When it comes to marketing there are quite a few words that seem like the same thing but much in the same way that the Inuit have 18 different words for snow, these subtle differences can have a great impact. One example is the comparison of the word “buzz” and the word “hype” as they relate to marketing. Though they may seem to mean the same thing since they are both people talking about your business, their true definition and more importantly, their impact, vary greatly.
The term “buzz” is people outside of your company talking about your business. This is not something that you can buy like normal advertising, though you can cause it – with the possibility for positive as well as negative results. Think of companies like Napster, Hotmail or Red Bull. They all were built to their current market position by effectively causing and harnessing the buzz about their company.
The term “hype” is people inside of your company talking about your business. Obviously, there will never be a case of a company actively portraying themselves in a negative light and because of this anything that a company says will be taken with some degree of skepticism.
The primary difference between these two words is who is doing the talking. As a result, one is vastly more powerful than the other. People are three times more likely to listen to a personal recommendation than they are to listen to an advertising message.
