Recognition Marketing Buzz Meter - Week Ending 8/12/07

The Following Are The Winners & Losers For The Past Week:

Winners

• Tiger Woods - wins 13th Major, 4th PGA Championship
• Hillary Clinton - widens lead on the field
• Mitt Romney - wins Iowa Straw Poll
• Hank Aaron - class act taped memorable congratulatory video on Barry Bond's 756th
• Richard Branson - Virgin America begins service
• Buick - ties perennial leader Lexus for Top Spot on J.D. Power Ratings
• Rupert Murdoch - wins control of Dow Jones
• Tom Glavine - class act wins 300th game playing by the rules
• Cal Ripken & Tony Gwynn - role models inducted into Cooperstown

Losers

• Wall Street - dealing with crisis in sub-prime mortgage market
• Chrysler - taps former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli to lead company
• Bush Administration - Karl Rove calls it quits
• Wall Street Journal - Bancroft family sells out
• Airlines - delays and lost baggage woes worsen
• Pentagon - only administers slap on the wrist to general officers in Pat Tillman case
• Google - less Luke Skywalker, more Darth Vader with acquisition of DoubleClick
• Tommy Thompson - first casualty of Republican Presidential Race
• Rudy Guiliani - Hero of 9/11 moniker wearing thin
• Barck Obama - losing ground to the Senator from New York
• David Beckham - the Paris Hilton of soccer?
• China - lead painted toys, tainted pet food and toothpaste. What's next?

Recognition Marketing Buzz Meter For Week Ending 7/27/07

A Look At The Past Week In Buzz

The following is a list of this past week's winners and losers in the weekly Recognition Marketing Buzz Meter.

Note: The order is not intended to indicate a ranking in importance.

Winners

• NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell - for his King Soloman handling of the Michael Vick issue
• Atlanta Falcons Owner Arthur Blank - quality person, cool head in difficult situation
• NBC Sports Bob Costas - great comeback to cheap shot from Barry Bonds
• The Simpsons Movie - Homer, Bart & the family may win an Oscar
• NBC's Campbell Brown - Leaves the Peacock Network for prime time at CNN.
• CNN/YouTube - Democratic Presidential Debates enter new era
• Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul - working the blogosphere to get out his message
• Catherine Zeta-Jones - new release "Without Reservations" a must see
• Democrat Presidentiial Candidates - kudos for agreeing to CNN/YouTube debate format
  

Losers

• Michael Vick - his silence is deafening and he allowed his mother to deal with the press
• Tour De France - the Yellow Jersey leaves race in disgrace
• Lindsay Lohan - out of rehab, into court
• Barry Bonds - takes cheap shot at Bob Costas calling him a little "midget. No class.
• Alberto Gonzales - is everybody else lying?
• Pepsico - finally comes clean (after consumer pressure) Aquafina is filtered tap water
• Paula Zahn - out at CNN. O'Reilly too much "A Factor" in the ratings
• Bush Administration - deaf ears to anything but "stay the course"
  Stock Market - bears were growling on Wall Street making bulls nervous

Recognition Marketing Buzz Meter Week Ending 7/22/07

A Look At The Past Week In Buzz

By David Miranda

The following is a list of this past week's winners and losers in the weekly Recognition Marketing Buzz Meter.

Note: The order is not intended to indicate a ranking in importance.

Winners

• Harry Potter - release of last book


• J.K. Rowling - author says goodbye to Harry


• Padriag Harrington - winner of British Open playoff almost Vandervelde'd himself


• David Beckham - brings celebrity to U.S soccer


• Barry Bonds - controversial but imminent all-time home run champion


• Virgin America - opens for business in U.S.


• Fred Thompson - unannounced candidate for President gaining ground


• British Open - the oldest major in golf still has magic


• PETA - the Vick indictment provides an opportunity for its cause


• Oprah Winfrey - announces endorsement for Obama


• Hank Aaron - all-time home run king still the king in people's hearts


• Barack Obama - Oprah endorsement and strong fundraising gives him runway


• Bill & Hillary Clinton - dynamic duo a force majeur to contend with


• Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Boeing bets right and bests rival Airbus
  

Losers

• Michael Vick - from NFL superstar to federal indicted co-defendant


• Bud Selig - the silence what to do when Bonds breaks the record is deafening


• Sen. John McCain - from front runner to underdog


• Sen. David Vitter - another public official, another scandal, another apology


• NFL - should federal indictments of players have the same consequences for everyone?


• Paris Hilton - why do we bother?


• Tour De France - Scandals have spoiled it for everyone this year.


• Victoria Beckham - New reality show's in trouble. There's still the Spice Girls.


• Congress - Approval rating lower than the President's. Just above Cheney.


• Bush Administration - Approval ratings haven't bottomed out.


• Atlanta Falcons - Great franchise and fans have to deal with the Vick situation. No win situation.

It's About "Biz" Not "Buzz"!

Don't Confuse Brand Awareness With Brand Preference

By David Miranda

What do these "brands" have in common? - The Gap, GM, Ford, John Kerry, Dell, and Gateway. They rank high in brand awareness, but low in brand preference. Brand preference puts revenue in the register and votes in the ballot box.

One would argue that in order for a person to buy (or vote for) something or someone, one would first have to be aware of it. True, but that is only half the story. Awareness must be converted to preference or no sale, no vote.

In marketing today, creating "buzz" seems all the rage. Various and sundry marketing tactics are employed to do just that, e.g. social networking sites, blogs, guerrilla marketing. Typical response to buzz is "okay, now that you've got my attention, why should I buy what you're selling?" More often than not, there is no compelling reason. Ask The Gap, GM, Ford, or Mr. Kerry.

Better yet, ask The Cartoon Network. They recently employed a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote a new show by deploying electronic signs throughout some major markets. The campaign in Boston was a disaster as police and homeland security shut down major traffic arteries in the city because they thought these devices were dangerous. The result - bad publicity; apologies from Turner Broadcasting; a $2 million reimbursement to the city and the resignation of the CEO of the Cartoon Network.

Brand awareness? Yep. Brand preference? Nope.

It is high time that marketers put "buzz" into perspective. Will it create "biz"? Do we have a compelling reason for people to buy once they have been "buzzed"?

It's time to "get bizzy".