Great for predicting the past
"Buzz" has about 10 pages of educational reading. The concept of alphas (also called early adopters) and betas (the buzzing group that copies the early adopters and brags about it to others) is great.
The rest of this book is a waste of time. The authors constantly trot out examples of things that went viral, but don't know enough about it to actually explain how it went viral. They weren't involved in the early planning to identify the alphas, and they don't give good explanations for what exactly made the betas adopt the alphas' ideas, so every anecdote is a smug exercise in predicting the past. "You see," the authors seem to say, "here's an example of something that became viral, which demonstrates we know what we're talking about." It's easy to retrofit your theory to fit an anecdote, but it's lazy and obvious to an intelligent reader.
In the end, an interesting framework followed by a history lesson of things that became viral does not give a marketer enough information to replicate it. And the authors' annoying habit of constantly name-dropping their agency name reveals, I think, what this book was really intended for - a customer giveaway that might generate some buzz for them. I'm not biting. And neither should you.
Timeless advice...
I was surfing the WEB looking for some resources on Creating Demand for products and services when I came upon this book. I immediately bought it and began reading.
There are steps to building demand for a product or service and creating the WOM (Word of mouth or "buzz") all marketers long for. By cleverly cultivating buzz, small businesses with small budgets can level the marketing playing field.
IF you want to create excitement about your product or service or launch a new product, start with BUZZ!
Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO - The WECAI Network(tm)
"Helping Women Do Business on and off the WEB."
Buzzing
Bought this book after trying to find more creative ways to market my internet product. Having worked in advertising on the creative side for years, this book really opened my eyes to a variety of interesting approaches to getting the word...out.
Great...
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