Book Review: The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited

The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited: Real-life lessons in Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Emanuel Rosen
Broadway Business (2009)

Presumably many of those who read that first edition do not know that almost 70% of the material in this “revisited” edition is new. As Rosen explains in his Introduction, he offers lots of new examples and case studies “from the trenches” that made him focus on concepts that he previously ignored (or almost ignored) “such as the need to measure buzz, storytelling, the power of participation, ethical issues, conversation hooks, secondhand buzz, and visual buzz.” Also, Of the 24 chapters in this “revisit,” twelve are completely new (1-16, 13, 15-17, and 19-20) and only two are essentially the same (9-10). “The other chapters [i.e. 7-8, 11-12, 18, and 21-24] fall somewhere in between.”

In both editions, Rosen is talking about Positive Buzz. He explains HOW to take full advantage of the marketing opportunities it permits. In Chapter 16, “Buzz Workshop”, he asks and then answers a series of very basic but profoundly important questions. (All by itself, this final chapter is well-worth the cost of the book. I strongly recommend that this chapter be re-read on a regular basis. Competitive marketplaces do have a way of changing, don’t they?) Once having read the book, the reader is well-prepared to select and then implement those concepts, strategies, and tactics that are most appropriate to her or his own situation. This substantially revised and updated edition is most welcome. I think the core principles that Emanuel Rosen introduces and explains in the first edition are still sound. However, opportunities to apply them — to “get out the word” about a product or service experience, and perhaps offer a positive or negative comment about it with others — have become almost unlimited.