This section currently includes three articles:
We all know about social networks, but can we use network analysis tools to see networks of books?
Valdis Krebs is one of the network experts whom I interviewed for the book. Using surveys and graphing tools he analyzes social networks and helps companies improve their structure and the flow of knowledge within the organization.
One day, while searching for a book on Amazon.com, Krebs decided to try his graphing tools to analyze how books are related to each other. When you buy a book on Amazon you can see what other titles were purchased by customers who bought the same title you just did. Valdis started following these links and created graphs that show how books are related to each other. These are not networks of people, but "networks of interest" if you will.
When Krebs asked me if I wanted him to analyze how The Anatomy of Buzz is related to other books, I jumped at his offer. If you click on the link below, you will see a graph that illustrates it. Each node in this graph represents a book. My book is the central book not because it's the most important one, but simply because it's the focus of this analysis.
One thing is immediately obvious when you look at the graph: like people, books tend to cluster. I'm not sure what other conclusions we can draw from this, but I'm fascinated by Valdis's graphs. There's something about the visual representation of networks that makes me think. I hope you find them stimulating as well.
I spent most of the 1990s as VP Marketing at Niles Software, the makers of EndNote. When we started, there was zero buzz. Nobody knew about EndNote. Since then more than two hundred thousand copies of EndNote have been sold, and most customers have told us that they heard about the product not from advertising, not from dealers, not from magazines—but rather from friends and colleagues. This section tries to explain the buzz about EndNote.
Q: First, what exactly is EndNote?
A: It's a piece of software designed to help researchers keep track
of their references and compile bibliographies at the end of their research
papers. Kind of a personal electronic card catalog.
Q: Was it one of those products that spread like wild fire?
A: No. Although EndNote is a great product, it did not spread by itself.
We invested a lot of energy in making it happen.
Q: Why didn't it spread by itself?
A: Very few products do. To understand this issue one needs to look at
how social networks work. Like all of us, scientists live in small and
relatively closed clusters. Geologists don't necessarily talk to business
professors. History professors don't necessarily talk to biologists. Information
about EndNote got stuck in small clusters. Another factor that blocked
buzz in the early years was incompatibility. In the first few years we
only had a Macintosh version. This blocked buzz from spreading among PC
users.
Q: So what did you do to speed it up?
A: We did many things, both in product development and marketing. For
example, to start people talking in each academic cluster, we developed
bibliographic styles for more than 300 journals in many different fields.
We went out to numerous scientific meetings to show them that EndNote
addresses their specific needs. These activities started buzz in each
one of those small clusters. This type of seeding was extremely important
to our growth. In addition to seeding by discipline, we based some seeding
on geography. At one point we sent free copies of EndNote to hundreds
of academic librarians on each campus so that they start telling library
patrons about our software. We also found ways to add external stimulants.
For example, when we released a Windows version of EndNote, we sent three
discount coupons to each user of EndNote for the Macintosh and asked them
to pass the coupons on to friends who used Windows. This was an extremely
successful promotion which stimulated discussion about EndNote.
Q: Were there other things that speeded up the buzz?
A: Simplicity in product design really helped. When customers explain
to their friends how they use a product, every extra step they describe—if
it adds confusion—could serve to block the word from spreading. When
a customer has to explain just one step, her likelihood of completing
the "sales pitch" successfully is much higher than if she had to describe
seven steps. When we integrated EndNote into the Tools menu in Microsoft
Word, we simplified the process dramatically. The idea that you just had
to click on one menu item to generate a bibliography was easy to explain
and accelerated buzz about EndNote.
Q: How did the Internet affect buzz about the software?
A: Academics have used the Internet for years, so we've seen discussions
about EndNote in newsgroups from very early on. It speeded up the buzz
to some extent but even the Internet didn't make everyone aware of EndNote.
Q: When you noticed a discussion of EndNote online, would you get
involved?
A: Usually not. It's important to listen to buzz but not necessary to
participate. We would get involved only when we read information about
the product that was incorrect or when customers asked us to answer specific
questions.
Q: Did trade shows help buzz spread?
A: There is a lot of randomness in the networks. Shortcuts often happen
by chance, and you increase the chances of these shortcuts happening to
you by being out there, especially in the densest areas of the networks,
like trade shows and other industry events. I once stood in front of a
hotel in Boston and offered a ride to a random guy who asked me how to
get to Macworld Expo. He turned out to be a contributing editor for MacUser.
Several months later EndNote had an eight page review in MacUser written
by that guy. Yes, eventually, with enough phone calls and press releases,
we would have made them pay attention to us, but meeting him in person
definitely helped.
Q: Is there anything you would have done differently in promoting
EndNote?
A: If there's one thing I regret is not doing enough of that random
mingling. It's very useful both in gathering information and spreading
the word. Heidi Roizen, former VP at Apple, has a great piece of advice
to summarize this: "When in doubt, go out to the cocktail party."
Q: So was it the quality of the product or the marketing that generated
all the buzz?
A: It was both. We didn't cut corners when it came to quality or service,
and customers appreciated that. This was the foundation. Our promotional
activities took it to the next step. By seeding the product in varies
clusters, by working with the press, by encouraging customers to pass-on
coupons to colleagues, by telling scientists about EndNote at scientific
meetings, we made sure that the word about EndNote never stopped from
spreading.
In May 2000, Doubleday asked me to cover the annual conference of the publishing industry—Book Expo of America (BEA). I love trade shows and it was a great opportunity to learn how buzz spreads in this industry. Here are some of my observations after a couple of days in Chicago, listening to book buzz.
Q: Everyone talks about "buzz". What exactly is it and why is it important?
A: By "buzz" I refer to all the person-to-person communication about a
certain brand. Buzz is usually considered to be an abstract concept, but
at McCormick Place where BEA took place, you could actually hear it—that
humming of hundreds of men and women, all talking at the same time. To
understand why buzz is important you just had to look at people at the
exhibit hall. Information overload was written all over their faces. There's
always too much information coming at people at trade shows, so they filter
out most of the messages they are exposed to. They do however listen to
their friends and colleagues.
Q: How can you measure buzz?
A: Until someone invents a buzz-o-meter, the best way is to talk to people.
So I walked around and asked people to recall conversations they had with
others during the show.
Q: What were they talking about?
A: The first thing that struck me as someone who comes from the high-tech
industry was the focus of the conversations. At a typical high-tech trade
show people talk about the latest gadget that Cisco or 3COM are expected
to announce, so buzz focuses on product. But when I asked people at BEA
what they've been talking about, typical answers were "Michael Ondaatje's
new book," or "Martin Amis" or "Barbara Kingsolver". Buzz in the publishing
industry focuses much more on the people behind the product.
Q: What does it mean to publishers?
A: The three authors that I mentioned have one thing in common. All three
were at the show. Other names that came up repeatedly were Julie Andrews
Edwards, Peter Sis, Philip Pullman, Charlie Trotter, E. Lynn Harris, Rosellen
Brown, Gary Sinise, Richard Lewis, and Michael Frayn. All people who were
there.
Q: So an author had to be there to get buzz.
A: People talked about Harry Potter and the Beatles book even though the
authors weren't there. But most of the authors that were mentioned in
conversations seem to be either ones who spoke or ones who autographed
their books.
Q: And these are also the authors who will get buzz among readers?
A: Not necessarily. Every industry has seen products that got tremendous
buzz at trade shows but failed in the marketplace. When the Apple Newton
was introduced at MacWorld Expo it was the talk of the show, but the product
didn't make it in the marketplace. Sometimes the opposite happens. The
woman who brought Birkenstock to this country, Margot Fraser, told me
how when she first presented the shoes at a trade show for shoe store
owners, the reaction was so bad that she escaped through the fire exit.
But eventually, the product grew through word-of-mouth among customers.
So customer buzz and industry buzz are two different things. What is rather
unique about the publishing industry is the network of independent book
sellers that is very well connected to readers. So we'll all be very surprised
if the buzz among booksellers about Barbara Kingsolver will not trickle
to readers. It's also important to remember that buzz doesn't only flow
from industry to consumers. It also flows the other way around when readers
recommend books to stores and to their friends. This type of buzz is hard
to detect at a trade show.
Q: What other topics did people talk about at the show?
A: Electronic publishing was obviously a big topic. In times of uncertainty,
people in an industry try to understand how the changes will affect them.
Last year I attended a conference in the automotive industry where most
of the talk was about selling cars on the web. I saw the same thing at
BEA. Publishers, authors and book sellers were all talking about how the
e-book will affect the industry.
Q: What about gimmicks at trade shows, do they create buzz?
A: Ultimately, you want people to talk about the product, not about how
it's being promoted, but gimmicks that are fresh and surprising, definitely
make people talk. One woman told me how she had seen the Pope drinking
from a water fountain at the show. He was, of course, a look-alike to
promote the book Made You Look. It's a gimmick but they made us talk.