Book Review: Buzzmarketing, by Mark Hughes
Buzzmarketing, get people to talk about your stuff, by Mark Hughes
I've commented on this book before. I've read Buzzmarketing twice now and obviously really enjoyed it, as well as found it useful. - here is my full review:
Imagine a hypothetical book by your favorite authors. For me, that would include Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell.
Now imagine volume II - new material, not a rehash.
For me, that book just might by Buzzmarketing by Mark Hughes.
The big idea: We all know advertisers lie, and even if they didn't we wouldn't listen to them because there are just too many ads. Buzzmarketing gets people talking about your product, and people listen to other people.
I might not buy XYZ because of its ads or marketing, but if an ordinary human tells me it's great I just might buy it. I trust humans; they usually have no reason to lie, unlike advertisements. It could be my wife telling about a great new cheese shop, or my mechanic telling me about a great new movie, or the lady today who noticed me looking confused at the array of smoked salmon and said "I love this one -it's great!" People trust people not ads.
Great stories in Buzzmarketing illustrate the points as well: how Mark got the town of Half, Oregon to rename itself to half.com, and why Miller Lite made it while previous light beer attempts failed is fascinating.
Mark demystifies buzzmarketing, breaking it down into a few "secrets" or guidelines:
The first secret is 6 simple rules or the "six buttons of buzz." This is information I can and already have used in this book.
Here they are:
The taboo - sex, lies, and bathroom humor
The unusual
The outrageous - but don't be outrageous just for the sake of outrageousness
The hilarious
The remarkable
The secrets - both kept and revealed
The second secret is capturing media attention, and the five most written stories are:
David and Goliath stories
Something unusual and outrageous
Dramatic controversy
Celebrity angle
Something already hot in the news
This certainly explains why some of my press releases were more successful than others.
Read the book for the rest of the secrets, and amusing and illuminating stories.
The book says, "If you remember one word, and word only, remember personality."
Hmmm, that explains why my Keynote speaker page has helped me book so many speeches!
A friend rewrote my keynote speaker page about a year ago and dared me to used it! My personality oozes out; it's honest, accurate, yet insightful and somewhat outrageous. It portrayed me as a motivational speaker whose first speech started as a joke AND became an enormous hit. I was dragged on stage to do a "rap song" by a rock band I managed. "The Ted Rap" was incredibly popular and I was begged to perform every time the band performed (hmmm, "The Ted Rap" pushed 5 out of 6 buttons of buzz).
I've commented on this book before. I've read Buzzmarketing twice now and obviously really enjoyed it, as well as found it useful. - here is my full review:
Imagine a hypothetical book by your favorite authors. For me, that would include Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell.
Now imagine volume II - new material, not a rehash.
For me, that book just might by Buzzmarketing by Mark Hughes.
The big idea: We all know advertisers lie, and even if they didn't we wouldn't listen to them because there are just too many ads. Buzzmarketing gets people talking about your product, and people listen to other people.
I might not buy XYZ because of its ads or marketing, but if an ordinary human tells me it's great I just might buy it. I trust humans; they usually have no reason to lie, unlike advertisements. It could be my wife telling about a great new cheese shop, or my mechanic telling me about a great new movie, or the lady today who noticed me looking confused at the array of smoked salmon and said "I love this one -it's great!" People trust people not ads.
Great stories in Buzzmarketing illustrate the points as well: how Mark got the town of Half, Oregon to rename itself to half.com, and why Miller Lite made it while previous light beer attempts failed is fascinating.
Mark demystifies buzzmarketing, breaking it down into a few "secrets" or guidelines:
The first secret is 6 simple rules or the "six buttons of buzz." This is information I can and already have used in this book.
Here they are:
The taboo - sex, lies, and bathroom humor
The unusual
The outrageous - but don't be outrageous just for the sake of outrageousness
The hilarious
The remarkable
The secrets - both kept and revealed
The second secret is capturing media attention, and the five most written stories are:
David and Goliath stories
Something unusual and outrageous
Dramatic controversy
Celebrity angle
Something already hot in the news
This certainly explains why some of my press releases were more successful than others.
Read the book for the rest of the secrets, and amusing and illuminating stories.
The book says, "If you remember one word, and word only, remember personality."
Hmmm, that explains why my Keynote speaker page has helped me book so many speeches!
A friend rewrote my keynote speaker page about a year ago and dared me to used it! My personality oozes out; it's honest, accurate, yet insightful and somewhat outrageous. It portrayed me as a motivational speaker whose first speech started as a joke AND became an enormous hit. I was dragged on stage to do a "rap song" by a rock band I managed. "The Ted Rap" was incredibly popular and I was begged to perform every time the band performed (hmmm, "The Ted Rap" pushed 5 out of 6 buttons of buzz).
posted by Ted Demopoulos at 8:13 PM
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