The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 97-109

104 The best buzz comes not from clever PR or advertising but rather from attributes inherent to the product itself.

105 The initial experience a customer has with a product is critical to buzz.

106 Contagious product is the one that creates visual buzz.

107 If you design it to look different, you can help the product stir conversation and this advertise itself.

Another way some contagious products self-propagate is leaving traces of themselves behind. This is especially for products that allow their users to express themselves.

109 Product that become more useful as more people use them.

This need for partnership is the basic building block of the network effects. (telephone, fax, email etc.) increase their value the more people use them—as do most communications tools.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 96-97

97 Two traps companies can fall into..First is thinking that creating buzz is all about network hubs. If you exclusively focus on the two-step flow model, you can leap to the dangerous conclusion that directs communication with your customer is not important. Second potential trap lies in a narrow interpretation of the term network hub.

Numbers make a big difference in getting the word out.

If a company can reach the critical 10 percent, it will indirectly influence all the others. The word-of-mouth message will grow like a snowball rolling downhill, as the critical 10 percent pass the word to others. But in practice, marketers sometimes target just a handful of influencers..not full 10 percent.

Industry buzz tends to focus on the future. Not much about your product today.

If your products gets a lot of talk within your industry, that’s good. But if at a certain point this industry buzz doesn’t become customer buzz, you may have a problem. Ultimately customers are the people who have to recommend your product to their friends.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 93-96

95 When the risk is high, we can expect a slow adoption spread that starts from centers of influence.

96 But how do these individuals interact with one another?

To learn how to help create buzz, you should be able to answer questions like these:
From whom do your clients or customers typically learn about your products?
What do people say when they recommend your product?
How fast does information about your product spread compared with other products.
Who are the network hubs?
Where does the information hit a roadblock?
How many sources of information does a customer rely on? Which ones are more important?
What other kinds of information spread through the same networks?

Then Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 89-93

90 No matter how much credibility one has, the best buzz comes from third parties—not from the manufacturer itself.

The really interesting thing in the word-of-mouth process is that the very first place that a product has to gain acceptance is from its competitors.

A new technology product that is not recognized by its competitors is immediately dismissed in the industry.

91 Unlike mass media, word of mouth allows you …to exchange information so that you can make sure you understand each other.

93 Some people adopt when few in their networks adopt, and some people wait unit most of their network adopts.

Every node in the network who decides to try a product ultimately performs his or her own quality-control test, and based on the results, decides whether to pass the word further.
Buzz is authentic because it is uncoerced

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 84-89

86 The flow of information about a product cannot be separated from the quality of the products itself.

“Contagious attributes” built into the product—includes the extent to which expectations are met or exceeded—are the biggest factors in determining how much buzz a product gets.

Tremendous amount of energy goes into books

87 Beyond just passion, energy is about the time and money put behind a product.

Book’s success by putting in more of their time and money behind it every step of the way.

89 Buzz travels most smoothly through channels built on trust.

People who spread the word effectively are not necessarily loud, and you won’t always see them gesticulating furiously. They are people whom we trust.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 78-84

79 He failed to notice the existence of other networks. This is a prime example of the busy-network paradox.

Only by mingling in a variety of networks can we get a sense of what’s happening beyond our immediate frame of reference.

81 Buzz is not as hierarchical as some people think.

83 Only so much buzz can be generated in an industry at any particular point in time, and everyone knows that. Therefore, when left alone, most new products and ideas encounter objection or indifference in their industries. There is no buzz.

84 Buzz refuses to follow neat patterns

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 73-78

74 Don’t listen only to your close network—it is likely to rehash what you already know. Diversify your connections.

The fact is that we can’t maintain links to an unlimited number of people.

75 Dunbar…150 seems to represent the maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship. (average between 500-1500 not to close)

Email messages send several of your acquaintances...Because we can manage just so many links, and because we prefer to form links with those similar to us, we will continue to cluster around people like us.

76 You never know how people in one market category are linked to people in other categories.

78 …if you market a conversation product, your customers are very likely to be talking about it—maybe even as you’re reading this paragraph.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 70-73

71 First, remember that most people hang out with people like themselves—perfect candidates for a conversation. It’s simply so convenient and natural to talk most with those who are around us.

Although the Internet allows people to connect with anyone around the world, and many do, physical proximity is still an excellent predictor of those with whom you will share information.

72 Media influences remain important, despite the Internet, Since people talk to those around them, in marketing a product or service it is important to create a presence in every geographical location. This means that traditional marketing focused on ZIP codes, database marketing and brick and mortar sales outlets are still key in spreading the word. The networks are still pulled by social gravity to the ground around us.

73 The strength of weak ties.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 65-70

66 While it is true that buzz spreads through mutual acquaintances, the degree of control that marketers have on this process is very limited.

67 you can learn just as much from paying attention to the absence of ties.

68 It is important to identify the gaps between different clusters and to find ways to spread the word about a product to people on both sides of any structural holes.

69 it takes very few short cuts between nodes and clusters to turn a big world into a small world.

70 Connectors: What distinguishes them from hubs is that they can connect two or more clusters.

Venture capitalists—The partners in these companies work with many startups and serve as communication channel among them. A message that they value will find its way to their contacts quickly.
…companies can deliberately create shortcuts by using people within the company to link with individuals in remote networks

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 61-65

62 The homophily principle has two basis implications. The first is that people who are similar to each other tend to form clusters. The second implication is that the more similar your employees are to your customers, the easier the communication between them will be.

63 Common goals can also tie people to each other.

64 After one local network hub chose a method, she began to spread the word about the advantages of that method and consequently influenced the rest of her village.

The good news for companies is that if your product become the standard within a cluster, it makes it very difficult for competitors to uproot you from this position.

65 Any person can be reached through a limited number of steps.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 54-61

55 marketers have huge deal to gain by cultivating network hubs.

57 It’s hard for some marketers to accept the fact that information spreads in nonlinear ways they can’t always control.

59 People in our society constantly form new friendships, change jobs, move—all factors contributing to the fluidity and invisibility of the networks.

60 The implications of this principle to customers is that customers privacy is protected because our social ties are not easily visible to the world. Marketing activities in the network can be invisible as well.

It’s human nature for people to make contact with others like themselves.

61 This tendency for people to like and associate with those who are similar to them is called homophily and it is one of the fundamental principles of invisible networks.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 51-54

Exposed to Media. Because network hubs are information-hungry they read more.

A common thread among all these characteristic is that network hubs create links between their local system and the outside world.

52 One of the characteristics of network hubs is that they are usually at least slightly ahead of the rest of us in adopting innovations.

53 Given all the foregoing, network hubs are often more innovative that other people. Often they are the first to adopt new products.

Being a network hub is not only about having lots of friends. It’s also about who these friends are connected to.

54 Network hubs are opinion leaders.

As easy mistake companies can make is to jump to the conclusion that satisfied customers are also influential in their own networks.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 47-51

48 By looking at both the scale of influence and the source of influence, we’re about to identify four specific types of networks.

49 Network hubs are ACTIVE. They are Ahead in adoption, Connected, Travelers, Information-hungry, Vocal, and Exposed to the media more that others.

Network hubs are usually not the first to adopt new products, but they are at least slightly ahead of the rest in their network.

Innovativeness. It refers to the relative speed at which an individual adopts new ideas.

Connected. Network hubs are by definition connects.

Often hubs will have ties within a core group and also be connected to an outside source of information.

50 To find other network hubs, they go to trade shows, join user groups, and hang out in on-line forums that discuss the topics they are interested in.

It is worthwhile to keep this in mind when you communicate with network hubs in your market.

51 Being outspoken on the Internet is likely to be a good indication of being a network hub. These are the people who voice their opinions about issues and who are more likely to be heard.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 44-47

Four Types of Network Hubs1) Regular Hubs--regular folks who serve as information sources2) Mega-Hubs--press, celebrities, analysts, politicians3) Expert Hubs--people who are experts or known for their knowledge4) Social Hubs--people who are in the center of everything due to their charisma, trust, are more socially active.
46 Researchers talk about an individual’s degree of opinion leadership.

47 Opinion leadership may dwindle when the subject is education or dancing troupes.

It’s also important to distinguish between hubs who are listened to because of what they know—expert hubs—and hubs who are listened to because of their social centrality—social hubs.

Expert Hubs: Some people listen to because they have demonstrated significant knowledge of a certain area ( at the very least , they have convinced others of their authority on the subject. Expert hubs tend to specialized.

Social Hubs: In every group there are those who are more central because they are charismatic, are trusted by their peers, or are simply more socially active.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 39-44

39 By seeking information before they buy, customers increase their chances of feeling satisfied later on, thus reducing the potential for tension.
We talk because we are programmed to talk. Fewer people may attend public meetings, but more express their opinions on the Net.

40 One of the few things that consistently show up in research about word of mouth is the fact that we tend to spread negative comments to more people that we do positive one.
Positive ones we told 3…negative ones we told 7
Once person hears about a good experience and six hear about a bad experience.

43 Network hubs are individuals who communicate with more people about a certain product than the average person does. Opinion leaders, lead users, or power users.

44 But the reward for paying attention to these people can be huge. Not only do they further the buzz about a new product- their central position sometimes allows them to change a message even block it from spreading.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 35-39

36 Customers who are less experience have a higher perceived risk, and therefore they tend to rely on others more often.

36 We often benefit directly from talking about products. …in fact certain products become more valuable as more people use them.

Customers understand that they can benefit from having their colleagues use the same operating systems.

Competitors often benefit from spreading negative buzz.

In all these scenarios people talk to benefit from outcome financially (sometimes in indirect ways)

38 common source of negative buzz comes from a negative experience a customer has had with a company. Unhappy customers will try to ease the internal tension they feely by getting even.

Word of mouth is incredibly powerful online.