The Lifestream of Jon Moss

Word of mouth vs. buzz

February 5 2009, 7:24pm

Let's make a distinction between word of mouth vs. buzz.Word of mouth is a byproduct of a remarkable culture. It's how companies like 37 Signals, Discovery Education, and The Container Store grow and flourish. Their companies are organized around a well-defined purpose and strong values, which may not be for everyone, but they're important enough to a significant group of people. Their foundations help produce notable products and services, generating word of mouth for the long-term. None would describe what they do as "word of mouth marketing."Buzz is the result of word-of-mouth marketing. Its results are typically short-term. Gimmicks are common, and examples abound. BailoutBooth, an online classified ad company, used one of the oldest tricks in the book: giving away money. It handed out $50 bills to people in Times Square the other day, $100,000 worth, if recipients would sit in front of a camera and plead poverty. The buzz generated a write-up in the New York Times: There was understandable skepticism about the whole thing, but once people realized that they could actually get money from the ploy, any reluctance disappeared.“It’s a blessing,” (one recipient) said. “Nobody else is doing this.” So, it created buzz with potential. Visit the company's website, though, and you see its purpose and values on display. An attractive woman in a video pitches the company while a guy in sunglasses and a hat plays phony on the phone. Its purpose seems to be a gimmick, and its values are shlocky. A shame to spend $100,000 marketing something that's unlikely to be converted into the social capital of word of mouth.