Page 155 - Marketing the Basics 2nd

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To be effective, underground buzz must not be perceived by the target audience as advertising, because people will not transmit a commercial message. Therefore, companies need to pay attention not to mix classical advertising techniques with a buzz campaign, at least during the buzz building stage. Later, when the snowball starts rolling, traditional means can be used to reinforce and fuel the buzz.
Buzz cannot be targeted at a specific segment of population, but rather it spreads through a network of hubs and spokes. Buzz spreads across the borders at the speed of email and chat rooms. At certain moments in time it affects clusters of customers and it rapidly migrates towards others crossing borders. A good way to control the word of mouth and to reinforce it would be to use endorsers placed in hubs. For example, teenagers gather in dance clubs, schools, cafeterias and so on. By hiring celebrities to represent the brands, youngsters are more likely to purchase the products. Of course the type of celebrity varies depending on the type of youngster a company is targeting.
Young adults now look up to celebrities in the entertainment industry and model their every behaviour accordingly. Should a shoe company for example design a new trainer, it must have a celebrity in mind from the beginning of the development process. In a sense, a company can no longer design a product and then decide which celebrity will wear the product, it must assess the spokesperson before the product is designed. A company must ask itself, ‘What type of shoe would Justin Timberlake wear?’ rather than, ‘Will Justin Timberlake wear this shoe?’ By designing a shoe that fits the celebrity’s image, a company will immediately gain access to a prefabricated market; these youth are simply waiting for the right products. Yes, they want to be ahead of the game with regards to trends, however they are extremely reluctant to leave their comfort zones. Their identity lies in the hands of an entertainer, therefore unless this individual experiments with various fashion trends, youngsters will be reluctant to accept new products. Companies must design for a specific individual in order to attract the correct target market. By hiring opinion leaders – cool youngsters their peers look up to as endorsers of the brand – the brand becomes more visible and ‘cool by association’. Procter & Gamble hires Tremor, a company that sends products and coupons