I am quite fascinated these days with the way word of mouth marketing actually works. I am particularly interested in the way it is created, how it can be measured, and some common pitfalls to avoid when devising such campaigns. When I heard the author of this book convinced a town in America to rename itself as Half.com for a year, to promote it’s website, this book become an automatic read for me.

The author defines buzzmarketing as “capturing the attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking your brand or company becomes entertaining, fascinating or newsworthy.”

The book focuses on how companies can use word of mouth campaigns to start conversations that will get people talking about their product or service. It does however sound a lot easier than it actually is. Getting people to start talking requires much creative thinking besides the willingness to take incredulous risks; such as renaming a town. The author however does a great job of breaking down the process of buzzmarketing into six different sections in the book. Each one is followed by examples and case studies to drive key messages home.

The sections are:

1. Pushing the Six Buttons of Buzz
2. Capturing Media
3. Advertise for Attention
4. Climb Buzz Everest
5. Discover Creativity
6. Police your Product

Each section provided me with much to think about on how to start devising a word of mouth campaign. What are the triggers we need to target? Who are the people who have the influence required to spread the word? How can we use the media effectively to generate the greatest amount of buzz? Each section is loaded with tips that provide answers to some of these key questions. I particularly liked the section on discovering creativity. It had some great points to get one thinking about the creative side of the campaign. This is in my opinion, one of the most critical areas when devising any sort of marketing campaign.

This book however lacked any information on how word of mouth campaigns can be measured and bench marked. For readers looking for data regarding this, WOMMA is a website where you will find some really good pointers for measuring such campaigns.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. I think all entrepreneurs should get a copy for themselves to stretch their horizons as far as marketing is concerned. Sticking to the old true and tested concept of blasting messages through maximum number of channels may have worked in the past, however times are very different now, and consumers are filtering information at a far more rapid pace.

If you have recently read an article, blog or book regarding word of mouth advertising please let me know. Thank you.