Customer Reviews

The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First of all - yes, I am a Bzzagent. Which doesn't make me a "yes man". In fact, I reviewed their first book ("Grapevine") on several sites... and outright said that if "Grapevine" was an advertisement for their service, no one would mind - but it had no actual INFORMATION worth paying for.

Now, things have gone full circle. Instead of trying to come up with a book that is worth paying for, they're distributing this one virally. But, unlike "Grapevine", you'll actually LEARN about what factors will help a word-of-mouth campaign take off. And not just platitudes about how wonderful word-of-mouth marketing is.

MUCH better, Bzzagent. Much better.

I'm also a BzzAgent, so I kind of thought that this might be an interesting read from the perspective of someone who participates in word of mouth advertising. As a BzzAgent, I get free products to try, and if I like them, love them, or even hate them, I am free to talk about them to others and let them know what I thought. And that's how I got my download of this book. And when I'm done sharing my opinion here, I'll go report this post to BzzAgent so they can track my word of mouth.

So when I got this book, I thought there might be some really interesting information about how companies choose which people they'd like to help them spread word of mouth about which products (i.e. moms talking about cupcakes vs. moms talking about financial software... does one make more sense than the other? And doesn't it matter who's being talked to about cupcakes and financial software to just as much as it matters who's doing the talking?). But, I didn't find informations on word of mouth marketing demographics vs. traditional marketing demographics in the book, so I was a bit disappointed.

There was a good Casey Kasem story, although I disagreed with his conclusions about why we tend to listen to the same 40 songs. But overall, I didn't find what I was looking for.

It's safe to say that I'm the first reviewer who isn't a BzzAgent, therefore I won't comment on the fad without having experienced it first hand. After all, I'm here to review the book, not the company - although I find both to be one and the same. By this, I mean that Dave Balter (founder of BzzAgent and author of The Word of Mouth Manual Vol. II) has written a profound lie. This isn't a terrible thing, given that his profession claims to redefine marketing. The easy misstep with the book is to confuse marketing with advertising. Semantically speaking, Balter may get away with a new way to market the product development portion of marketing, but this doesn't add to product popularity through advertising. In his clever writing that teems with play-on words, Balter intentionally confuses marketing as product development with marketing as spreading the word (hence the term word of mouth). This doesn't redefine marketing, rather it simply attempts to sell his service through the gimmick of clever writing; such as with his futile example of the Tickle-Me-Elmo doll.

"Things turned ugly very fast. The last doll in stock, as fate would have it, was in the hands of a befuddled store employee. The rabid mob attacked him, knocked him to the floor, and wrestled the doll out of his grip. The poor guy suffered broken ribs and a concussion (not to mention a case of severely wounded pride)."

Balter's absolute truths (phrases such as "we all know") are unfounded admissions preying on the social media zealot who may well find the word of mouth strategy appealing.

"[Tyco] had spent millions on promoting the $30 doll. Certainly their efforts helped fuel initial customer demand. But we all know that marketing is not what drove parents to pay black market prices of $1,500 or more to get their hands on a red plush creature that giggles when you poke it."

Do we all know? Or does Balter pretend to know and charge $45 for it? Marketing may not have driven parents to pay $1,500 dollars (parents who could afford it), but it did make it a popular product whose stock, once depleted after a viral marketing campaign, became even more coveted.

Balter is clever to counteract his points with the hope of disguising them as conversational and then quickly changing topic.

"But even in the instances of pure word of mouth, marketing still plays a vital role. Tickle Me Elmo could not have been such a huge hit without the packaging...But even with all that effort and attention, 99.999% of you will never achieve pure word of mouth."

In that paragraph of seemingly conflicting sentences Balter reveals the essence of the book: Marketing plays a vital role and word of mouth is unlikely to succeed without it. How then can one harness Word of Mouth's true potential? Why, BzzAgent, of course.

There are entire sections devoted to BzzAgent that cover everything from biography to a fool-proof structure of why it works - all of this without offering a single study or reference and without indexing a citation (unless you count "One research study in the United Kingdom suggests that a word of mouth dialogue is 1,000 times more powerful than a standard ad impression" as a credible source).

The book does not disclose personal data such as BzzAgent demographics, statistical analysis, or in-depth research on how to utilize "Word of Mouth". Indeed the marketing trick is titling the book a Manual. It is not a Manual, rather a collection of quirky drivel.

The reason for this is because it's probably difficult to quantify word of mouth other than with what Balter's Agents decide to put in their reports after having reviewed a free sample.

BzzAgent has a simple structure according to the book. An aspiring Agent joins, completes surveys that qualify him/her as dependable and receives free products, which he/she then tests, asks close contacts about and submits a "long & detailed" report on. BzzAgent then accumulates these reviews and sells its information to its clients (the product developers).

The definition of Word of Mouth is "informal oral communication." This does not describe BzzAgent, which is a commercialization of Free Sample Inspection. Word of Mouth marketing potential drastically depends on how many free samples the developer releases as opposed to how many of the sample recipients/reviewers pass the word on.

Is the mass review of products by real-world consumers beneficial to product development? There's no doubt that it is. But, this isn't marketing, certainly not by word of mouth. BzzAgent is a product development company that trades free samples to consumers in return for an obligatory review.

If you find yourself with a free PDF version of this $45 mis-titled, self-indulgent expose, or find it at a bookstore - read pages 86-89 before doing anything else. In them is an essay titled "The Tiny Little Alligator That Roared" with which Balter exemplifies how Lacoste used Word of Mouth to revive its campaign.

...the only problem is that it didn't. After a brief biography of the polo maker, Balter concludes with a "and that's how they did it" type of finale. If someone could find in those three pages how Lacoste successfully used word of mouth, please comment on this review and fill me in.

In reality Lacoste reinvented itself by redesigning clothes to fit in a tighter, sexier way. Love stories on tv ad campaigns between French tennis man Arnaud Clement and the Danish singer Natasha Thomas were pricey. In 2006, Lacoste had its annual fashion unveiling in New York instead of Paris in order to reach a sportier yet pedestrian look - attracting stars like Kanye West. In 2010 alone, Lacoste spent $7.5 million in advertising.

It's also true that this year, 80 people wearing red Lacoste polos will hand out $50 gift certificates in NY. Given that last season's polo is $59.95 at Macy's, what Lacoste is doing by giving out a limited number of $50 gift certificates (a word of mouth marketing attempt) is offering a discount on their polo. Though the shirt may be nice, even by word of mouth, the gift card doesn't market its affordability. Overpriced? Underpriced? That's for the individual consumer to decide - or for companies that employ individual consumers, like BzzAgent.

What makes Lacoste a sought after product isn't simply the quality of the material - spun by adolescent Thai seamstresses - no, it is the marketing campaign that makes it an expensive, elitist polo at $150. Most consumers buy last season's stuff at $59.95 for a chance to look like the few who can afford the entire collection of $150 polos. Lacoste has yet to join BzzAgent for word of mouth marketing. Maybe because it realizes that not much good can come from giving out free polos to people that can't afford them this holiday season. Seems like a company that understands its demographic.

In short, The Word of Mouth Manual Vol II, isn't a manual, a technique, a structured argument or even a plausible advertising tool. It is an attempt to get people to buy a $45, self-published, self-promoting rant and/or to recruit more BzzAgents.

By the end of this book, one has little understanding of Word of Mouth, and even far less grasp of how it's been utilized and how it can be harnessed to market product beyond corporate development. It is marketing at its finest. It sells something useless at a very high price.

P.S.
If you can't find the book for free and aren't sure about purchasing it, reference the YouTube video "Buzz Agent" (it is the first result after a "buzz agent" search and is an interview with a former Agent). Before watching, conceive a definition for "word of mouth marketing". After watching, ask yourself whether or not BzzAgent is a marketing tool to spread the word or a product review company. You'll most likely find yourself thinking the latter, since that's BzzAgent's only guaranteed service.

I've just finished reading this book and I must say that I found it to be very interesting, very informative, and highly humorous. As a former teacher, I have no connection to the world of business or marketing. However, I still found it to be a valuable book in understanding not only consumerism, but also human psychology and what drives us to do the things we do. I think many of my former high school students could learn a great deal from the concepts discussed in the book--like how they can become active consumers instead of simple pawns of marketing companies. Rats! It would've made a great lesson--especially since high school students could easily relate to Balter's humorous writing style. For now, I'll just have to wait until my kids are old enough to fill them in on the whole game.

Although I see great value in this book, I don't believe that I would spend $45 for it. (It's just too much money--even with the great monkey cover.) Also...I'd probably cut the final chapter on bonuses. I understand what Balter was trying to say there, but it just seems to go off on a tangent instead of leaving the reader with a lasting impression on the power of word of mouth advertising--that's not much of a bonus.

I had the opportunity to read this book as a BzzAgent. And yes, I did this of my own free will, without pay. :)

It is amazing how much influence those around you have on our personal opinions about things. I can't tell you how many times I've been influenced by someone telling me how much they liked a specific product, service, political candidate, etc. I know I've personally been an influence to just about everyone around, with all kinds of things, such as those listed previously. It is so easy to have a good or even negative experience with a product and tell others about it. Word of Mouth travels fast and has a more lasting and a direct impact then pretty much any other marketing scheme. This book gives some great insight to this marketing effort and helps open the eyes to those companies who may be considering a marketing effort such as this. I would highly recommend this book to you if this is the route you are considering.

Hmm. Sure are a lot of folks posting reviews that mention up top, "I'm a bzzagent, so (dot dot dot)." And I'm no exception. But it seems to reinforce a certain message, don't you think? Or do you? Perhaps you just think you do, but half of what you've got in your head was placed there by well developed marketing plans.

Check out bzzagent if you've never heard of it, by the way...the whole schtick is based on word-of-mouth advertising for emerging products and the like. So it fits the theme.

I'm not a marketer. I'm not a psychologist. I was, long long ago, an amateur hypnotist. Very amateur. But it turns out, that didn't matter so much, because the better part of the population is *highly* suggestible and subject to all manner of subtle manipulations. And that has nothing to do with this review. Or the monkey. Or maybe it does.

Point is, I found it interesting. Not five-star interesting, but that could be because I'm a geek and not a marketing guy. [...]

I'm hoping they make it available via Kindle. Though if you have one, you could mail it to your own for like a dime. Calls used to cost a dime a minute, and now you can get a whole book, delivered to a wireless eReader, for the price of one minute.

How awesome is that?

As I have just finished reading the Word of Mouth Manual, I thought I would offer a general synopsis of what I thought of the book. I was skeptical about reading a book in PDF format as sitting in front of a computer for a long period time just doesn't seem very enjoyable. Ironically enough, I have surprised even myself. I accomplished reading the entire 119 pages in two and a half hours. That being said, this is what I thought:

- The book is very engaging. The very nature of the way that it is written makes you feel like you are listening to a speaker.

- The real life examples of companies and products in the most recent years made this book very "current" and that much more interesting. Using examples of Tickle Me Elmo, Crocs, and the IPhone to exemplify how quickly word spreads made me look at things from a different perspective. It's funny because I never remember seeing a Croc commercial, but I do remember everyone talking about them. (Though I admit that I don't own a pair) I also found the example of Lacoste intriguing and how WOM is more like how Lacoste has lasted throughout the decades even after people thought the tiny alligator was gone forever. I find it very true that almost as quickly as something goes "viral", it also makes an exit almost equally as fast.

- In the middle of the book, it seemed like the author was spending a lot of time defending BzzAgent. While I can understand that BzzAgent is relatable to WOM marketing, there were a couple of instances where I just felt that the section as a whole was detracting from the main purpose of the book of explaining why WOM marketing is useful and still very relevant today.

Overall, I feel that this book was worthy of the time that I spent reading it and I think that the material is substantial enough that it can lead to engaging conversations with others. Thanks BzzAgent!

Also a BzzAgent and enjoyed this book. As someone else mentioned, it is a quick and easy read and provided insights into the power of word of mouth advertising. I'm would not pay $45 for an actual copy, but it was more than worth the download for an electronic copy.

I am a believer that word of mouth does not need to be positive just honest. I mean, how hard is it to tell when a sales associate is working on commission?? I would rather have a truthful opinion and be allowed to make up my mind since no products are perfect for everyone. BzzAgent is also a believer in this idea. Products are not met to be given fake endorsements, just honest reviews in casual conversations.

I too am also a bzzagent, but i agree with the other person, just because I got something to sample doesn't mean I will automatically give it a great review.
I actually enjoyed reading this book. I am not in business or anything like that, I just read it because it was about bzzing, which I enjoy doing. I thought it was packed with tons of humerous stories and was a pretty fast read. Now to be honest, I'm not quite sure it is worth $45, unless you want the limited edition copy, but I would definantly recommend this one when it comes out in a mass print or if you can get your hands on an electronic version of the book. Definantly a fun way to spend a couple hours and learn a few interesting things!

This book is filled with a lot of humor, amusing personal stories and quite a bit of information for those wanting to know the best route to go with marketing (word of mouth). I love how the author points out the fact that we mortal humans will " do the right thing" most of the time if given the opportunity. Being an optimist, I hold the same view. Thanks for the good read! btw...I'm a bzzagent and I enjoy it a lot!