The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited: Real-Life Lessons in Word-Of-Mouth Marketing [Paperback]

In the first edition of this book, Emanuel 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 Seth Godin, Jeffrey Gitomer, Guy Kawasaki, and others correctly point out, "customer satisfaction" is achieved only on a per-transaction basis; the objective is to achieve and then sustain "customer loyalty" and, over time, create what Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba aptly characterize as "customer evangelists." 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 except for celebrities whose only claim to fame is their ability to attract media attention.

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 that are most appropriate to her or his own situation.

Presumably many of those who read that first edition do not know that almost 70% of the material is new. As Rosen explains in his Introduction, he offers lots of new examples and case studies "from the trenches" that made him focus on concepts that he previously ignored (or almost ignored) "such as the need to measure buzz, storytelling, the power of participation, ethical issues, conversation hooks, secondhand buzz, and visual buzz." Also, Of the 24 chapters in this "revisit," twelve are completely new (1-16, 13, 15-17, and 19-20) and only two are essentially the same (9-10). "The other chapters [i.e. 7-8, 11-12, 18, and 21-24] fall somewhere in between."

I was pleased to see Everett Rogers acknowledged in the Introduction. He passed away almost five years ago when Rosen last visited him, "he gave me a lecture on the economic development of New Mexico, a state he loved and called home." Rogers is the author of a book I highly admire, Diffusion of Innovations, and provided the Foreword to the first edition. He observes, "New products and services spread among the consumer public through interpersonal communication networks. These networks are for the most part invisible. They often operate in mysterious ways. Thus we are largely blind to this very powerful marketing process. No wonder that we fail so often in our efforts to diffuse innovations." He's right. This substantially revised and updated edition is most welcome. I think the core principles that Rosen introduces and explains in the first edition are still sound. However, opportunities to apply them -- to "get out the word" about a product or service experience, and perhaps offer a positive or negative comment about it with others -- have become almost unlimited. Therefire, those primarily responsible for creating or increasing demand for whatever they offer in a competitive marketplace need fresh perspectives on exciting new applications of rock-solid principles. Emanuel Rosen responds brilliantly and generously to that need in this completely updated and revised edition of what is already viewed as a business "classic."

Those who share my high regard for this book really should check out the previous edition, if possible, as well as Rogers' aforementioned Diffusion of Innovations, McConnell and Huba's Creating Customer Evangelists, almost anything by Godin and Gitomer, Kawasaki's Reality Check, and Martin Lindstrom's Buyology.

This has a lot of good stories, but after so many it gets repetitive. NOLS is a nice story the first time but overdone.

It lacks details on how to generate buzz. Author seems to be selling on the need to create buzz. I agree and his stories make a great case to create buzz, but once convinced I was hoping for some "How To" or "Try these" and didn't find that helpful.

In The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited: Real-life lessons in Word-of-Mouth Marketing author Emanuel Rosen takes a look at buzz from a new perspective. He figures that by now, we already know what buzz is, and he's right. For the most part we do. We get buzz, but Mr. Rosen uses this new edition to address the parts of buzz we may not yet get: How to do it and Why it is so important.

Mr. Rosen continues the tale of buzz that he began in original The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing. So in essence, this is not a revised book - but practically a whole new book, written from a new perspective. I mean with 12 new chapters - I'd call that a new book. That said, you can't discount the first book at all. You really need them both to understand buzz in its totality.

The best thing about this new edition is the stories - examples and anectdotes of companies who got buzz right. Mr. Rosen cites NOLS outdoor school, Tom's Shoes, the book Cold Mountain, video game Halo 3, and other products and companies you've heard about and may not have even realized the buzz architecture behind them all.

Architecture - yes, successful buzz takes planning. When I first heard the term buzz, I thought it was something that generated itself. And there is some buzz that pops up, but that sort of buzz usually doesn't last. Well planned and executed buzz is what creates real excitement - if done right, as many stories in this book show.

Mr. Rosen shows us the importance of measuring buzz and how its being done. He describes how on-line buzz and off-line buzz are like love and marriage - you can't have one without the other. Well, you can, but the result is less impressive to say the least. The key to effective buzz is that it transcends both worlds and manifests on the lips as easily as on the keyboard. He talks about negative and positive buzz, experience based and second-hand buzz.

I think my favorite chapter was number 7 - Why We Talk. Its fascinating to explore why buzz exists, why people have a need to spread the word - from barbers in New Jersey to Bedouins in Sinai.

The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited: Real-life lessons in Word-of-Mouth Marketing is chock full of good stuff about buzz. And its told in such a masterful way as to be entertaining, enlightening and intelligent. If you have any interest at all in this new world of marketing, you'll get a hold of The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited: Real-life lessons in Word-of-Mouth Marketing as well as The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing.