Buzz Marketing with Blogs: Buzz Marketing or Spam? Ask the Beholder

Buzz Marketing or Spam? Ask the Beholder

I’ve been blogging on my personal blog about being on the the OTHER side of buzz marketing—being the person that is being contacted by a marketing comany trying to generate positive word of mouth for their product. In this case, the product is a new Nokia phone, and the word of mouth, well, it isn’t all positive.

In this case, the product is a new Nokia phone, and the word of mouth, well, it isn’t all positive. Here’s what I wrote:

Boris and Darren both took the time today to whack matchstick.ca (those phone givers I just blogged about) with the “unsavvy” stick. Boris went so far as to say he’d “reconsider doing ANY business with Nokia in the future” because of gross infractions that led to them slapping a “spammer” label on Matchstick’s business practices. What horrid infraction Matchstick commit? Offer them a free phone with no strings attached. I say: Relax a bit, fellas!

Boris wrote:

A company that does “buzz marketing”, Matchstick.ca, had three separate people contact me via email. All of those emails were sent en-masse—I consider it to be spam. And I happen to know at least two other people (David Crow, Roland Tanglao) that got the same email.

Darren wrote:

[I received] four emails from Matchstick from four different staff members all asking the same thing. And two of those messages came after I clearly expressed my disinterest in their offer. Matchstick might want to invest in some CRM software, and learn how to use it. I think they’ve qualified themselves as spammers, don’t you?

I don’t think there’s any spam here, but that’s not the point. The point is: The phone hasn’t even arrived and already the conversation is going on. The only mistake here by Matchstick, if any, is that these micro marketing campaigns, person to person, are not easier than big campaigns. In many ways, they’re more tricky. A small mistake (sending emails more than once) can escalate quickly. They feel easy because they’re things people do every day: send email, talk, listen.

On the other hand, a genuine and personal response like what Darren reported he received, can go a long way towards fixing a problem. Boris tells them to start their own blog; if they don’t, they should at least jump in and let themselves be heard on the existing blogs. Left to fester, and you’ll end up with something like Boing Boing’s recent dispute about World Cup webcasts. Nobody wants that.

Posted by Travis Smith on 06/24 at 01:07 AM • Marketing

Comments

I completely agree. Matchstick is doing almost everything right, and the bottom line is that people are talking.

And, isn’t that what viral marketing is all about?

Could they be a bit more polished in their delivery, and synchronization of said initial contact, yes I think so. But hey, if I’m getting a free phone plus a ton of accessories, I think I can overlook a little ‘rough-around-the-edges’ contact.

Posted by NetChick on 07/05/06 at 04:57 AM