Marketing
Issue No. 21 - February/March 2005
Buzz marketing
by Dr David Corkindale
Gaining trial of new products and services
The managers of some bands that become widely known around the World through the file swapping of their music on the Internet, say this is not by chance. They claim to know the thirty people from whom all new music trends emanate. They ensure these people are genuinely first to receive the new music of their bands but they have no obligation to send it out to their network. The relationship is very carefully managed but pays big dividends.
In Los Angeles last summer if you visited a fashionable café strip for an iced latte you were likely to encounter some sleek and attractively clad lady motorbike riders who seemed genuinely interested in talking to you, particularly if you commented on the Vespa scooters glinting in the brilliant kerbside sunlight, that were obviously theirs. They were happy to pull out a pad and scribble down an address and phone number - not theirs, but that of the local boutique where you could buy or rent your own Vespa, just as, they would confide to you, the movie star Sandra Bullock did. However, this was no spontaneous encounter. The scooter-riding models were on the Vespa payroll and they were hired to generate favourable word-of-mouth for the recently reissued Italian scooters.
Marketers are said to be taking to the streets as well as cafés, nightclubs and the Internet in record numbers. What is behind this? The answer is : Buzz.
For some business categories, and managers with a creative flair, it can be a low-cost and effective way of gaining trial with a target set of customers. The entry cost of this sort of activity can be much lower than media advertising and very locality specific.
What is Buzz? Why does it occur?
One definition of Buzz marketing is the practice of getting key people to try products then encouraging them out into the world to talk about their experiences with the people they meet in their daily lives. The principle ...
