What is live buzz marketing

Much like many other approaches to connected marketing, at its most basic level live buzz marketing is simply an attempt to harness, define and formalize what people have done since the beginning of time - talk to one another. Or, perhaps more accurately, it's an attempt to create or manufacture what people have done since the beginning of time. Marketers have now seen and acknowledged the enormous power of word of mouth and have tapped into it, coming up with a host of ways to kick-start it.

In order to understand exactly what live buzz marketing is, it's useful to break the term down and indulge in some dictionary definitions. For example,Roget's New Millennium Thesaurus (First Edition V 1.0.5) defines buzz as:

i) Verb 1) to make a low droning or vibrating sound like that of a bee. 2) to talk, often excitedly, in low tones. 3) to call or signal with a buzzer ii) Noun 1) a vibrating, humming, or droning sound, 2) a low murmur ( a buzz of talk)

Slang: excited interest or rumour ('the latest buzz from Hollywood)

Synonyms offered include the words echo, comment, gossip and word of mouth.

In the modern marketing era, the word 'live' could apply as much to an Internet application as it does to a piece of theatre. So there is no doubt it needs filtering down when it comes to defining the term live buzz marketing. The Oxford Dictionary Thesaurus and Word Power guide defines live as:

. . . an actual event or performance

('recorded' in the latter case we can assume to imply encoded or programmed, hence distinguishing from the use of the term live in the context of the online environment).

Taking elements of the above, the following could be a succinct definition of live buzz marketing:

'A marketing technique that makes use of an actual event or performance to create word of mouth.'

This is easily understood since marketing's new Holy Grail above-, below- and through-the-line is the creation of word of mouth. The following definition, however, is perhaps preferable:

'A marketing technique that makes use of an actual event or performance to create an echo.'

This may sound pretentious, but there are valid reasons to use word of mouth and echo interchangeably or even, in this instance, to replace word of mouth altogether. Echo implies something far more complex and explanatory than word of mouth. The use of the word echo also distinguishes this technique from other buzz techniques whose primary intention is the generation of word of mouth. Echo implies that the buzz is begun at a certain point by a live happening or event, which then triggers a sound wave to be sent out.

It begins with a high-impact sound - a clap, a bang, a shout, or even an evangelical testimony - and bounces off one surface, then another, reverberating, repeating and imitating itself until ultimately it fades and falls silent. The clever part though, is creating an echo campaign that takes years, maybe even decades, to fade.

These echoes, and therefore live buzz marketing campaigns, are created by performers. They may include actors and actresses as we understand them to be, but could also include members of the general public who are willing to talk about a product, brand, or service. All it takes for an echo to begin is for somebody - anybody - to be willing to perform a big enough noise up front to send vibrations out into the world. Actors and actresses can be used to do this as their training equips them to project their voices, use their bodies and convince an audience that what they are saying is true. So performers extolling the virtues of a product, brand, service, or message generally have the power to create maximum effect within the target market. The echo, however, can be continued by anyone who hears the message. And, provided the message is loud, clear, appealing and preferably unique, the echo can continue for a very long time indeed, as the case studies in this chapter demonstrate.

Continue reading here: How to drive brand advocacy

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