Rosen explains how to create effective word-of-mouth marketing with material organized within three Parts: How Buzz Spreads, Success in the Networks, and Stimulating Buzz. It is important to stress that Buzz results only in combination with a superior product or service. As Jeffrey Gitomer correctly points out, "customer satisfaction" is achieved only on a per-transaction basis; the objective is to achieve and then sustain "customer loyalty." It is not only possible but common for a new product or service to generate Buzz initially but if the quality is not sustainable (preferably enhanced), what I call Positive Buzz can become Negative Buzz. (Even under Rosen's personal supervision, no matter how much perfume you pour on a pig, it's still a pig. The only buzz it generates will be provided by insects.) The "interpersonal communication networks" to which Rogers refers can just as effectively (and probably more quickly) "get the word out" about a defective product or unsatisfactory service. Obviously, no Buzz is preferable to Negative Buzz.
Rosen is talking about Positive Buzz. He explains HOW to take full advantage of the marketing opportunities it permits. In Chapter 16, "Buzz Workshop", he asks and then answers a series of very basic but profoundly important questions. (All by itself, this final chapter is well-worth the cost of the book. I strongly recommend that this chapter be re-read on a regular basis. Competitive marketplaces do have a way of changing, don't they?) Once having read the book, the reader is well-prepared to select and then implement those concepts, strategies, and tactics which are most appropriate to her or his own situation.
This book will be especially valuable to small-to-midsize companies with limited resources but the success of any marketing efforts (Buzz or otherwise) will still depend upon the quality of the product or service offered. All of us now actively involved in marketing owe a substantial debt to Rosen. Revealingly, the quality of his thinking and the originality of his ideas created Buzz long before his book was published. The acclaim he continues to receive is richly deserved.
In illustrating the architecture and psychology of how buzz spreads, Rosen explains that it travels over invisible networks. Pick up an in-flight magazine and examine the airline's flight paths. Amongst the paths you'll see hubs, where flights originate and land. Rosen says, now imagine the hubs as people and the flight paths as connections between people. Buzz travels through these connections via face-to-face meetings, the Internet, phone calls, etc..
Continuing with his airline analogy, Rosen names buzz-spreaders as hubs. They are trusted sources of information who can disseminate information quickly and make an impact on your organization. There are two kinds of hubs:
* Mega-hubs: newspaper and magazine writers, Oprah, politicians, etc.
* Individual network hubs: people in the community who can influence a sizable network of co-workers, friends and family -- it's typically those people in your office who always seem to be up on the latest movie, fashion or gadget
So now that we know how buzz spreads, what causes it in the first place?
Some products are "contagious," and there are ways to accelerate their natural contagion. Rosen explains that the hit HBO series "The Sopranos" is contagious because it's a brilliantly written show, and it's about people. Colorful and unusual people. Rosen's research shows that our innate interest in other people causes us to talk so much about them.
Rosen argues that buzz about a restaurant is often about the people who eat there. Movie buzz is often focused on the real-life actors in the film.
And what about stimulating product buzz?
Rosen suggests that in working with network hubs, be diligent in finding and tracking them. Target them first with a new product or service. Network hubs love to be the first to know something new. Bring the network hubs to forums where they can talk with others.
Devise ways to make sure others see hubs using your products. For example, PowerBar created a "PowerBar Elite" program. Athletes earn money when their picture appears in the media eating PowerBars or wearing PowerBar gear.
Filled with other research-based information and examples, the "Anatomy of Buzz" thoroughly explains how individuals, not just the traditional "mega-hubs," contribute to awareness of your product. Buzz-based programs can be an addition (or a substitution) to the mass media approach of traditional PR firms. With Rosen's helpful book in hand, marketers should add a section to their marketing plans for creating buzz.
By talking directly with your customers, finding individual champions and establishing relationships with them, you are on your way to creating good buzz.