Word-of-mouth promotion has become

an increasingly potent force, capable

of catapulting products from obscurity
into runaway commercial successes.
But to harness the considerable power

The of buzz, companies must reject five

common myths.

Buzz
on Buzz ^
B u z z IS THE STUFF OF MARKETING LEGENDS.
Dark and witty Harry Potter, the traffic-
stopping retro Beetle, the addictive Pok^mon,
cuddly Beanie Babies, the hair-raising Blair Witch
Project~a\\ are recent examples of blockbuster com-
by Ren^e Dye mercial successes driven by customer hype. For some
reason, people like to share their experiences with
one another-the restaurant where they ate lunch,
the movie they saw over the weekend, the computer
they just bought-and when those experiences are favor-
able, the recommendations can snowball, resulting
in runaway success. But ask marketing managers about
buzz, and many wiil simply shrug their shoulders.
It's just serendipity, they say, or sheer luck.

Dye is a strategy expert in the London office of

McKinsey & Company.

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW November-December 2000 139

The Buzz on Buzz

My research suggests otherwise. Investigating the point: Viagra, one of the most talked-about
marketing practices at more than 50 companies, my prescription drugs ever, even among those who
colleagues and 1 at McKinsey have found that buzz- don't need it.
a phenomenon we've dubbed "explosive self-generating Shrewd pharmaceutical companies are now
demand" -is hardly a random force of nature, instead, it taking a two-pronged approach to jump-start
evolves according to some basic principles. My research buzz among both doctors and consumers. For example,
shows that companies can predict the spread of buzz by when Merck launched Fosamax, a therapy for osteo-
analyzing how different groups of customers interact porosis, the company carefully chose scientists and
and influence one another. physicians with high standing to conduct the clinical
Many executives have little idea how to orchestrate trials and to promote the new treatment. In addition,
a marketing campaign that exploits the full power of cus- Merck increased the visibility of the new treatment
tomer word of mouth. Instead, they remain enslaved to by sponsoring symposia at international meetings. On
five common misconceptions about the phenomenon. the consumer side, the company launched a major mar-
Before companies can reap the total benefits of buzz, keting campaign in women's magazines to inform read-
they must understand the principles of how it works, and ers ofthe risks of osteoporosis and educate them about
doing so requires a close examination of thosefivemyths. the value of screening and preventive treatment. Before
long, the debilitating bone condition became a common
topic of discussion among women and between women
MYTH 1: Only outrageous or edgy and their doctors. As a result of these efforts, Merck was
products are buzz-worthy. able to generate significant buzz for a previously unnch
Everyone can point to a buzz-driven consumer craze that table subject.
was due in part to the sheer inanity or fringe quality of Medicine is one thing, but sometimes even the most
a product-think of pet rocks or the movie The Matrix. ordinary products can benefit from buzz. Remember
Yet according to our analysis, a surprisingly large portion Hush Puppies? When the company discovered that hip
of the U.S. economy-a shade above two-thirds - has New York City kids were snapping up vintage pairs of
been at least partially affected by buzz. (See "What Buzz its shoes at secondhand stores, it rushed into action.
Affects" for an industry-by-industry It began making its shoes in shades like
breakdown.) Obviously, buzz greatly Day-Glo orange, red, green, and purple.
W H A T BUZZ AFFECTS*
affects the entertainment and fashion Slightly more than two-thirds of
Next, it sent free samples to celebrities,
industries, but it also influences agricul- the tJ.S. economy has been and not long after, David Bowie and
ture, electronics, and flnance. Indeed, influenced by buzz. Susan Sarandon were spotted wear-
few industries are immune these days, ing them. Then the company tightly
partially because of technological inno- 54% controlled distribution, limiting the
vations like the Internet that enable shoes to a handful of fashionable out-
customers to spread buzz quickly. lets. Soon high-end retailers like Saks,
Consider the pharmaceutical Bergdorf Goodman, and Barneys were
industry, which has recently 13% begging for them. In just three years,
witnessed a dramatic increase in from 1994 to 1996, Hush Puppies saw
the power of buzz. In the past, phar- its annual sales of pups in
maceutical companies marketed new 13% Largely Driven by Buzz North America skyrocket
prescription drugs primarily through Toys, sporting goods, motion from fewer than 100,000
a direct sales force that distributed edu- pictures, broadcasting, amusement pairs to an estimated
and recreation services, fashion 1.5 million.
cational materials and free samples
to physicians. Consumers were rarely 54% Partially Driven by Buzz
Of course.
aware of new therapies except as pre- Finance (investment products), not every product is a
scribed by their doctors. hotels and lodging, electronics, good candidate for buzz
printing and publishing, tobacco,
Today, thanks to extensive advertising automotive, Pharmaceuticals marketing. How, then, can
and the Internet, consumers have access and health care, transportation, managers assess buzz-worthiness?
to health-care information on a scale agriculture, food and drink Two criteria make it possible.
undreamed of just ten years ago. In- First, products ripe for buzz are
deed, a revolution is under way, trans- 33% Largely Immune to Buzz unique in some respect, be it in look,
Oil, gas, chemicals, railroads,
forming people from passive to active insurance, utilities
functionality, ease of use, efficacy, or
participants. In choosing their treat- price. For Chrysler's PT Cruiser, the
ments, such active consumers can-and 'McKinsey & Company estimate for 1994
U.S. economy (total equals 16 trillionl
degree of difference from the competi-
do-generate and spread buzz. Case in tion clearly lies in its retro, gangster-era

140 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW November-December 2000

The Buzz on Buzz

look. In the case of collapsible scooters, ALL CUSTOMERS managers have a portfolio of marketing
the key buzz-worthy factors are function- ARE NOT CREATED tactics from which they assemble just the
ality and ease of use: what other product EQUAL. SOME-THE
right sequence to generate and sustain
allows people to dash from place to place buzz. Here are some ofthe most powerful
VANGUARD - HAVE A
on a lightweight, folding device? tactics we've identified from our research.
DISPROPORTIONATE Seed the vanguard. All customers are
Second, products with great buzz poten-
tial are usually highly visible. For many ABILITY TO SHAPE not created equal. Some-the vanguard-
products, that condition is a no-brainer. PUBLIC OPINION. have a disproportionate ability to shape
The popularity of fashion accessories, like public opinion. Increasingly, managers are
Gucci's baguette bags, tends to spread recognizing that getting their products
like wildfire because they are easily seen by into the hands of the vanguard can pay
others. Every time someone in a meeting off exponentially in how the mass market
pulls out a Palm device to jot a note, the ultimately responds. Abercrombie & Fitch,
company gets another endorsement of its popular PDA. for example, recruits college students from popular
But insightful companies have discovered that products fraternities and sororities to work in its stores, know-
can be made visible. One way is to create forums, such as ing that they will then probably wear A&F clothes
Internet chat groups, where customers can exchange more frequently and, in doing so, implicitly endorse
information about a product-sucb as a new medical the fashions.
treatment-that might otherwise have remained hidden. Ration supply. People often want what they-or oth-
Often, creative approaches are needed to facilitate the ers-can't have. The luxury-goods industry has long
discussion. Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, faced an uphill exploited this tendency, and today other companies are
battle when trying to generate buzz for its breakthrough increasingly using it to their advantage.
drug, because impotence was a taboo subject But by pop- Walt Disney has excelled at maintaining high demand
ularizing the medical terms "erectile dysfunction" and and buzz for its animated films by carefully controlling
"ED," the company transformed the undiscussable into their availability on video. The "Disappearing Classics"
fodder for the bedroom and backyard alike. campaign of 1991 announced that the company would
retire certain videos, allowing consumers just a limited
time to purchase them. Films subsequently brought out
M Y T H 1 : Buzz just happens. of retirement were being re-released in theaters. Pre-
Many people believe that buzz is largely serendipitous. vious experience with this campaign led Disney to pro-
Not so. We have found that buzz is increasingly the ject in 1995 that video sales for some films could surge
result of carefully managed marketing programs. Savvy by as much as 400%.

THE 5 MYTHS OF BUZZ

THE MYTH... ...THE REALITY

Only outrageous or edgy products The most unlikely products, like prescription drugs,
are buzz-worthy. can generate tremendous buzz.

Buzz is increasingly the result of shrewd marketing tactics in

which companies seed a vanguard group, ration supplies, use
2 Buzz just happens.
celebrities to generate buzz, leverage the power of lists, and
initiate grassroots marketing.

3 The best buzz-starters are your Often, a counterculture has a greater ability to start buzz.
best customers.

A To profit from buzz.you must act Copycat companies can reap substantial profits if they know
first and fast. when to jump in-and when not to.

Q The media and advertising are needed When used either too early or too much, the media
to create buzz. and advertising can squelch buzz before it ignites.

•., M II 1 II ' " - 1

142 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW November-December 2000

 The Buzz on Buzz

Volkswagen took this tactic one step

further in marketing its retro Beetle.
A year after the car's introduction, the
company offered Intemet-only sales in two
new colors, "vapor blue" and "reflex yellow,"
with exactly 2,000 cars available in each.
This attention-grabbing maneuver triggered
its own share of buzz and ignited an addi-
tional round of publicity for the already
popular cars. Witbin two weeks, consumers
had quickly snapped up half of the limited-
edition models.
Exploit kons to beget buzz. Another tac-
tic that companies use to trigger buzz is celeb-
rity endorsement. Thanks to ad campaigns
featuring icons like Michael Jordan and Tiger
Woods, Nike has built its brand into a market-
ing juggernaut Advertising, however, is merely
one way to leverage the power of icons.
Tickle Me Elmo became the best-selling
toy of the 1996 Christmas season in the
United States after Rosie O'Donneil played
with the doll on her daytime talk sbow. A pub-
lic relations agency had cleverly engineered ~~
this runaway success by sending an Elmo to
O'Donnell's son. Literary publicists eagerly
lobby staffers at Harpo, knowing that many
books Oprah Winfrey selects for her book club
pole-vault onto the New York Times best-seller list
Movies and television shows can also serve as power- World Report can dramatically increase or decrease the
ful endorsers. During the funeral scene in the hit film number of applications to a given institution.
Four Weddings and a Funeral, one of the characters reads Some companies have begun to leverage lists in
"Stop All the Clocks," a poem by W.H. Auden. After tbe creative ways. In 1998, Modern Library, an imprint of
film opened. Vintage Books adroitly published a slen- Random House, surveyed its editorial board to compile
der volume containing tbe poem and other Auden a list of the top loo novels of tbe twentieth century. The
poems, whicb sold 50,000 copies in tbree years. (Most selections, which tbe company publicized on its Web
poetry books sell around 500 copies.) It's no wonder com- site, became tbe focus of much animated discussion, in
panies have been aggressively seeking, and sometimes part because of a spat between the editorial board and
paying huge sums for, key product placements. Luck the publisher over the process used to compile the list.
bad little to do with the appearance of Within five months, more than i,ooo arti-
a BMW Z3 Roadster in the James Bond fiick cles and editorials bad appeared about
GoldenBye or the prominence of an Apple the controversial list Even more remark-
laptop computer in Mission Impossible. able, though, was that within weeks of tbe
Tap the power of lists. Lists are potent list's publication, four of tbe top five nov-
tools for creating buzz because they're LUCK HAD LITTLE TO els made their way on to Amazon.com's
effective road signs for information- DO WITH THE weekly list of paperback best-sellers, with
besieged consumers who don't know APPEARANCE OF A James Joyce's Ulysses having pride of place
where to focus their attention. Perhaps no BMWZ3 ROADSTER at number 2! Of course. Modern Library
one knows this better than movie execu- IN THE JAMES BOND wasn't tbe only imprint to benefit from
tives, who hold their collective breath this buzz-any publisher with editions
FLICK COLDENEYE OR
every Monday morning, waiting for the of the selected books experienced an
weekend box-office rankings that can THE PROMINENCE OF upsurge in sales. But Modern Library re-
eitber make or break new releases. Even in AN APPLE LAPTOP ceived a tremendous amount of free pub-
the world of ivory towers, the annual lists COMPUTER IN licity, and traffic at its Web site surged by
of colleges and universities by U.S. News & MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. a jaw-dropping 7,000%.

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW November-December 2000

The Buzz on Buzz

Nurture the grass roots. Thefinalbuzz tactic focuses
on establishing and extending product loyalty through-
out a community. At first, this tactic might sound sim-
ilar to seeding the vanguard, but there is a critical dif-
ference. Members of the vanguard typically delight in
being the first to know about a product; they revel
in this exclusivity. Wben other people begin to adopt
the product, tbe vanguard often moves on to the next
big, exclusive thing, in contrast, a grassroots strategy
relies on early adopters who try to convert other peo-
ple-to turn them into users, too. With many new drug
therapies, for instance, early patients who've been suc-
cessfully treated wish for others to benefit. Users of net-
work services like America Online try to recruit others
because the usefulness ofthe service grows with the num-
ber of members. Or perhaps consumers identify so deeply
with a brand that they want others to become a part of
that community.
A powerful example of buzz nurtured at tbe grass-
roots level is the marketing campaign that Harley-
Davidson used in its remarkable turnaround. In 1981,
the motorcycle manufacturer was nearly bankrupt as
Japanese competitors with superior quality and lower
costs had demolished what was once a thriving U.S.
industry. But the 13 executives who bought Harley from
parent AMF believed tbey could save the company by
tapping into the fervent loyalty of its customers; for
FINDINCTHE BUZZ-STARTERS
ome customers shape public opinion more than others.
S To identify these buzz-starters, companies can try a
process made up of four questions:
Research Methods
A. How would we group • Marketing and industry data
our customers based ' Information from trend spotters
on their purchasing 'Observation of customers
behaviors? ' Customer panels and interviews
B. How do these ' Observation of customers
groups influence one • Customer interviews
another's purchasing
of our products?
C. What are the potential ' Simulations that show the
paths for buzz to flow of information from
spread between differ- one group to another
ent customer groups?
D. Which path is the • Interviews of customer
strongest, and which groups to determine their
group starts the buzz? propensity to adopt and
recommend the product
A ORASSROOTS STRATEGY RELIES
ON EARLY ADOPTERS W H O TRY TO
CONVERT OTHER PEOPLE - T O TURN
T H E M INTO USERS, TOO.
them, Hailey-Davidson was not just a motorcycle but an
identity. In 1983, the company established and sponsored
the Harley Owners Group, or HOG, with numerous
regional chapters around the United States. Strapped for
cash, Harley used inexpensive buzz marketing tech-
niques-newsletters and posters-to publicize HOG via
the dealer network. More important, though, Harley
relied on extensive word of mouth generated within
these communities. HOG quickly grew in strength, spon-
soring hundreds of rallies that drew Harley owners from
across the country. Today, more than 350,000 owners
belong to nearly i,ooo chapters around the world.
All of tbese tactics won't be relevant for every product.
Depending on a product's characteristics, managers must
decide which tactics to deploy and in what order. In gen-
eral, seeding the vanguard and rationing tbe supply are
usedfirstto foster a sense of exclusivity, while using icons
might come later in a mass-marketing campaign.
Consider the sequencing that Ty shrewdly used to
touch off a national mania for its ratber unremarkable
bean-stuffed toys. Initially, Beanie Babies were available
only tbrough specialty toy retailers (supply rationing)
tbat catered to upper-income families. Children from
those households (the vanguard) took the first Beanie
Babies to school, generating demand among other kids.
Then ly broadened the distribution by teaming with
McDonald's (an icon) to give the toys away in Happy
Meals. The craze intensified as the media ran stories of
families buying dozens of meals and throwing out the
food because they just wanted tbe toys. Meanwhile, Ty
regularly retired some models from production (supply
rationing), resulting in their selling for several thousand
dollars on secondary markets. Eventually, adults, many
without children, became fanatic purchasers, accumulat-
ing hundreds in their collections.
The best buzz-starters
are your best customers.
In order to spark buzz, marketing managers often tum
first to the opinion leaders from within the commu-
nity that will eventually become tbe bulk ofthe market.
But that can be a crucial mistake. The best vanguard for
a product may not be immediately obvious. It may even
come from a counterculture.
Take Tommy Hilfiger. Tbe designer focused on young,
urban African-Americans to imprint his brand with
a street hipness. It worked. Tbe popularity of Hilfiger
clothes quickly spread from the inner city to the suburbs,

144 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW November-IDeceinber 2OO0

 The Buzz on Buzz

reaching a broad audience of all ethnicities. Similarly, icons like Quentin Tarantino and Drew Barrymore wear-
when the marketers of Absolut vodka wanted to spark ing Hard Candy. The buzz then reached near-excruciating
buzz for its then lower-end no-name alcohol, they did decibel levels when actress Alicia Silverstone gushed
not target married middle-aged males in the suburbs. about her sky-blue polish to David Letterman on na-
Instead, they initially focused on the gay community in tional television. In three years. Hard Candy sales hit an
San Francisco. Buzz rapidly diffused outward and, com- estimated $30 million.
bined with a funky, award-winning marketing campaign, The major cosmetics companies, sucb as Fstde Lauder
helped catapult Absolut to the enviable position of top- and Lancome, didn't just sit there. Many moved quickly
selling vodka in the United States. to launch their own lines of funky-colored nail polish.
Finding such unexpected vanguards is nearly impossi- But only after the craze became firmly entrenched
ble with marketing data that concentrate solely on what did Revlon, the cosmetics mass-marketer, launch its
individual consumers think about a product-and not on StreetWear line.
how consumers influence one another about the prod- Did Revlon miss tbe boat? In a word, no. Companies
uct. Marketing researchers are thus developing new with established midmarket or downstream brands
methodologies to account for customer-to-customer and large, loyal customer bases often have very good
interactions. An obvious approach is to track the path of reasons for waiting until a trend is firmly established
buzz for a similar product tbat was successful and then before building it into their product portfolios. With-
seek to replicate that pattern. More sophisticated tech- out having to invest time or money in product develop-
niques attempt to model how consumers interact with ment, a copycat company can enjoy the rewards of buzz
one another and bow highly they value others as sources as a late participant-provided it knows when to enter
of information or as behavioral models. (For details of the market and can do so quickly before the trend
such an approach, see "Finding the Buzz-Starters.") has faded. In its early days, tbe Limited could copy
a fashion design from the runway, manufacture knock-
MYTH 4: To profit from buzz, off products, and distribute them to company stores in
just 30 days.
you must act first and fast. Yet most companies don't have the right systems or
Trendsetting companies may generate buzz, but copycat processes in place to successfully follow trendsetters.
firms can also reap tremendous benefits. The cosmetics By the time buzz works its way up a traditional market-
industry provides insight into how trendsetting compa- ing department, the trend may already be dead. To be
nies and their followers can create value for themselves. successful, fast followers and mass-market adapters
Consider funky-colored nail polish, a buzz-created must develop an alternative set of practices for tuning in
product if ever there was one. The rise to glory began to buzz. Teen People, for instance, keeps a group of 4,otx}
when Dinah Mohajer, then a college student, wanted "trend spotters" on call. The magazine encourages them
to paint her toenaiis to match her strappy blue sandals. to submit story ideas and respond to published articles.
So she did what any budding entrepreneur would: she In addition, it invites them monthly into regional offices
mixed some polish herself. to discuss what's cool and, equally important, what's not
Mohajer's homemade concoction created such a stir Manufacturing and retailing companies commonly
on the University of Southern California campus that she employ "cool hunters," individuals who specialize in
and her boyfriend soon found themselves in business, knowing what's in vogue. The cool hunter for urban
mixing batches in ber bathtub and wearing gas masks retailer Wet Seals routinely attends runway sbows, scouts
for protection from the noxious fumes. competitors' stores, reads popular maga-
To distribute their product, dubbed Hard zines, watches hit television sbows, listens
Candy, they selected exclusive clothing WITHOUT HAVINO to popular music, and interviews kids
boutique Fred Segal in upscale Beverly TO INVEST TIME OR on the street in different international
Hills as their first outlet and then ex- MONEY IN PRODUCT metropolises.
panded to other trendy local salons. Dur- Another provocative and powerful
ing this time, demand was solely driven by DEVELOPMENT, A
buzz-spotting medium is the Internet.
word-of-mouth hype among chic urban COPYCAT COMPANY
Many companies have discovered that by
clientele (that is, the vanguard). CAN ENJOY THE setting up chat sites like Gurl.com, they
Hard Candy was gradually introduced REWARDS OF BUZZ AS can establish an efficient and economical
into additional exclusive salons and stores, A LATE PARTICIPANT. main line into wbat consumers are think-
eventually becoming available in high-end ing. These Web sites can function as
chains such as Nordstrom and Neiman virtual focus groups operating in near-
Marcus. Publicity for the product surged continual session, enabling companies
as tbe paparazzi photographed Hollywood to track consumer buzz as it develops.

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW November-December 2000 145

The Buzz on Buzz

With such methods, copycat firms can strike while the

market is just heating up, not while a trend has already
begun to cool.

MYTH 5: The media and advertising

are needed to create buzz.
while the media and advertising can belp fan the flames
of buzz, involving tbem too early can undermine buzz.
Indeed, the vanguard will often reject a heavily pro-
moted product that it otherwise would have embraced
merely because of overexposure.
Buzz-hungry companies need to refocus their market-
ing lenses on consumer-to-consumer communications-
be they verbal, visual, or digital. That's where buzz
is bom. In other words, to generate buzz, the objective is
not to besiege consumers with advertising but to some-
how encourage them to talk about a product or to use
that product so tbat it's noticed by other people.
Tbe founders of Hotmail, the free e-mail service, keenly
understood this principle. The start-up company made its
customers its most potent marketing force by appending BUZZ-HUNORY COMPANIES NEED TO
a soft-sell line-"Get your free e-mail at Hotmail" -to
REFOCUS THEIR MARKETING LENSES
every outgoing e-mail from one of its users. In its first
18 months of business, Hotmail signed up 12 million peo- ON CONSUMER-TO-CONSUMER
ple. (In comparison, AOL took more than six years to COMMUNICATIONS-BE THEY
amass that many customers.) Yet the company spent VERBAL, VISUAL, OR DIGITAL.
a meager $500,000 on advertising during that period. By THATS WHERE BUZZ IS BORN.
contrast, Hotmail advertisements with "Free e-mail" but-
tons on highly trafficked Web sites produced dwarfish
response rates, suggesting that the company's remarkable
success owed more to the marketing strategy of active
messaging than to the free nature ofthe service itself.
Today Hotmail, now owned by Microsoft, claims to have ish unconstrained by geography. And the continued
more than 80 million registered users. proliferation of brands will encourage people's close
But sucb programs, dubbed vira! marketing, can also associations with them, thus furthering buzz potential.
be dangerous, because consumers may feel that they are Finally, rising disposable incomes worldwide will enable
being exploited or are themselves taking advantage of a wider participation in hype phenomena.
others. Some companies have offered cash to people to All these factors point toward a world in wbich buzz
provide the names and e-mail addresses of their friends will dominate the shaping of markets. In fact, tbe phe-
and relatives, who would then have the same opportu- nomenon of buzz is already becoming an industry unto
nity for financial gain in enlisting others. Wben such itself. Dot-com companies like Epinions.com have built
techniques smack of pyramid schemes, they are more their entire businesses and Web sites around customer
likely to offend rather than entice. word of mouth: consumers rate and review products, and
the results are tallied for prospective shoppers to view.
Such forums, as well as the past successes of buzz mar-
The Future of Buzz keting, are themselves generating buzz about the grow-
Globalization continues to expand tbe universe of trends ing power of customer bype. Indeed, companies tbat are
and trendsetters and to make buzz ever more exportable unable to control buzz may soon find that the phenome-
across borders. Consider that tbe three hottest children's non is increasingly controlling tbem. ^
crazes in tbe United States today-Pok^mon, Harry
Potter, and Teletubbies-are imports from Japan or the Reprint ROO6O6 TO orderreprints,see the last page of this issue.
United Kingdom. Advancements in mobile telephony,
PC networking, and communications bandwidth will Join HBR's authors and readers in the HBR Forum at
facilitate the creation of forums where buzz can flour- www.hbr.org/tbrum to discuss this article.

146 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW November-December 2000