New chatter tool takes WOM to a network level

In the word-of-mouth business, there’s no guarantee the people who chatter about the various products and brands they use have nice things to say. But companies want to listen in and customers want to be heard, and that’s where BzzAgent comes into play, according to Laurie Burkitt’s May 21, 2009, article “The Business of Hype: Word-of-Mouth Marketing Evolution,” on Forbes.com. Since 2001 the Boston word-of-mouth marketing firm has tapped 550,000 consumers to test out and talk about products from companies like Philips, Walgreens, Ford, Clorox and Procter & Gamble. These volunteers (bzz agents, in company parlance) sign on for eight-week stints when they are given products to try out and, ideally, tout to their friends. They also provide feedback through BzzAgent to the companies that supply them. When those eight weeks are over, the online chatterboxes move on to new products that BzzAgent helps pitch.
But BzzAgent is finding that eight weeks sometimes just isn’t long enough, and consumers can feel abandoned once they lose their direct line to the companies. Their answer? BzzScapes, a social networking site in which online regulars can rant and rave and companies can directly respond back with pictures, comments, coupons and even private conversation.
BzzAgent CEO Dave Balter claims BzzScapes differs from MySpace and Twitter in that it doesn’t aim to put users in touch with one another. Instead, users follow and interact with brands, creating brand communities, where they can upload pictures, create links and add video to a brand’s profile.
For a monthly fee of $5,000 (or $3,500 a month for a six-month agreement), BzzAgent hands over trend reports and detailed personal profiles of agents. If communities don’t grow organically, BzzAgent can also help craft them, first by setting up a profile, then by posting one or two pictures. If brands need help growing their communities, BzzAgent sends out e-mails, inviting a few from its pool of 550,000 volunteers to leave their comments for all to see. For every new person who joins, the company pays BzzAgent $6.

Can Grape Nuts live on advertising alone?

After 111 years of being in production Grape Nuts have fallen on hard times. Marketers at Post Foods are clamoring to restore the gravel-like pellets to their 20th-century glory, according to Barry Newman’s June 1, 2009, article “No Grapes, No Nuts, No Market Share: A Venerable Cereal Faces Crunchtime,” in The Wall Street Journal.
With less than 1 percent share of the U.S. cereal market, the Grape Nuts team has a unique challenge in that the cereal is not all that trendy or tasty, and most Americans would be hard pressed to explain exactly what a grape nut is.
In its naissance the cereal claimed to build brain and nerves and then later to prevent malaria and appendicitis - both false. By 1914, Grape Nuts had cut its curative claims to one: constipation. And from then on advertising focused primarily on establishing Grape Nuts as a hearty man’s cereal. The latest Grape Nuts ad campaign, run on MSN’s Web site, consists of skits in which timid males get droll advice on looking cool while driving a minivan or letting your in-laws move into your house. The slogan - “That takes Grape Nuts” - implies that the stuff enhances virility.
The campaign targets men 45+ because the cereal is “strong and stern, the father figure of cereals,” according to Kelley Peters, insights director of the Grape Nuts comeback.
Grape Nuts has also made nutritional upgrades in an effort to stay relevant as health-consciousness and all-natural claims gain in popularity. The cereal is now whole grain, which qualifies Grape Nuts for food-stamp programs, and includes additional vitamins and minerals.

Rise of the misers: What’s your recession-survival M.O.?

A serious recession can bring out penny-pinchers of all shapes and sizes. London ad agency M&C Saatchi’s study Reacting to Recession explores the attitudes and behavior adopted by different groups of consumers to find eight consumer typologies with distinct approaches to spending and economizing.
Each typology has adopted a different predominant strategy to cope financially with the downturn:
Crash Dieters (26 percent) aim to shed pounds from their weekly budget by identifying and cutting out all non-essential spending until things improve. This is a heavily cash-oriented group.
Scrimpers (13 percent) are also looking to save but want to maintain their lifestyle and are reluctant to sacrifice. They opt to trade down, not cut out. They are much more likely to substitute brands with private label, rather than dropping them altogether.
Abstainers (15 percent) want to maintain their lifestyle but have postponed big purchases. They are open to anything that allows them to buy now and pay later: interest-free credit, nothing to pay until 2010, 0 percent credit cards and balance transfers are all offers that fall neatly into this camp.
Balancers (9 percent) are reluctant to compromise on quality of life but recognize the need to balance their budgets accordingly. Their approach is therefore to rob Peter to pay Paul. Balancers prefer sacrifice to compromise.
It’s not easy for Treaters (12 percent) to cut back but they know they have to. So they reward their frugal behavior with regular small treats, presenting an opportunity for businesses that are prepared to think cross-category (i.e., DVD rental and take-out instead of the traditional dinner-and-a-movie date).
Justifiers (12 percent) are happy to spend but, in the current climate, are looking for a good reason to. They’re less interested in huge deals but are more motivated by limited offers, new models or added-value deals that help them justify the purchase to themselves.
Ostriches (9 percent) feel unaffected by the financial chill and are spending as normally. They’re a younger, more carefree group happy to load up their credit cards. In the short term, they’re great for the bottom line, but in the long run, many of them may be forced to raise their heads and lower their spending as the crisis catches up with them.
Vultures (4 percent) love a good economic crash. While others suffer, they’re circling Main Street, making a killing on all the bargains. They eye the property market, looking to profit from others’ misfortune.