Comments on: markets are creative

By: Crossroads Dispatches

Crossroads Dispatches — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 07:38:09 +0000

Experimenting at the Fringes of Marketing

I partly wrote the Open Letter to the Lunatic Fringe of Marketing because I was amazed with all the attention on Lovemarks when something is happening that is a true lunatic fringe, er innovative, experiment in marketing is nearly completely

By: Jack Cheng's Blog

Jack Cheng's Blog — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 05:40:05 +0000

BzzAgents

I’ve had time to let this BzzAgents thing simmer for a bit, so here’s my .02 on the matter.…..

By: Don The Idea Guy

Don The Idea Guy — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 02:13:40 +0000

The BzzAgent is being viewed as such an ‘evil extreme’ by (most) folks who nothing about it aside from the other extremists’ view who based their opinions on assumptions rather than fact.
I doubt the BzzAgent-in-question’s only outlet for ‘doing something important’ was joining BzzAgent… but who knows? Maybe they live a sheltered life.
I read a comment today that assumed a BzzAgent only talks about formal BzzCampaigns instead of finding things on their own. Ridiculous.
I can assure you that when I nominated Hugh and GapingVoid as one of the Fast Company Fast 50 it had nothing to do with a BzzCampaign. It was just another case of finding something I thought was cool, and trying to share it with others who may not have been aware of it.
If a BzzCampaign WAS undertaken for something like…say… Hugh’s StreetCards — I’d certainly sign-up for it, but it’s a product I already like, I’ve already tried, and I’ve already buzzed people about it.
It’s no different than any other BzzCampaign in which I’ve participated — I’ve Bzz’d Seth Godin books, Tom Peters books, and a couple other business books in the same genre, as well as a couple fictional novels.
I’ve done nothing different as a BzzAgent than I would have done in the normal course of finding and recommending books, aside from the fact I received a free copy (and in the case of both Godin camnpaigns I ended up buying 3 add’l copies from bookstores to give as gifts), and I try and log the instances with BzzAgent whenever I’ve told someone about the book.
BzzAgent and its ‘evil deeds’ are really being blown out of proportion.

By: AdPulp

AdPulp — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 01:10:59 +0000

Paid Word-Of-Mouth An Oxymoron

Broken Type has posted a wicked funny piece on word-of-mouth run amok, as a response to the recent NY Times article on Boston-based w-o-m advocate, Bzz Agent–an article that has several marketing bloggers buzzing. Here’s an excerpt from the Broken…

By: Joy

Joy — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 01:04:28 +0000

The thing that struck me most about the Bzz participants was their expression that being a Bzz Agent was somehow ‘doing something important with their time.‘
How sad is that? Are there no hospitals, schools, churches, synagogues, etc. in their towns where they could spend their ‘volunteer’ time?

By: Dirty French Novel

Dirty French Novel — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 01:15:10 +0000

Bzz off.

Have you read New York Times Magazine’s article on BzzAgent yet? Why the heck not!? I recommend it. No one’s paying me. I swear. Shockeroo! The marketing firm that harnesses the power of being-in-the-know and tipping points annoys people from

By: john dodds

john dodds — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 00:59:21 +0000

I signed up for Bzz at the time of Purple Cow out of interest but immediately realised that I am not inclined to do something for nothing when actively prompted by a third party and that I think is the problem here.
The key phrase from the article is
Word-of-mouth marketing leverages not simply the power of the trendsetter but also, as Balter puts it, ”the power of wanting to be a trendsetter.”
Nuff said!

By: Jack Cheng's Blog

Jack Cheng's Blog — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 20:18:32 +0000

7:34AM Roundup Insomnia sucks. Anywho, here's some stuff to read: The Hidden (in Plain Sight) Persuaders was in the NYTimes this weekend, and it's sparked numerous discussions already. There's even a blog spam issue that's come out of it. I'm still not completely sur...

By: Jack Cheng's Blog

Jack Cheng's Blog — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 20:17:02 +0000

By: Jack Cheng's Blog

Jack Cheng's Blog — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 20:12:25 +0000

7:34AM Roundup Insomnia sucks. Anywho, here's some stuff to read: The Hidden (in Plain Sight) Persuaders was in the NYTimes this weekend, and it's sparked several discussions already. There's even a blog spam issue that's come out of it. I'm still not completely sure...

By: James Cherkoff

James Cherkoff — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 18:09:04 +0000

I’ve been talking to a senior bod who spent 6 years in the Saatchi empire. He reckons nobody really believes in Love Marks within the business, “from Richard Hytner down.”

By: alan moore

alan moore — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 16:32:36 +0000

Great headline: markets are creative.
Someone said that conventional image advertising is the junk mail of the 21st Century. What I see is the mounting evidence that conventional advertising techniques are becoming less effective, whilst at the same time there is an explosion of media channels and a profound change in customer behaviour.
All this offers up new and exciting ways to communicate with customers and drive growth for companies. But the biggest battle is the cultural mindset. All that has gone before is based upon an interruptive model of marketing. Hit em over the head for long enough and we will get a result, school of thought.
Creativity, has been based on witty copyrighting within limited formats of TV spots radio press and DM for example. And the craft of the art director/director/photographer.
But now one truly has the chance to be creative and to understand you can create powerful pull drivers to your brand or business as opposed to the cave troll exercise of bashing people into submission.
Can the old guard really make that leap of faith? As their culture of sameness pervades everything they do.
Equally, it requires a more uncynical approach to marketing communications if one is going to be truly creative. This means you don’t start with, advertising the answer what’s your problem? You start with what’s your problem? Marketing has to be solution driven not format based, it has to understand that communities can drive brands in very different ways. You have to invite people in and make that invitation compelling, uniting people around an idea that they want to be part of.
Creative Markets require applied creative thinking. And your conversations here are about turning marketing the right-side up. Keep up the good work

By: david

david — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 08:37:39 +0000

Argh… my boss passed around copies of the article this afternoon with a little ‘this is interesting… we should discuss at the next staff’ post-it note.
Must drink more. …

By: the hidden persuader

the hidden persuader — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 06:46:35 +0000

I reckon HUgh says it all: if nobody “wants to talk about” your product in a spontaneous relevant manner then … it’s because your brand is not relevant enough to get inside the average consumer radar. Therefore why forcing a “conversation” if the theme is not interesting to the listener?

By: The PRESSblog by Press Marketing

The PRESSblog by Press Marketing — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 03:07:44 +0000

BzzAgents, Word-of-Mouth Marketing and the Future