THINKing

Are You Buzzworthy?

Buzz. Having people buzzing about your product or service is the dream of most marketers. Smart marketers want to ensure that the buzz is positive.

Why don’t more companies get good buzz, particularly now in our global, digitally connected world? Let’s dissect the issue to find out what buzz is all about and how to get it.

It’s probably easiest to define what buzz is not. Despite what your ad agency is telling you, buzz is not derived from four-color spreads and multi-million dollar ad campaigns. Buzz is all the word-of-mouth commentary about a brand that is dispersed through invisible networks, as Emanuel Rosen points out in The Anatomy of Buzz. Interestingly, the invisible networks are becoming more visible, thanks to social media, but this is a subject for another day.

Before you start seeking buzz be sure you have a good product or service. Don’t try to foist something bad on an unsuspecting public. This generates buzz, but not the kind you want.

Consider the case of Momenta, a pen-based laptop computer that was ahead of its time. It launched with much fanfare, a huge booth at the Comdex trade show, multi-million dollar ad campaign, and thanks to a PR campaign, it was on numerous magazine covers. People were talking about it all right. Have you heard of Momenta? No, because it was a bad product and buzz killed it.

The Church of The Customer blog provides an interesting story about buzzworthiness.  A high end California restaurant, Cyrus, was fighting a very tough competitor for an exclusive clientele. So, it adopted some tactics to get people talking.

The hostess stops inside the dining room as she is leading you to your table and makes a call saying, “Chef, The Hoover party just arrived. Would you send someone out to Table 2 to greet them?” Now, that’s theater guaranteed to build the buzz.

But they don’t stop there. Within seconds of being seated, a server rolls up with a cart of caviar and champagne and offers it to your party. Unless the food makes you deathly ill or the place burns down around you, I think you are going to recommend this place.

Here’s the secret about building buzz. It takes hard work and being good at what you do. Now, think about your business. Are there areas in which a little something extra can make you buzzworthy?

Other Posts Of Interest

• Creativity 2011 – Week #37
• Links 6/25/2008
• Social Media Attack Plan – Part 1
• Links – 10/10/2007
• New Business Redux