Customer Reviews

Grapevine: The New Art of Word-of-Mouth Marketing

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Okay, let's set aside the BzzAgent debate and focus on the book.

I read it, I enjoyed it, and I agree that it does read somewhat like a commercial for BzzAgent. I don't see that as a bad thing, as the samples given and examples used effectively illustrate how Balter has used this technique to exponentially grow his business. To me, verifiable real life examples effectively validate the data presented in the book.

Did I agree with everything said in the book? No. Did I take away ideas that I can use both personally and professionally, yes.

If you have no interest in the Word-of-Mouth concept, move on. If this subject interests you, this is a good book to get you thinking.

Word-of-mouth as a marketing tool? I was skeptical. After all, millions of dollars are spent on 30-second spot during the Superbowl. Oprah gave away a bunch of cars on her show one day. Magazine ads, TV commericals, rebates, coupons - that's what marketing is, not people talking about the coffee at their local coffee house. Grapevine has me reconsidering my opinion. Valid points are made about the effectiveness of some of these huge promotions we've seen over the years, such as the Oprah car giveaway. The show got people taking but was it about the product? Since reading the book, I've paid a lot more attetion to conversations around me and I've been surprised how often references to products come up. Grapevine has me thinking that maybe we, as consumers, actually do have power to make changes in the marketplace. Even if you're not in sales or marketing, I recommend this book because it will change the way you think about advertising in general. If you are a marketer, it will make you consider the power of people's opinions.

When I first got this book I wasn't sure I'd really enjoy it. Some of the business books I've read have been so dry and boring. This book kept me engaged until the end with the many interesting examples which Dave Balter highlighted throughout. I had heard about Word of Mouth Marketing, but reading this book gave me a much better understanding and has me looking at things differently. It's kind of a light read as far as business books go. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in finding out more about WOMM.

This book is simply an ego boost for the author. I found absolutely nothing I could use in my own business, but was
vaguely impressed with the writers "word of mouth" business. I kept reading, expecting to find the secrets to starting my own word of mouth campaign any minute, only to feel that final book readers frustration in the end. No good ending, no secrets revealed, this book is a waste of time.

I'm a Bzz agent, and I enjoyed reading excerpts from Grapevine chapters as it was being written and got to vote on the cover. (The publisher made its own choice, however.) It's a fascinating and enlightening book, with stories of ad campaigns--successful and not. The business background explains a lot about the commercials and ads we see and hear. A fictional ad campaign for SparklyPerfect runs through the book, and I thought that was fun! (The sponsor had lots of money, and the woman in charge of the ad campaign really had to hustle.) I really liked the book, but then I'm interested in marketing. (I was surprised to learn, as a Bzz agent--even before I read the book--how much everyone bzzs every day!) I did appreciate the fact that it's an easy and funny read.

very disappointed for sure. this is a regurgitation of stuff we've been reading forever. Packaged nice in their own buzz words and all but not worth the price and certainly nothing new here.

From the founder of Bzzagent- a book on how marketing can utilize word of mouth to sell product. Isn't that what marketing is? Filled with field reports and a company history framed within a hokey story. Nothing revolutionary here. Slapdash case studies with illogical conclusions, but a fascinating look at what people will do for free product. The kinder, gentler, more primitive face of Pattern Recognition. Favorite unintentional moment- Balter's defense against William Gibson and David Byrne's criticism by claiming bzzagent's not that kind of company. We were, but we're not now. Oh Tipping Point, see what you have wrought!

I am a buzz agent so I received a copy of the book to try out. I feel that a lot of the examples given in the book made it an interesting read. I am not sure, however, that I would say that I gained a lot of new knowledge on WOM marketing.

I am a proud BzzAgent, and I read this book because it was one of our assignments. I didn't expect to like it; I thought it would be boring. I was very pleased to read Dave Balter's book, and I'm proud to be a BzzAgent! We are not required to give glowing reviews of anything, only honest feedback. This book is a fun read, very informative, and about a subject which is vital to today's marketing strategies.

I must preface this review by saying like many of the other reviews I am a BzzAgent. I got a free copy of the book.

I was greatly interested since I am currently starting a new business. Does this offer something that can help me with that? The answer is mostly no. However, that doesn't seem to be the fault of the book. Rather, it's the nature of word of mouth, as becomes clear in the book. It's not something you can really control or measure so in that way I was disappointed.

The book does a good job of discussing a few ideas ideas about word of mouth, such as why being honest in marketing is needed (which is why every review from a BzzAgent on here is saying so), that the influential people may not be who you think they are, etc. Each chapter is prefixed by an illustrative fantasy example about the imaginary sparklyperfect product, which did help me to understand the ideas being discussed.

The main problem that I have is that the book didn't seem to come together to anything new in the end. It felt like a bunch of observations on marketing that weren't related except by being somewhat about worth of mouth and some of those were obvious to me (people don't like being lied to). The potential was there, with the concept of with instead of at marketing introduced briefly in the last chapter, but it was left unfulfilled.

The book has given me some things to keep in mind in my own marketing efforts and for someone interested in the subject, it's probably worth reading. I think it could have been much more useful with more of an end in mind, though.