Word of mouth still best branding tool

According to this article, "Americans make about 4.5 billion brand impressions a day just through conversation." This doesn't include the word-of-mouth brand mentions that are made online in product review entries, project-focused discussion forums, and more. I find that I do it often in person myself. As someone who practically lives online, I contantly offer people websites or company names I have found that might help solve problems they are having.