Links from Notes
(Notes for The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited. The full notes can be found in the book.)
Chapter 1: Trigger
“During the first few days of October…”: See http://www.nols.edu
Chapter 2: “I Haven’t Read this Book, but…”
“Before you get too upset about…”: Interview with Brad Fay, 10/26/07. The numbers were later updated by Keller Fay for the full year of 2007. Research on online reviews also shows that positive reviews outweigh negative reviews at a ratio of 8 to 1. See http://www.bazaarvoice.com
Chapter 3: The New Buzz
“At this point, it makes sense to return …”: To see NOLS pictures on Flickr, go to www.flickr.com. Type the word NOLS in the search items or click on the tag NOLS.
“We see the world through filters…”: A report which demonstrates the focus of different “filters” was released by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. For one week in June 2007, the researchers monitored the news in mainstream media as well as in several user-news sites. While the mainstream press focused during that week on Iraq and immigration, the leading user-news sites—Reddit, Digg and Del.icio.us—focused on the release of the iPhone and the fact that Nintendo had surpassed Sony in net worth. For more, see: http://www.journalism.org/node/7493
“These tools are far from being ubiquitous…”: The data regarding Digg and Yelp are from research by Dr. Eszter Hargittai from Northwestern University. Hargittai reported her 2006 study (1,300+ students) at the “Beyond Broadcast” conference at Harvard Law School, May 12, 2006. She presented her 2007 data (1,060 students) at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School in October 2007. Some additional results were emailed to me by Hargittai. The fact that one in four online Americans have read a review online and that 11% post ratings and reviews was reported in Li (2008), p. 27.
Chapter 4: Why Is Buzz on the Rise?
“Something similar happened with the spread of Hotmail…”: “We would notice the first user from a university town or from India, and then the number of subscribers from that region would rapidly proliferate.” From Jurvetson, Steve and Tim Draper, Viral Marketing,May 1, 1997 See http://www.dfj.com/cgi-bin/artman/publish/steve_tim_may97.shtml Similar wording in Jurvetson, Steve. “Turning Customers into a Sales Force.” Business 2.0, November 1998, p. 102-108.
“Who is considered the most credible source…” The information on trust is based on Edelman 2007 Trust Barometer, p. 7 available at http://www.edelman.com/trust/2007/. In the 2008 study, “A person like me” was at the top with 58% followed closely by financial or industry analyst, academic and doctor or healthcare specialist. See also: Yankelovich press releases: “Consumer Resistance to Marketing Reaches All-Time High. Marketing Productivity Plummets, According to Yankelovich Study.” April 15, 2004; and “Consumer Trust Deficit Remains, Retailers Plan New Strategies,” June 8, 2004.
Chapter 5: Can Buzz be Measured?
“When you do something significantly different…”: Keller, Ed and Jim Kite. “When Words Speak Louder Than Actions: The Power of Conversation and How to Measure it.” Paper available at http://kellerfay.com/.
Chapter 6: Insight and Buzz
No links.
Chapter 7: Why We Talk
“When Andrea Wojnicki started working…”: Wojnicki, Andrea C. and David Godes, “Word-of-Mouth as Self-Enhancement” (April 25, 2008). HBS Marketing Research Paper No. 06-01 Available at SSRN:http://ssrn.com/abstract=908999
Chapter 8: Hubs
“Identifying Hubs Through Surveys…” See Rogers (2003), p. 308-312; Weimann (1994), p. 35; Valente, Tom and Patchareeya Pumpuang. “Identifying Opinion Leaders to Promote Behaviour Change.” Health Education & Behavior34 no. 6 (December 2007): 881-896. On identifying category-specific opinion leaders, see Florès, Laurent. “A 10 Point Road Map to Planning and Measuring the ROI of WOM.” Measuring Word of Mouth 1 (Summer 2005): 113-121.
“In terms of promoting buzz, this was their masterstroke…”: Interview with Marc Schiller, 7/17/07. In September 2007 I visited several of the sites in Chicago that participated in the campaign. Also see: Leff, Lisa. “Berkeley church tops list of favorite Bay Area landmarks.” www.usatoday.com. November 2, 2008.
Chapter 9: It’s a Small World. So What?
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Chapter 10: How Buzz Spreads
Lots of notes but no links.
Chapter 11: Contagious Products
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Chapter 12: Accelerating Natural Contagion
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Chapter 13: The Envelope and the Line
“BzzAgent requires their members…”: BzzAgent’s guidelines are available at: http://www.bzzagent.com. Steve Knox’s quote is from an interview, 8/2/07. See also: Walker, Rob. “The Hidden (In Plain Sight) Persuaders,” The New York Times Magazine, (December 5, 2004), p. 68-75.
“I believe that marketers who get involved…”: Regarding the point that agents who disclose their affiliation with the company are not less effective than the ones who don’t, see: “To Tell Or Not To Tell?: Assessing the Practical Value of Disclosure for Word-of-Mouth Marketing Agents and Their Conversational Partners” (2006). The research showed that the pass-along rate was actually higher when the conversational partner was aware they were talking with a participant in an organized word-of-mouth program, but Dr. Carl said in an interview (7/27/07) that other factors may have contributed to this. “I think that the most important take away from it is that it’s not lower,” he said. Another point to keep in mind is the fact that most BzzAgents and their conversation partners are friends, co-workers or acquaintances with an initial level of trust. This means that disclosure may not work the same way with complete strangers. The academic version of this paper is: Carl, Walter, “The Role of Disclosure in Organized Word-of-Mouth Marketing Programs” Journal of Marketing Communications. Forthcoming.
“In 2005, Stanford University law professor…”: A good starting point for this story can be found here: http://lessig.org
Chapter 15: Story
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Chapter 16: Give Us Something to Talk About
“Outside observers have taken…”: Daulaire’s quote is from the Gates Foundation web site at http://www.gatesfoundation.org. Rosenfield and Potts’ quote is from their Foreword to Thomas D’Agnes’ book.
Chapter 17: The Power of Participation
“Anders Søborg…”: Interview with Anders Søborg, 12/20/2007. The web site is at: http://www.monobrick.dk/
“Lego benefits greatly from…”: There are several Mindstorms robots that solve the Rubik’s Cube. This one is “Danny’s Mindstorms NXT Rubik Cube Solver” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QOvEG27Gt4
“Dr. Paul Marsden has been…”: See Kirby & Marsden (2006) p. 5-6. For the history of the Hawthorne Effect see http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/hawthorne/.
“A few months ago I downloaded a virtual sunflower…” Interview with Tom Fugleberg of Olson, 8/21/07; “MarketingSherpa’s Viral Marketing Hall of Fame 2007: Top 10 Efforts & Results Data to Inspire You”http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.html?ident=29947.
Chapter 18: Uneven Distribution
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Chapter 19: More of a Café than a Subway Station
“The second comment at the beginning…” Interview with Virginia Miracle, 8/2/07. The web site can be accessed at http://www.fiskateers.com/
“Ten years ago Steve Jurvetson…”: The quote is from Jurvetson, Steve and Tim Draper, Viral Marketing, May 1, 1997, available at:
http://www.dfj.com/cgi-bin/artman/publish/steve_tim_may97.shtml The quote also appears in Jurvetson, Steve. “Turning Customers into a Sales Force.” Business 2.0, November 1998. 102.
“The third comment that…”: The Thorn Tree community is at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/
Chapter 20: The Wall Street Journal and the Lingerie Business
“This may explain in part…”: The source for the product placement spending is a press release announcing a study by research company PQ Media, February 12, 2008. http://www.pqmedia.com/
“Political scientist Bernard Cohen once…”: Cohen, Bernard. The Press and Foreign Policy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 1963. p. 13. Also see Weimann (1994) p. 279. The data about the percentage who talked about domestic violence is from Usdin’s paper in Social Science & Medicine, p 2441: “More than 1 in 3 respondents talked about domestic violence while SC4 was on air […] Men with high exposure to SC4 radio were less likely to never talk about domestic violence (35%) than men with no exposure to SC4 radio (62%...)” Additional data and reports available from Soul City’s web site: http://www.soulcity.org.za/ (e.g. “Soul City (SC) 4 Evaluation – Illustrative results.”)
Chapter 21: Does Madison Avenue Still Matter?
“The study mentioned in Advertising Age looked…” See Niederhoffer, Kate, et al. “The Origin and Impact of CPG New-Product Buzz: Emerging Trends and Implications.” Journal of Advertising Research 47 (December 2007): 420-426; Interview with Kate Niederhoffer, 1/18/08.
“Advertising content shows up in buzz…”: Interviews with Brad Fay, 9/13/07 and 10/26/07. See also Keller, Ed and Brad Fay. “Single Source WOM Measurement.” November 2006, p. 8. White paper available from http://www.kellerfay.com/
Chapter 22: Buzz in Distribution Channels
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Chapter 23: Putting It Together
“A Hotel with a Pillow Menu…”: Interview with John Moser, 10/29/07. Milligan, Michael. “Pillow talk: The Benjamin offers sleep amenities.” Travel Weekly September 27, 2004. p. 26. Trucco, Terry. “Pillow Talk for the Weary.” The New York Times, September 17, 2007. p. H1. Ramirez, Anthony. “Sleepless in New York? Not at This Hotel.” The New York Times, October 8, 2007. p. A20. See also http://www.tripadvisor.com/
“The Evolution of Seeding…”: Interviews with Mavis Fraser, 10/24/07, Patrick Thoburn, 9/28/07 and 8/21/07, Matthew Stradiotto 8/21/07, Krista Dayman, 11/1/07, Lauren White, 11/01/07. White’s blog is at http://raymitheminx.com/. See also: Musngi, Pia. “Coty Prestige’s Mavis Fraser: CK invites netgen in2 brand conversations.” Strategy Magazine, June 2007. p. 22. For more about the product launch in the U.S., see Wilson, Eric. “How to Bottle a Generation.” The New York Times, March 8, 2007. p. G1.
“The Secret of Finding a Plumber…”: Interview with Angie Hicks 7/23/07. See also: Darlin, Damon. “Let’s Say Your Toilet Backs Up. How Do You Find a Good Plumber?” The New York Times, August 5, 2006. p. B1. For additional discussion see: Mohl, Bruce. “Consumers find new voice in taking gripes online. Wounded targets fight back, but with little success.” The Boston Globe, September 9, 2007. Angie’s List can be found at http://www.angieslist.com/
Chapter 24: Buzz Workshop
“Will it Blend?...”: Interview with George Wright, 4/22/08. Alsever, Jennifer. “Puree a Rake for Fun and Profit.” FSB, April 2008, p. 51.