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Interesting snippet in the June 5th issue of Business Week's “Up Front” section: a marketing research firm, Keller Fay Group, conducts research online that shows that, on average, Americans bring up specific brands 56 times per week...
...in the normal course of conversing with friends, family and co-workers.
Wow. Talk about buzz marketing. Apparently, the founders of this firm decided to launch this study because they became aware of how brand-conscious we Americans really are, and how we pepper our conversations with brand mentions. I’m not surprised about Americans’ brand consciousness, just the frequency of brand citings we purportedly make on a weekly basis.
Sure enough, I went to the firm’s Web site and found this: “Interviewing a fresh, nationally representative sample of 700 Americans 13+ every week of the year, TalkTrack™ measures over 250,000 conversations about brands annually.”
Apparently, this whole idea of “talk track,” attempts to relate the amount of “talk share” to growth in “market share.” Interesting concept. Might also be interesting to see how all of this might impact brand valuation, as well. Of course the latter is already done very well by Interbrand and Business Week (Top 100 Brands) on an annual basis and makes for compelling reading. I’m curious as to how the consultants involved will ultimately attempt to quantify all of the data they’re collecting, and whether they will compile a report or launch a book about their findings. Hmmm. . .
The question becomes: what do brands have to do to get their own buzz going to build awareness these days, and become part of our mainstream conversations?
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Comments
Answer: build good products.
Short-term spending may stimulate awareness and trial, but products need to back up branding. The more crazy emerging channels get, the more important it is to remember the fundamentals of marketing.
Posted by: Peter Kim | 06.15.06
Hi! You write:
"The question becomes: what do brands have to do to get their own buzz going to build awareness these days, and become part of our mainstream conversations?"
One obvious answer is: have a remarkable product, worth talkig about, like iPod or Tivo.
But that's not necessary, seems. Doing cool things WITH a product seems also to create buzz, like the Mentos-Diet Coke story that's now all over the Internet - where the mentos creates a fountain in a diet Coke glass..http://www.eepybird.com/
Or the ads that draw attention to the product, like the 1986 Apple superbowl ad, or the hilarious and effective "orgasmic shampoo" ad.
Both brought recognition and sales for their products...
So maybe it's about trying new stuff and having fun doing it, assuming the product IS a good one.
The trend towards asking customers for input is also getting fun results, like the customer-created anti SUV ads drawing attention to that whole world view, and the SUV.
Or the mini videos created recently by aspiring movie directors...
No one pat answer, seems. So here's to the experimenters, eh?
Posted by: Kim klaver | 06.15.06
Thanks for your observations, Kim and Peter. In my experience, building good products doesn't create buzz. It's too easy to knock off a great product idea--it happens every day. Most product and service categories now are viewed as commodities. Buzz is a cultural thing. For example: if the "cool" kids in high school and college endorse a product like the iPod, as they did, it takes off. Certain intangibles come together to create buzz. When marketers figure out how to leverage the intangible assets of their brand.. .that's when the buzz, aka viral marketing, can take over and create a sensation in the marketplace.
Posted by: Ted Mininni | 06.15.06