Buzz is Relative

We talk quite a bit about creating buzz when we’re talking to executives and marketers about their marketing efforts. During a meeting last week with a client in Texas, I was reminded that buzz is relative (small-town-Texas-buzz is very different from Chicago-buzz).

While the concept of buzz may be the same, the process of actually generating buzz depends quite a bit on your market. In the case of this small town client, everyone in town knows everyone else – and word spreads like wildfire. As a result, management of peoples' perceptions becomes very important.

In any case, if your looking to generate buzz, your message needs to be buzzworthy. I first heard the term “buzzworthy” years ago on MTV; the station’s Buzzworthy Blog actually has a great definition of the term:

“speculative or excited talk or attention relating to music and culture of sufficient worth or importance”

In the case of your institution, you won’t be generating excited talk or attention around music and culture; instead, depending on your market, you may generate this kind of talk and attention when you open a new branch; or for your involvement with a Habitat for Humanity project; or because of your financial education program for high school students.

What’s buzzworthy in your market?

Are your marketing efforts communicating something of sufficient worth or importance to your target market? Is it enough to generate speculative or excited talk or attention in your community?