Create a Buzz not a Mess!

To create a great buzz there are a few simple rules that are to be followed-

• Keep it subtle
• Do Not make the product, service being promoted obvious
• Keep few but related cues for people to comprehend
• Controlling the people is more important than controlling communication channels such as television, magazine ads etc.
  

The above rules would be the very reason why i feel a buzz can be a double edged sword. Wondering WHY??

The first rule is that if u have a few subtle cues that arent noticed by your target segment, the buzz wouldn't serve its basic purpose. At the same time if u have too many cues it would end up being a advertising campaign and no more a buzz. Its paradoxical to get the right balance. The very existence of competitors in the market can lead you to divert away from being subtle, which on the other hand is nothing more than a knee-jerk effect to competitor's response to your buzz. The marketers basic purpose of getting noticed might be the driver of this reflexive action.

The second rule though is pretty obvious, coz if u make your end result evident in the earlier stages then your buzz would not create the necessary suspense, which inturn would result in people not wanting to know more. Moreover only if your campaign gives people something new to talk about they would be interested to spreading the word of mouth. This is where basic human mechanism is being used by marketers, a mechanism that Darwin would say is primary to the survival of the human race. It's human nature to talk about what's new. It's this behavior that helped us figure out what was okay to eat and wear. What places were safe and what places were dangerous. Millions of years later and these are still the things we're talking about - where to eat, what to wear, and what status symbols can help us advance in our society.

The third rule is equally important too. Say you consider a set of messages that are flashed out in a random order. Now when you conclude your buzz campaign the buzz would not have its intended effect on the target audience if its not a complete story, i.e. if all your messages don't culminate leading to your final message.

The fourth and final rule here is to forget about controlling the traditional channels of communication like television and magazine ads; rather if you can control the people and what they talk about, you'll achieve more with less effort. This follows the "Chaos Theory" which says that small changes can escalate to bigger ones and that people are the chaotic particles. On the flipside if u cannot control people and how they connect with your buzz, it would be a baseless attempt to doing nothing coz your intended message then wouldn't get through!

SO KEEP IT SIMPLE AND BE NIMBLE!!!