Buzz: Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand [Hardcover]

Marian Salzman (Author), Ira Matathia (Author), Ann O'Reilly (Author)

Book Description

Series: Brandweek | Publication Date: April 25, 2003

How to master the power of buzz
Trendspotters and bestselling authors Marian Salzman and Ira Matathia demystify buzz and show how marketers can create and leverage it for the success of their products and services. The world we inhabit is in constant flux, and the captive audience on which advertisers relied for years no longer exists. Branding today requires a flexibility and creativity that have thus far eluded many traditional practitioners. When there is no clear forum for communicating your brand message to the audience, you must have your audience do it for you. The authors show how and why buzz works, examining case studies like Kate Spade, Madonna, Bulgari, Ford, Nokia, and French Connection. They explore the role specific consumer groups play in setting trends, show how influence works, reveal the efficacy of shock ads, and explain how to manage brand momentum. This book is a dynamic guide that sheds new light on the topic of buzz using real-world examples and case studies that show how marketers can manufacture the seemingly authentic word-of-mouth to which today's cynical consumer responds.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Marian Salzman has a knack for telling you what you'll be doing before you know it yourself." (The Observer, 29 June 2003)

"...an enjoyable read, liberarally peppered with illuminating and insightful case studies..." (Marketing, 3 July 2003)

“…well covered…” (Gulf Business, July 2003)

“…brand owners must get their wares talked about. The question is: how? The authors of Buzz... believe they have an answer…”(Financial Times, 24 July 2003)

From the Inside Flap

It’s the most effective, least expensive way to put your brand name on the tip of everyone’s tongue and turn potential customers into paying customers. But buzz doesn’t just happen; you have to make it happen. How do you start buzz? How do you grow it? How do you make it work in a big way? In Buzz, three of the world’s most successful buzz brokers reveal the highly successful formulas they have used to set tongues wagging on behalf of such major brands as America Online, Esprit, and Nintendo.

Euro RSCG’s Marian Salzman, Ira Matathia, and Ann O’Reilly don’t just talk theory; they show you how buzz marketing works. They walk you step by step through the process of identifying Alphas and Bees, influential individuals who can best ensure that your message is spread to your target audience. They also present proven techniques for creating the illusion of spontaneity, taking advantage of existing social networks to carry your message just where you want it to go, and managing dialogue in a way that puts consumers to work for you.

Presenting case studies from successful buzz marketing campaigns for Kate Spade, Bulgari, Ford, Nokia, and Apple, this make-it-happen guide gives you the inside story on how person-to-person influence really works. You’ll also find out how effective shock ads really are, how to manipulate a brand’s momentum, and which products and services are most likely to benefit from a buzz campaign.

You’ll discover the different kinds of buzz, including viral marketing via the Internet, seeding, and roach bait, and learn how to determine which type will work best for a given brand or campaign. And, throughout the book, you’ll find "Build the Buzz" tips that suggest innovative techniques for going beyond simple buzz to generate continued brand loyalty.

There’s plenty of buzz about buzz, but until now there has been precious little useful information. From now on you’ll be in the know. So read Buzz and find out what all the buzz is about.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471273457
• ISBN-13: 978-0471273455
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.9 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,822,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a deep dive, July 26, 2004

By 

P. Mykleby (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buzz: Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand (Hardcover)

Buzz relies on its anecdotes and case studies to provide insight and explanation of the topic. The example-ware is interesting enough to keep the pages turning--the book's an easy read--but I was hoping for more. Using a diving analogy, if great business texts were scuba diving, Buzz would be snorkeling. While some of the material was thought-provoking, the text casually cruises around, and never really gets down below the surface.

If you're looking to get an idea of post-Barnum, modern influence marketing, Buzz works. If you're looking for exhaustive analysis of the title material, descriptive techniques, or methods, this may not be the book for you.

As an aside, there are repeated references to the authors' own company, which only detract from the work.

A footnote: The book includes an entire chapter on and shock and negative marketing. By virtue of posting this review, I realize I'm contributing to Buzz' own buzz.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars EURO-RSCG MOUTHPIECE, LACKS FOCUS, BUT INTERESTING CASES, November 9, 2003

By 

Shashank Tripathi (Gadabout) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buzz: Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand (Hardcover)

When used in the context of marketing, the word "Buzz" usually conjures up connotations of PR or creative activities executed in unprecedented ways, rather than old-school advertising.

That's a notion that the EuroRSCG authors of this book clearly do not share. Everything even remotely within the gamut of marketing is smooshed in to this all-encompassing treatise. No reason, they felt for instance, to leave out traditional creative that successfully carries "shock value" (e.g., voyeuristic ads) and thus by implication, "buzz."

Personally, I was specifically interested in examples of usage of new media such as mobile phones or blogging, but both these issues get abysmally meagre mention in the book. A case of Amnesty International from Netherlands is mentioned regarding the use of SMS. As for blogs, we are recommended, in 2 paltry pages of coverage, to keep ourselves "apprised" with what users around the world may be writing about our brands.

That's a bit like saying corporate governance is crucial for business, so well, keep your accounts clean. Right. How about a conceptual or theoretical framework, or even just a couple of concrete suggestions to actually DO something about it?

While the case studies are occasionally nifty -- e.g., MTV's hold on the spring break season for the youth in US; or Nando's in South Africa which uses creative advertising to position itself against McDonalds and KFC -- the book simply flip-flops all across the board trying to flesh out the fashionable catchet of buzz.

In the absence of any directional guidelines about how to CATALYZE such "buzz," the book falls a bit short of it promised claims. I'd still give it a 3/5 for a pretty interesting marketing read in general, it's just the title that's a bit of a gyp.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great for predicting the past, December 23, 2007

By 

Easy Writer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buzz: Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand (Hardcover)

"Buzz" has about 10 pages of educational reading. The concept of alphas (also called early adopters) and betas (the buzzing group that copies the early adopters and brags about it to others) is great.

The rest of this book is a waste of time. The authors constantly trot out examples of things that went viral, but don't know enough about it to actually explain how it went viral. They weren't involved in the early planning to identify the alphas, and they don't give good explanations for what exactly made the betas adopt the alphas' ideas, so every anecdote is a smug exercise in predicting the past. "You see," the authors seem to say, "here's an example of something that became viral, which demonstrates we know what we're talking about." It's easy to retrofit your theory to fit an anecdote, but it's lazy and obvious to an intelligent reader.

In the end, an interesting framework followed by a history lesson of things that became viral does not give a marketer enough information to replicate it. And the authors' annoying habit of constantly name-dropping their agency name reveals, I think, what this book was really intended for - a customer giveaway that might generate some buzz for them. I'm not biting. And neither should you.