Building Marketing Buzz...

A Culver's restaurant is going up near my office.

I haven't seen an ad, a billboard or a sign for it. I don't even think they've broken ground, yet. But everyone in town knows about it. This is the first Culver's in our area, so it has a certain mystique. More mystique than you'd expect from Butter Burgers and Frozen Custard.

The owner couldn't buy this kind of pre-opening buzz -- or could he?

How's everyone know about this? WOM -- that's Word-Of-Mouth.

I've mentioned B2B and B2C marketing in my tips before. This is C2C, Consumer to Consumer marketing. It's based on human nature. People like to be "in the know" and share with others. It's a harmless form of gossip.

In this case, those who follow the local press, like Beth, are filling in those who don't, like me. Until it opens. Then all the WOM will be based on experience -- and marketing.

You can use publicity and other means to build buzz for your brand, too, no matter what you sell.

That's what evangelism marketing guru Guy Kawasaki did for Apple Computer -- all in the days before cell phone messaging and blogs.

In fact, Kawasaki will be a keynote speaker at the first WOMMA (Word Of Mouth Marketing Association) Summit at University of Chicago March 29 - 30. Experts in "viral, buzz, word of mouth, evangelism, grassroots and other customer-centered marketing strategies" will gather to discuss case studies, best practices, tracking ROI and ethics.

Sound interesting? Want to know the word on word-of-mouth? Want in on the buzz?

Contribute towards my $895 registration fee and I'll gladly attend and report back every gossipy detail.

- Phil Sasso