The Anatomy of Buzz: Creating Word-of-mouth Marketing (Paperback)

Mr. Rosen has done a sound job of providing a number of interesting, behind-the-scenes examples as well as a context for thinking about word-of-mouth marketing. (I actually ended up trying some products describe here that I probably wouldn't have otherwise, such as the novel, Cold Mountain). The book's main weakness is that it focuses on word-of-mouth about products rather the broader question of how word-of-mouth creates opinions in all areas of society.

Mr. Rosen defines buzz as "the sum of all comments about a certain product that are exchanged among people at any given time." Naturally, you can have either good buzz (It's great!) or bad buzz (Avoid at all costs.).

It is easy to us to underestimate the power of these comments before we consider our own experiences. For example, if audiences hate a new movie, the word soon gets out and ticket sales plunge. You have probably seen people waiting in line to buy tickets asking those leaving a theater how the movie was. Here you have an example of perfect strangers advising each other and making purchase decisions based on these interactions. Naturally, this occurs much more frequently with authority figures (like Oprah for books) and people we know well (our family, friends and neighbors). For example, I always ask my older son before seeing any movie. He will have already seen the movie and knows my tastes. I will always have a good experience if I follow his guidance.

The examples in the book formed the core of the interest for me. The concepts in the book were familiar to me from my days as an executive in the alcoholic beverage industry. Because of significant limitations on selling liquor with advertising, new brands are built almost totally through buzz aided by bar parties and other activities. I was surprised that there were no substantial stories from liquor or cigarettes (remember the cartoon of Joe Camel?), both of which depend heavily on creating buzz.

In addition to learning more about how buzz works, this book also offers guidance on how to encourage and accelerate that buzz.

The book is divided into three parts: The first looks at how buzz spreads (a small percentage of all the people do all of the connecting together of information networks); the second examines what makes for success with buzz (having things people want to talk about and encouraging that talking); and the third details how to stimulate buzz for your business (this is summarized in a workshop for you in chapter 16).

Publishers, book authors, music companies, companies that provide breakthrough technology (the Palm Pilot), and people who make exciting consumer goods (like the BMW) will get the most benefit from this book. The examples and lessons best apply in those markets. People with limited marketing budgets should consider the book also to help organize the questions to ask oneself for stimulating interest in a product.

I also suggest that you read up on Edward Bernays, Robert Cialdini (Influence), and Ernest Dichter. A recent book, Networlding, is a very helpful complement to this book in describing how to create more effective and meaningful relations with others to transfer information and assistance.

After you have finished reading this book, I suggest that you step back and consider how you could improve the value of what you make for your customers and potential customers, reprice it to make it more accessible, and reduce your costs so that you have more resources to share with your customers and other stakeholders. In that way, you will have something better to buzz about!

Provide great products first!