Download buzz marketing

BUZZ MARKETING
How to create and manage it
By Professor Dominique Turpin - November, 2008
IMD
Chemin de Bellerive 23
PO Box 915,
CH-1001 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 618 01 11
Fax: +41 21 618 07 07
[email protected]
http://www.imd.ch
BUZZ MARKETING | How to create and manage it
How do you promote the benefits of a great new product or service without spending
massive amount of money in traditional, cluttered media such as TV or print advertising?
This is the question that many entrepreneurs with tight communications budgets are
asking themselves on a regular basis. It is also the question that many multinational
corporations are also raising in order to get a bigger bang for their money.
Many of these entrepreneurs and companies dream of replicating the success of Dietrich
Mateschitz, founder of Red Bull. The brand he created 20 years ago has become a huge
marketing success worldwide. Red Bull now has 70% of the energy drink market and its
success took the biggest food and beverage players by surprise.
The principle of buzz marketing (also called viral marketing) is not to use a specific media.
It aims at targeting and occupying all channels of communications in order to create
significant “noise” and therefore interest in the market place for consumers to talk about
the product and try it.
Communications channels are multiple: internet, chats on the web, teenagers' parties,
etc. Buzz marketing can therefore be compared to “wild advertising” or a communication
bandwagon led by communities of consumers, fans and enthusiasts who use words of
mouth and spread all kinds of rumours (right or wrong) about a particular product or
service.
Buzz marketing is an ideal tool for start-ups, small and medium sized companies with
limited communication budgets. But it is also a great tool for large corporations wanting to
make more noise in the market with a fraction of the huge advertising budgets they are
typically used to manage.
The success of Red Bull relies on an original concept: a highly caffeinated and disruptive
drink. According to an executive from the company: “The market research results were…
devastating, the color of the new drink was… totally unappetizing, the sticky mouth feel
and taste were deemed… 'disgusting'; the concept of “stimulates mind and body” was at
best… rated irrelevant. The verdict from the market research organization hired by
Dietrich Mateschitz was straightforward: “No other new product has ever failed this
convincingly!”
A well controlled and limited distribution of the product, together with a super premium
price and very focused communication through events, constantly renewed around
extreme sports, created a myth around the product that it was reserved for a few lucky
people who could find the product. Also, the fact that Red Bull was at first a forbidden
product in a number of countries only excited the curiosity of teenagers.
Our recent survey on what most favors a successful buzz campaign confirms that the
originality of the product is the first key success factor in order to benefit from quick and
positive word of mouth. The more original dimensions the product encompasses in its
marketing mix, the better (functions, color, design, packaging, distribution, price,
IMD - www.imd.ch
BUZZ MARKETING
Page 2/4
BUZZ MARKETING | How to create and manage it
communications, etc.). Think of the iPod or iPhone, each indeed meets every one of these
criteria.
Nevertheless, an original product without much added value from a functional or practical
point of view can create negative word of mouth. For example, a portable mobile phone
communicating with the outside thanks to a tooth implant did not convince many
consumers to visit their dentist to adopt the new device.
Consequently, a good buzz marketing campaign can only have a chance of succeeding if it
combines both originality and attractiveness from the consumer’s perspective.
Finally, the success of Red Bull, Zara, or iPod through buzz marketing shows that it is
essential to continuously innovate on the various elements of the marketing mix including
the product itself.
A regular stream of innovative products, designs and events can only contribute to more
buzz and generate the revenues that will enable the company to add more traditional
communications to the company's promotional ammunition and help make the product
still more attractive.
Buzz marketing is always about surprising and delighting the customers.
Dominique Turpin is Director of the International Seminar for Top Executives. He also
teaches on the Orchestrating Winning Performance program.
IMD - www.imd.ch
BUZZ MARKETING
Page 3/4
BUZZ MARKETING | How to create and manage it
RELATED PROGRAMS
ORCHESTRATING WINNING PERFORMANCE - http://www.imd.ch/owp
The 6-day global business program
Program Director Bettina Buechel
− A unique energizer: boost your performance, broaden your perspectives and
expand your global network
− Design the program that suits you
INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR FOR TOP EXECUTIVES - http://www.imd.ch/iste
Leading and Managing Profitable Growth
Program Directors Dominique V. Turpin
- Identify new opportunities to redefine the rules of the game in your industry
- Capture tools and concepts to manage profitable growth
- Learning how to better mobilize your organization to get ahead of the
competition
IMD - www.imd.ch
BUZZ MARKETING
Page 4/4