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?There?s fake corporate marketing and then there?s real marketing. This is the real stuff for real people.?
?Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry?s Ice Cream
These days consumers are paying less and less attention to advertising. A majority already zap commercials, and new technology keeps making it easier to tune out marketing messages.
Mark Hughes has written a breakthrough guide to the art of successful buzzmarketing?which many people talk about but few truly understand. He draws on his own real-world experience as an executive and consultant, as well as untold stories of some of the great buzz generators of our time, including American Idol, tie-dye shirts, and the birth of Lite beer.
Anonymous
Posted December 21, 2005
Buzz happens when your customers start to talk to other people about the benefits of your product or service. A powerful story gets this process started. So, it's no wonder that author Mark Hughes has the ability to tell an entertaining story. He sets the stage for his interesting tales with his personal account of how he convinced a small town in Oregon to rename itself after his Internet start-up company. The book is full of great anecdotes about brands that reaped huge rewards by pursuing a buzzmarketing strategy, and it flows naturally from story to story. Hughes intertwines his key points throughout. The book is certainly not heavy reading, but it may rejuvenate creative marketing minds. We strongly suggest it to marketers withering under the strain of expensive budgets while achieving poor sales results. Who knows, maybe a little buzz could help.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 12, 2005
Once in a while up pops a quick fix book that is sane, smartly written, witty, entertaining and ultimately useful. Mark Hughes has produced just that book in his terrific little book BUZZMARKETING : Get People to Talk About Your Stuff. How he came up with this idea, implemented it, and is impacting business form little Mom and Pop stores to major corporations is the gist of the book. First, it seems too obvious to follow Mark's concept. All of us know that we are far more apt to listen tot he enthusiastic excitement about a product form a friend, a watercooler discussion, or over hearing a conversation in places such as an elevator, bus stop, or those wide awake moments in obligatory meetings. The media blitz numbs our brains UNLESS there is something catchy, memorable, and quotable that sticks to our brains like magnets. These are the buzzwords Mark addresses - an does very much more. In 'six secrets' of creating the magical buzzwords are given early on in this book and the six buttons of buzz to start a conversation are 1) the taboo (sex, lies, bathroom humor), 2) the unusual, 3) the outrageous, 4) the hilarious, 5) the remarkable, and 6) secrets (both kept and revealed). We are shown that pushing any one of these buzz buttons will immediately start a conversation that will ultimately get people to repeat it...and the cycle begins. Building on this momentum the book offers the 'secrets' of making buzzwords, slogans, seducing the media, and using the loaded information to market a product. Using success stories to support these approaches (companies using popular stars to capitalize on their product, businesses who build on simple quirky phrases to supplant expensive variably successful advertising campaigns) supplies enough evidence to pay close attention to 'buzzmarketing'. Mark Hughes is not only successful because of his concept's amazing results, he is also a wonderfully fluid and witty writer. Reading this book is not a chore: reading this book is an experience that entertains while it informs. And wild and simple as the concept is, it works! Pleasure yourself and advance your career. Grab the gold ring before this little book is on the Best Seller list - as it is surely headed in that direction! Highly recommended. Grady Harp
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 29, 2005
This book is a rare combination, an entertaining story about behind-the-scenes marketing, as well as a great 'how to' guide. Everyone knows that good word-of-mouth advertising can make a product, and bad word-of-mouth comments can kill a product. Many books exhort you to create such good 'buzz' and give you lots of examples. Mark Hughes does that same thing, but he backs up his advice with a six-step process broken into detailed subcategories of how to implement that make creating 'buzz' as simple to understand as baking a chocolate cake with a packaged mix. First, you describe what you have using slants that attract interest (taboos, the unusual, outrageousness, humor, being remarkable and revealing secrets). Second, capture media attention by fitting into one of their five favorite stories. Third, use advertising to get attention by going where there's no other advertising to distract. Fourth, create a new way to get buzz that becomes a media-changing event. Fifth, go for jaw-dropping creativity to get your message across. Sixth, be sure you deliver what you promise. For those who don't know how trends are started through behind-the-scenes marketing, this book will be a revelation with examples like The Pepsi Challenge, the building of Britney Spears, half.com and launching of the Ford Mustang. The book is spare. Mr. Hughes doesn't waste a word. The examples are just enough to get the point across . . . and not belabor it. Get this book now before you competitors do! I was very impressed to see the many small company examples in here that someone can use to market on a tiny budget. The big company examples are revealing too, even if small companies may not be able to directly emulate them. If you enjoyed Purple Cow, you will like this book more . . . and find it easier to apply.
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Posted July 28, 2011
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Overview
?There?s fake corporate marketing and then there?s real marketing. This is the real stuff for real people.?
?Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry?s Ice Cream
These days consumers are paying less and less attention to advertising. A majority already zap commercials, and new technology keeps making it easier to tune out marketing messages.
Mark Hughes has written a breakthrough guide to the art of successful...