Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing [Hardcover]

Lois Kelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0814473830 | ISBN-13: 978-0814473832

Marketers talk about creating 'buzz' - something which always threatens to fade away as soon as the next sound bite arrives to take its place - but only the smartest of marketers realize that to be effective, word-of-mouth has to have the right message attached to it: the kind that gets people talking and results in real communication. "Beyond Buzz" shows readers how to listen to customers, identify what is important to them, and then craft the kind of message that will truly resonate...and not just fade away.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"..a prodigious and worthy successor to [The Cluetrain Manifesto] by looking at the ways humans communicate with each other." The Miami Herald, Sept. 10, 2007

"“Lois Kelly has delivered a prodigious and worthy successor to that book [The Cluetrain Manifesto] by looking at the ways humans communicate with each other and how conversational aspects, hooks and themes can be used for marketing. She brings the proverbial cluetrain into the station and unpacks some of the freight.” The Miami Herald, Sept. 10, 2007

Winner of the Gold Medal in the first annual Axiom Business Awards, sponsored by Inc. Magazine, in the advertising/marketing/PR/event planning category. Tied with Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz.”

Book Description

Gold prize winner for best marketing book (tie), 2008 Axiom/Inc Magazine awards

Finalist, 2008 Berry-American Marketing Association Book Prize

It’s official: the old marketing model is dead, and word of mouth is king. But while a lot of attention has been paid to the mechanics of creating buzz, only the savviest of marketers have learned to focus on crafting the right kind of message -- because without it, even the loudest buzz will soon die down. Beyond Buzz shows readers how to listen to customers, identify what is important to them, and then craft the kind of message that will truly resonate and spark conversation.

Filled with insightful examples of conversational marketing at work, Beyond Buzz gives readers the tools and inspiration they need to create an effective and interesting conversational theme that will engage their customers and take their marketing to a whole new level.

Without the right message in place, word of mouth marketing will never live up to its promise. This innovative and practical book shows readers how to ignite people’s interest...and generate much more than buzz.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (March 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814473830
• ISBN-13: 978-0814473832
• Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 6.3 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,074,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lois Kelly started her career as a small town journalist in Boston, and went on to an executive career in marketing and strategic communications, counseling some of the most fascinating CEOs and companies in the world. Her passion is finding ideas and stories that help people see their world in new ways.

Last year Lois found herself in a personal adventure that had to be told. The story of helping her mother live at home while dying resulted in the new book, "Be The Noodle," called a "treasure-- full of wit, wisdom, searing clarity and humor." While most people run away from end of life, Lois found it to be a time of great opportunity and personal growth.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Learn how to talk with customers instead of at them. August 4, 2007

By Brad Shorr

Format:Hardcover

Conversational marketing is really a simple concept and one that's been around since people started conversing. However, marketing, PR and advertising departments, especially in larger businesses, don't think conversationally. That's a problem, because customers want conversation, not the "party line." Lois Kelly offers a spot on solution--

"Marketing has traditionally been more like a manufacturing operation, producing advertisements, Web sites, brochures, campaigns, and press releases. Reframed as a service, however, marketing gains even more value through the processes of listening advising, explaining, and teaching." (p. 155)

Companies need to reshape their entire approach to communication to have any hope of influencing today's customers. That entails changing mindsets, job responsibilities, interdepartmental relationships and customer interaction--tough stuff.

The great value of "Beyond Buzz" is that it explains how large organizations can reorganize and reorient themselves to be conversational. Kelly has a lot of first-hand experience working with firms that successfully made the change, and with some that didn't. Her ideas and transformative techniques are not merely theories, they are tried and true. Worthwhile reading for business owners, leaders, and top level marketing, PR, advertising and sales execs.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars a flawed treatment of an important topic December 1, 2007

By Daniel Ginensky

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Lois Kelly has written a book about a compelling and exciting subject, namely using conversations as a method of mass marketing. Unfortunately, "Beyond Buzz" fails to explain how to implement this revolutionary idea.

The book attempts to explains how and why humans engage in conversations. I found these explanations confusing, poorly organized, and often repetative. There were precious few case studies of actual use of conversation in marketing. Most of the examples offered were taken from the world of politicians.

Missing was any usable program on how to implement conversation in a marketing plan. There was also no analysis comparing the costs and expected benefits of conversation vs. more conventional marketing techneques.

There was advice on introducing "conversation culture" into an existing marketing organization. Good luck on that.

The author deserves credit for attempting to construct a conceptual framework for a revolutionary marketing technique. However, I would recommend looking elsewhere for a usable program.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Connecting Technology Was Only the First Step in the Internet Revolution April 25, 2007

By J. Andrus

Format:Hardcover

In 1998, during the emerging years of the Internet, Kevin Kelly wrote that "The only factor becoming scarce in a world of abundance is human attention" as part of his seminal work New Rules for the New Economy. His predictions then regarded the ways that connected communications like the Internet would change our lives. Looking back on his predictions, not only was Kevin Kelly correct about the role of technology in changing our society, he also accurately predicted the importance of human interaction and attention in our new networks.

Now in 2007, Lois Kelly (presumably no relation to Kevin) extends the ideas of Kevin Kelly to the actual practices of any person responsible for communicating with a public audience. Her primary contention is that communicators must be worthy of and skilled in engaging a public into a conversation. Executives and communication personnel who work in public relations, marketing, sales or politics must acknowledge that their audience is not a waiting receiver of prepackaged messages that are broadcasted in any number of available channels. Kelly writes that communicators must transcend the technology itself to make conversations relevant between senders and receivers. And in any real conversation, there is human attention.

Beyond Buzz is a great handbook that outlines the many methods of creating and maintaining useful conversations, including the effects of our Internet technologies. I would recommend this book for any PR, sales, advertising or marketing person who wishes to take the next step beyond the marketing fundamentals of price, product, positioning, etc. Or, to combine the ideas of both Kellys, to engage scarce human attention in today's hyper-connected network world, one must create an interesting conversation as part of a human relationship. I am sure that when we look back on 2007, we will see that Lois was just as prescient as Kevin was in 1998.