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Buying Word of Mouth

By Jacqueline Drew
START Marketing Inc.
www.startmarketing.com

Recently, there has been talk about a new trend in marketing called Buzz marketing. Buzz marketing refers to a process whereby an advertiser hires a marketing agency to recruit people to try a product, and then talk about it with their friends and peers in order to accelerate what would normally be natural word of mouth marketing. Buzz marketing agencies carefully select people they think are keen on their product category… people who they see as potentially strong influencers, like trendy teens.

Now, buzz marketers have sprouted up because they see traditional forms of advertising as being less effective against the multi-media explosion… and they may even tell you that buzz marketing is a “kinder, gentler” form of advertising. But is it?

Well, word-of-mouth advertising has been around since the dawn of time. It's honest, legitimate, and very effective. But let me tell you why that description will never be applied to paid buzz advertising.

1. Buzz marketing turns honest word of mouth advertising into paid, direct sales. And do the people delivering this “paid word of mouth” actually tell their peers that they are receiving some form of compensation? If they do, they taint the objectivity of their opinion. If they don't, then they are deceiving people, and they're liable to be found out anyway.
2. What is the advertiser getting for their money? Are they scripting what the participants say, and hence stilting their naturalness? Or are they not, and meaning participants can spread both good and bad comments about the product? On one hand the advertiser gets a consistent, phony sounding message. On the other hand, they get an inconsistent message- no better than real word of mouth – but it cost more.
3. Finally, the participants in buzz marketing end up compromising their own reputation. Just like annoying network marketers who are constantly trying to pitch products on their friends and family for their own financial gain, buzz marketers may soon find themselves being snickered at– because they have made themselves walking ads instead of credible consumers. Is this what we want our world to become?

The upshot is this: an unpaid opinion is generally an honest opinion. A paid opinion – no matter how subtly executed – isn't. If you want opinions, get your product out there honestly – with legitimate sampling. And you'll get the right kind of buzz – without getting stung!