Bzzagent Case Study

BzzAgent Case Study

Growing prevalence of DVRs which allows people to skip adds, rise of Internet and other media environments like satellite radio, podcasting, video sharing are steadily displacing the conventional media usage. These changes are reflecting the shift in the consumer’s expectations from media. So, nontraditional marketing vehicles like word of mouth have gained significant consideration. BzzAgent was launched in May 2002 on the concept of word of mouth. It attracts a group of motivated agents who would spread among their networks information about products. Agents form the backbone of the company’s marketing strategy. In this Network both the company and the agents will be in a win-win situation. The agents become a part of the bzzAgent group sometimes due to sheer passion, curiosity and interest for the product being marketed. Also the power of wanting to be a trendsetter and the opportunity to socialize with people who share similar interests lures people to become bzzagents. The bzzAgent group can also capitalize on the brand loyalty factor to bring in agents into the network to advertise the brands they are attached with. Once a person becomes an agent they are invited to join an advertising campaign. Along with the copy of information about the product the buzz agents will also get information with suggestions about how to best engage in word of mouth promotion of the product.

Transparency, honesty and trust are the Hallmarks of BzzAgent. The wide network of Agent’s and the credibility factor in the word-of-mouth marketing sets apart the BzzAgent advertising strategy. It is this real-world, unscripted communication that forms a big part of value proposition for BzzAgent unlike traditional marketing strategies like television advertising where there is a lack of personal touch between the advertisers and the users. Dave Balter, the founder of BzzAgent has come up with the idea of creating a blog which would record the internal workings of the company. The main idea behind starting the blog is the firm’s commitment to transparency. Also, the agents who are growing in numbers at the rate of 300 agents every day can still feel a personal connect with the firm through this blog. The firm is benefitted by the creative criticism received from agents, clients and partners.

The flip side of the WOM marketing is the lack of