Press Coverage - 2008
December 18, 2008 – ClickZ
Experiential Marketing
Countless studies have shown the power of word of mouth and the power of enabling consumers to experience products and services firsthand. Augustine Fou highlights BzzAgent as an example of a systematic approach to experiential marketing.
November 24, 2008 – Marketing Magazine
Rogers Media
Rogers was named one of the top 10 media players by Marketing Magazine in Canada. The article profiles Rogers' 2008 accomplishments, including its partnership with BzzAgent.
November 4, 2008 – The Wall Street Journal
Networking? Here's How to Stand Out
Networking to find a new job can be tough. When BzzAgent posted an opening for vice president of engineering—one applicant's creative approach made him stand out.
Fall 2008 – Scope Quarterly
Six cyber-ideas that matter — and sell
Skidmore's Scope Quarterly profiles six alumni entrepreneurs leading new businesses all in digital — including BzzAgent CEO and Founder Dave Balter.
October 23, 2008 – BrandWeek
Study: Coke Is Most Talked About Brand in America
According to a study by the Keller Fay Group, Coca-Cola is the most talked about brand in America. BzzAgent Founder and CEO, Dave Balter, notes, "People like to talk about things they use everyday. If you have a frequency of use for a product, it gives you more reason to talk about it."
October 10, 2008 – BrandWeek
Study: How Profitable Is Word-of-Mouth?
In a report titled, Calculating Your Communications Dividend, BzzAgent determined for CPG products, brand-related conversations net out to a 38 cent net value.
October 1, 2008 – Harvard Business Review (Full article subscription-only)
Marketing CEO Dave Balter on achieving the corporate full Monty
BzzAgent Founder and CEO Dave Balter, believes strongly in radical corporate transparency. In practice that can mean frank self-examination in his blogs, publicly posting his company's sales presentations, and rotating an executive office space among employees at every level.
September 29, 2008 – AdWeek
Strategic Thinking 3.0
The president and CEO of MediaBrands gives his 2009 media forecast. Social networks and companies like BzzAgent will "revolutionize our procedures to listen and learn."
September 25, 2008 – ClickZ
Using the Entire Marketing Toolbox
Instead of using only one or two mediums, brands are looking for an integrated marketing mix and word of mouth is one of the essential channels to reaching consumers.
September 24, 2008 – The Wall Street Journal
PepsiCo Seeks to Raise Stakes on Super Bowl Ads
Founder and CEO Dave Balter comments on PepsiCo's $1 million contest for any consumer generated ad that takes the #1 ranking in USA Today's Super Bowl Ad Meter.
September 19, 2008 – ClickZ
New Trade Association Seeks Standards for Social Media Advertising
Ad agency and media executives are joining together to form the Social Media Advertising Council, including CEO and Founder Dave Balter. The aim of the organization is to set standards for buying and measuring marketing in social media.
Social Media Ad Council launches, includes Boston execs — Boston Business Journal
Accounts, People, Miscellany — The New York Times
September 15, 2008 – Financial Times
I buy therefore I am
Three new books including Rob Walker's Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are examine mass consumerism and the relationship people have with brands. Walker's book includes a section on word-of-mouth marketing and the success of BzzAgent.
August 13, 2008 — Wall Street Journal
When You're Here, You're Family — But What About a Playboy Model?
Unsolicited celebrity endorsements don't always align with the brand's intended image. BzzAgent Founder and CEO Dave Balter comments on Playboy cover model Kendra Wilkinson's advocacy for family style restaurant, the Olive Garden.
August 13, 2008 — Marketing Vox
BzzAgent, Attensity to Wed WOM to Wallets
BzzAgent and Attensity, the leader in text analytics software, announced a partnership designed to provide marketers with insights into the conversations consumers are having about their brands.
July, 21 2008 — Good Morning America
How to Get Free Stuff for Your Opinion
Good Morning America tells consumers how they can receive products by participating in word-of-mouth campaigns with companies such as BzzAgent.
July 15, 2008 — ABC News Now
Did You Hear About it?
BzzAgent's VP of Communications, Joe Chernov, explains why word of mouth is a billion dollar business and breaks down how campaigns are measured.
July 15, 2008 — MediaWeek
A little more conversation
Word-of-mouth marketing is on the rise in the UK, as brands are looking to engage with consumers and create customer loyalty. Dave Balter, BzzAgent founder and CEO, weighs in, "The consumer's opinion is rooted in an actual product experience, which is what word of mouth is based on. This type of marketing only works when it is honest and unscripted."
July 14, 2008 — Advertising Age
Better ROI or Your Money Back, Says Buzz Agency
BzzAgent announced the market's first "WOM Impact Guarantee" program. The initiative ensures that WOM will outperform by 20 percent or more any other advertising medium or BzzAgent will refund the brand’s WOM and measurement costs.
BzzAgent launches 'WOM Impact Guarantee' program — BizReport
New BzzAgent program offers a money-back-guarantee — Boston Business Journal
BzzAgent to Guarantee Word of Mouth Works — AdRants
BzzAgent's WOM guarantee — Contagious
July 7, 2008 — Good Morning America
How to Become a Word-of-Mouth Marketer
Good Morning America profiles how to become a word-of-mouth marketer, highlighting the success of the BzzAgent Philips Sonicare campaign.
July 3, 2008 — NPR
Companies Care What People Say About Products
Walter Carl, professor of communications at Northeastern University and founder of a word-of-mouth research firm called Chat Threads, discusses what word-of-mouth marketing is and how it can be measured.
June 29, 2008 — BrandWeek
Is Talk Cheap? How Cheap?
What's the average cost per conversation? According to BzzAgent a 50� cost per conversation is the norm. Boston research group, ChatThreads also arrived at the same figure, however believes this is "far from definitive." Arriving at a standardized ROI metric is a hot topic for the WOM industry as marketers look to quantify the medium.
June 23, 2008 – BrandWeek
The Post-Soccer Mom
Generation Y or Millennial Moms have replaced the old "soccer moms." This new group of moms have changed what they expect from marketers and savvier marketers have started to respond with Gen Y mom-specific initiatives. BzzAgent Founder and CEO Dave Balter notes "They know what they have to say matters; their self-awareness is impressive. They see brands as their own, and their knowledge and information empowers them."
June 19, 2008 – BusinessWeek
Are We Consumers—or Consumed?
Two books, Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are by Rob Walker and Lucas Conley's Obsessive Branding Disorder: The Illusion of Business and The Business of Illusion, explore the question of whether brands control us, or vice versa. In describing BzzAgent, Walker notes, "The existence of tens of thousands of volunteer marketing agents' raises a surprising possibility—that we have already met the new hidden persuaders, and they are us."
June 18, 2008 – Mixergy.com
How to Build Buzz- with Dave Balter, CEO BzzAgent
BzzAgent Founder and CEO Dave Balter talks about his new book, "The Word of Mouth Manual, Volume II," in a 30-minute podcast interview.
June 17, 2008 – MediaPost
The True Value of Time
Announcing the third "value of a conversation" whitepaper, BzzAgent Founder and CEO Dave Balter explores the question, "Where do your dollars drive the greatest time and attention for a consumer?"
June 15, 2008 — Toronto Star
Unlocking the desire code
Toronto Star weighs in on New York Times Magazine columnist Rob Walker's new book Buying In. In the book Walker writes about word-of-mouth marketing which includes a section on BzzAgent.
June 13, 2008 – Harvard Business School
How the Book Publishing Industry Should Reinvent Itself
Dave Balter, BzzAgent founder and CEO, considers the challenges facing the publishing industry. He proposes a new model, one that he, himself, is using to promote and distribute his book, The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II. Check out the bloggers below to see how they're participating in Dave's book distribution experiment and find out how you can get a copy.
What Dave just did — Seth Godin, Seth's Blog
A Unique Way to Get the WOM Manual Volume II — John Bell, Digital Influence Mapping Project
FREE Buzz 'Word of Mouth Manual' Download at TrendHunter.com — Jeremy Gutsche, TrendHunter
The Inside Word on Word-of-Mouth Marketing — Guy Kawasaki, How to Change the World
How to Demonstrate Word of Mouth — John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing
Dave Balter on Word-of-Mouth — John Moore, Brand Autopsy
FREE DOWNLOAD: Balter's buzz book — Greg Verdino, Greg Verdino's Marketing Blog
An Exclusive Download And The Real Secret Of WOM — Rohit Bhargava, Influential Marketing Blog
A Publishing Strategy Worth Talking About: Free — Bill Taylor, HBSP: Game Changer
What's Next In Word Of Mouth: A Great Book and An Experiment In WOM — Mitch Caplan, What's Next in Marketing
The Word Of Mouth Manual Volume II Is Here...And It's Free — Mitch Joel, Six Pixels of Separation
What's Your Take on Word of Mouth — Chris Brogan, ChrisBrogan.com
Win a chance to receive Bzzagent CEO latest book for free — Emmanuel Vivier, Culture Buzz
The Word of Mouth Manual — Todd Sattersten, 800-CEO-READ
Balter Delivers Bzz — Jeff Bussgang, Flybridge Ventures
How the book publishing industry should reinvent itself — Jackie Huba, Church of the Customer
The Word of Mouth Manual, Volume II — Jason Fried, 37signals
All Together Now — Tom Peters, tompeters!
Is BzzAgent's Dave Balter a Genius? — Todd Defren, PR-Squared
Get "The Word of Mouth Manual" For Free — Christopher Carfi, The Social Customer Manifesto
Get "The Word of Mouth Manual" For Free — The Word of Mouth Manual- Ivan Misner, Entrepreneur.com
June 13, 2008 — Newsweek
Advertising Overload
Newsweek's Temma Ehrenfeld speaks with New York Times Magazine columnist Rob Walker about today's brand-conscious consumer. Discussing word-of-mouth campaigns, Walker states, "The fundamental thing the word-of-mouth agencies like BzzAgent have tapped into is a desire to feel like a trendsetter, to tell your friends about the new thing."
May 14, 2008 – Axiom News
BzzAgent's democracy founded on openness, participation
BzzAgent Employees offer examples detailing why BzzAgent was one of 25 organizations selected as WorldBlu's Most Democratic Workplaces.
May 12, 2008 — Miami Herald
Think of word-of-mouth marketing
Columnist Jack Hardy discusses his experience at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association WOMM-U Conference at the downtown Inter-Continental Hotel in Miami.
April 15, 2008 — MediaPost
Where's The Value in My Sales Funnel?
As a continuation in the BzzAgent series of "valuing WOM"-themed whitepapers, Dave Balter, founder and CEO, discusses the impact of word-of-mouth throughout the "sales funnel."
March 31, 2008 — Mergemarket
BzzAgent could exit in 18 - 24 months, CEO says; significant approach by bidder last week
BzzAgent saw a significant approach by a bidder last week. Though BzzAgent is not actively looking to sell now, CEO Dave Balter said he would listen to offers. As a more likely company exit, he gave a time horizon of 18 - 24 months. (Note: Site is subscription-based only.)
March 26, 2008 — Women's Wear Daily
Airing it Out
Marketing experts discuss the potential of neighborhood public radio. Dave Balter, founder and CEO of BzzAgent states: "I love the idea. I especially love the three square blocks [of the FM signal's range]. One of the core tenets of word of mouth is scarcity. With fashion, it's about where you place your products and messages. These days, it's not about a mass audience. It's where are the niche locations that make your brand worth starting a conversation about?" (Note: Site is subscription-based only.)
March 4, 2008 — Homemakers Magazine
Word-of-mouth marketing — Smart or sneaky?
Bonnie Staring of Homemakers Magazine details her first BzzCampaign experience, noting the perks, the challenges, and the benefits of disclosure.
February 27, 2008 — The Mirror
The big Bzz on campus
Students at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri weigh in on BzzAgent and its programs.
February 26, 2008 — Boston Herald
Ad Club adds to Hall of Fame
The Ad Club of Boston is honoring "future legends" in the advertising industry, including BzzAgent founder and CEO Dave Balter.
February 26, 2008 — Brand Republic
'Buzz' finds favour in the UK
Kellogg and Coca-Cola Enterprises turn to BzzAgent to lead their first UK 'buzz marketing' campaigns.
February 4, 2008 — DM News
Word of Mouth
DM News details Philips' decision to use multiple BzzAgent word-of-mouth campaigns to promote its Sonicare electric toothbrush.
February 4, 2008 — CBS Sunday Morning
CBS, Bzzagent and... Minkin?
CBS News Sunday Morning takes a look at the intersection between culture and commerce by profiling BzzAgent's "artist-in-residence" program.
January 30, 2008 — WOMMA BLOG
Podcast: From the Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium
Moderator Dr. Walter J. Carl, Chief Research Officer at ChatThreads, and panelists Matt McGlinn, Senior Director of Analytics at BzzAgent; Suhail Khan, Director of Worldwide Customer Loyalty Programs for IBM Enterprise Content Management; Deb Eastman, Chief Marketing Officer at Satmetrix; and Tim Keiningham SVP and Head of Consulting at IPSOS, discuss the Net Promoter Score.
January 24, 2008 — Radio France
Dave Balter, Founder and CEO of BzzAgent speaks with Radio France
January 8, 2008 – The Boston Globe
BzzAgent partners with Rogers Media
BzzAgent and Rogers Media, operator of Canada's premier category-leading media properties, announce a landmark partnership in which Rogers Media will license the BzzAgent brand exclusively in Canada. The partnership makes Rogers Media the first and only major Canadian media company to incorporate WOM into its advertising suite, cementing Rogers Media's ability to offer 360-degree marketing solutions.
Rogers Media and BzzAgent Announce Exclusive Canadian Partnership — ad hoc news
Rogers Media and BzzAgent Announce Exclusive Canadian Partnership — Fox Business
Rogers Media and BzzAgent Announce Exclusive Canadian Partnership — Centre Daily Times
BzzAgent Forms Licensing Deal with Canadian Company — Boston Business Journal
Rogers Adds Word of Mouth to Media Mix — Marketing Magazine
Rogers Media Launches BzzAgent Canada — AdNews
Rogers Media Goes WOM with BzzAgent — Marketing Vox
Rogers Media Goes WOM with BzzAgent — Media Buyer Planner
Rogers Media and BzzAgent Announce Exclusive Canadian Partnership — MediaCaster Magazine
January 8, 2008 — PR Week
Ogilvy Enters First WOM Partnership
Ogilvy PR signs a partnership agreement with BzzAgent, making it the first PR agency in the United States to formally partner with the word-of-mouth powerhouse.
January 4, 2008 — Boston Business Journal
Ad Vet Puts Brand on Social Networking
Dave Balter discusses the launch of Jamie Tedford's new ad agency, Brand Networks Inc. The start up plans to "eschew traditional media and develop marketing campaigns designed to harness the word-of-mouth potential of millions of consumers."