, helping to bring the product to life in the market place. This in turn creates a talkability factor, the Holy Grail for PR companies.

Involving your consumers creates a buzz around your brand and generates PWOM. Web users will enthuse for days on their Facebook pages about how brilliant their experience has been.