Greg Gillispie
by Greg Gillispie
Seeds were planted early in the year with the goal of growing a new variety of Apple. A new variety so delicious it would increase the number of consumers.
Shortly afterwards, with Apple curiosity increasing, the grower via a well planned creative marketing campaign began explaining the fruit’s various flavors. Consumers wanted to taste for themselves. Would it be sweet? Tart? Soft? Crunchy? Would it be easily digestible?
Apple desire became an insatiable buzz! Even though it would not make the market for a few months, some consumers became self-proclaimed Apple experts, while others questioned its new flavors. And then it happened. The buzz made the Apple hype-o-licious!
The day iPhone, the new variety of Apple, hit shelves, the media’s coverage and consumer’s rush took hype-o-liciouness to a new level. And the grower received unbelievable free marketing, perhaps a greater value than its investment. [Even this writing provides it, although nearly a month after the iPhone release.]
The grower, Steve Jobs, did a masterful job of creating iPhone hype. Spreading it over six months created an ever expanding buzz. As Washington Post writer Paul Farhi said, “Embracing the hype over the would-be Next Big Thing is one of the things that defines us as Americans, the most innovative and optimistic people on Earth.”
It seems “hype” used to have a negative connotation. The dictionary offers one definition – a questionable claim, exaggerated publicity, or hoopla. These days, “hype” is usually defined as a way to intensify your message via advertising, promotion, or publicity.
But Webster forgot to add one other definition – WOM. Long before the planting of the iPhone seed, word of mouth had been circulating around Hogwarts and into the Forbidden Forrest.
Harry said the word, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Hagrid, and even Voldemort spread the message, and soon, millions of devotees turned the message into a buzz. Only the WOM buzz created the hype. No marketing investment.
The day before Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows hit the shelves, there were more Potter fans waiting than Steve Jobs’ iPhone-flavored Apple buzz maniacs. This day became hype-o-Potter-licious!
And here’s how buzz-worthy Harry’s WOM is – Laura Ries’ latest blog says, “Many analysts had predicted 500,000 or more iPhones would be sold in the first few days. Yet AT&T said they activated only 146,000 iPhones in the first two days. To make matters worse, CIBC World Markets said demand for the iPhone has had a significant decline in the past 10 days and stores are stocked with the devices.” Compared to Deathly Hallows 8.3 million (U.S. alone) books flying off the shelves, in one day – that’s 345,800 per hour and setting a record for Borders Book stores – the flavorful Apple may seem rather bruised.
Consumer Generated Media’s (CGM) Pete Blackshaw shares his magical view: “This is nothing short of extraordinary! The iPhone launch was far and away the most buzz-worthy marketing event of the year, but it looks as though Harry Potter CGM is nearly three times that level. Just think about it: over 4% of all new blog posts reference Harry Potter in some way, shape, or form.”
The old adage of being famous for only 15 minutes is more evident in this day than ever! Both of these products had a massive buzz, yet have grown quiet. While the availability of these brands will remain, only something new, such as an iPhone update and lower price, will result in a rekindled buzz. Radio’s product, however, remains consistently and freshly available.
So how do you create hype for your brand without diminishing intensity or making it unbelievable? The opportunity to make each 15 minutes famous adds liciousness.
Take, for example, Howard Stern. Once achieving fame, his story became the same old. Then along came his book. Howard was hype-o-licious. The book sold and his story became the same. Then the movie came… and his divorce… and his terrestrial radio departure announcement… and finally, his departure. With each 15 minutes, Howard was hype-o-licious. Once again we, although fewer than before, wait for the same old to invigorate taste buds becoming something new. Making some 15 minute happenings become predictable lessens the collective intensity of the next.
Paris Hilton is another so hype-o-licious (licious being figurative, of course). Sex, actually longer than 15 minutes, made the Internet. Then an array of momentary bursts, many less lengthy than sex, culminated with going to jail, going home from jail, going back to jail, leaving jail, and vanishing to unknown points. While Paris is still in the back of our minds, particularly in relationship to Lindsay and Britney, her hype is currently without its liciousness. Like Paris, your brand could be searching for the next appropriate moment or poised to grasp sudden topicality.
Like the Apple’s grower, your brand’s planned marketing adds hype-o. The unique creates the buzz – WOM.
This series of billboards is a prime example of creating nonstop WOM valued far more than the investment.
The first was for a spring campaign. The third was the fourth’s planned precursor of the fall campaign. The second was the hype from the first creating o-so much-liciousness.
There is another way to create the ultimate WOM buzz for your brand. But it is a secret, more secretive than Harry’s, buzz built on the relationship with your consumers. Imagine 25,000 members of a “club” receiving three exclusive emails about the brand’s association with another. Each email is increasingly valuable.
That other brand is yours. As three similarly exclusive emails arrive from the others this association becomes a relationship. When nearly half of each “club” joins the other, it becomes hype-o-licious.
If only those in the relationship were known. While the brands are not as big as the Apple or Harry, they are ongoing. And perhaps that relationship is even more hype-o-licious.
Greg Gillispie’s 34+ year career includes consulting media and artist management companies, programming radio stations in Omaha & Pittsburgh, contracting on-air and programming work with XM Radio, developing revenue-generating marketing and promotion campaigns for a variety of entertainment companies, moderating and speaking at multi-media conferences, on-air work, and training the Playmate Radio Team. Greg is author of a number of published articles and co-author of the textbook Process and Practice of Radio Programming. Contact Greg at Ripe Blue Tomato 703-678-9460 or via email at ggillispie@aol.com
