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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 of buzz, companies must reject five common myths.

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by Ren^e Dye

u z z IS THE STUFF OF MARKETING LEGENDS.

Buzz

Dark and witty Harry Potter, the trafficstopping retro Beetle, the addictive Pok^mon, cuddly Beanie Babies, the hair-raising Blair Witch Project~a\\ are recent examples of blockbuster commercial 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 favorable, 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 marketing practices at more than 50 companies, my colleagues and 1 at McKinsey have found that buzza phenomenon we've dubbed "explosive self-generating demand" -is hardly a random force of nature, instead, it evolves according to some basic principles. My research shows that companies can predict the spread of buzz by analyzing how different groups of customers interact and influence one another. Many executives have little idea how to orchestrate a marketing campaign that exploits the full power of customer word of mouth. Instead, they remain enslaved to five common misconceptions about the phenomenon. Before companies can reap the total benefits of buzz, they must understand the principles of how it works, and doing so requires a close examination of thosefivemyths.

point: Viagra, one of the most talked-about...