Is the Tipping Point Toast? - Fast Company; February 1, 2008
"These tastemakers, Gladwell concluded, are the spark behind any successful trend...In modern marketing, this idea--that a tiny cadre of connected people triggers trends--is enormously seductive. It is the very premise of viral and word-of-mouth campaigns: Reach those rare, all-powerful folks, and you'll reach everyone else through them, basically for free. Loosely, this is referred to as the Influentials theory, and while it has been a marketing touchstone for 50 years, it has recently reentered the mainstream imagination via thousands of marketing studies and a host of best-selling books. In addition to The Tipping Point, there was The Influentials, by marketing gurus Ed Keller and Jon Berry, as well as the gospel according to PR firms such as Burson-Marsteller, which claims "E-Fluentials" can "make or break a brand."...Yet, if you believe Watts, all that money and effort is being wasted. Because according to him, Influentials have no such effect..." FULL STORY
Rogers Media and BzzAgent Form Canadian Partnership - Trading Markets; January 20, 2008
"According to the agreement, Rogers Media will assume exclusive rights to sell access to BzzAgent's WOM network in Canada and develop campaigns for that consumer channel, under the name BzzAgent Canada. The Canadian company will add WOM marketing services to its existing print, digital, broadcast and other marketing solutions. 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..."We have always believed word of mouth to be the purest medium, and today's announcement is proof positive," said Dave Balter, founder and CEO of BzzAgent. "One of the world's most recognized media companies has just made an unprecedented commitment to word of mouth in 2008. Canada has become the focal point for the future of the industry."..." FULL STORY
MySpace Received 76 Percent of U.S. Social Networking Visits in 2007, says Hitwise - Tekrati; January 16, 2008
"Hitwise today announced that MySpace.com averaged 76.35 percent of all U.S. visits in 2007, among a custom category of 53 leading social networking websites. Facebook.com, Bebo.com and BlackPlanet.com received the next largest number of visits, as each received 12.57, 1.24 and .87 percent, respectively. The remaining 49 social networking websites in the custom category accounted for 8.97 percent of U.S. visits...The continued popularity of social networking activities online will drive the interest of marketers seeking to target influential users to approve and advocate their products and services...The Hitwise statistics on shares are based on averaging the monthly market share of U.S. visits from Jan. 2007 to Dec. 2007..." FULL STORY