The Chaser

Lots of networking buzz flying around these days. Community networks. Social networks. Its all about making some kind of connection.  With mainstream [legacy] media looking for new opportunities, this is an area worthy of attention.

The New York Times Magazine article by Rob Walker titled "The Hidden (in Plain Sight) Persuaders" may seem, on the surface, an interesting essay on marketing.  So it is.  But there's lots more to think as Walker explores how corporations are using word of mouth to spread information.  Hey, isn't that what the media is suppose to do?  Here's an interesting tidbit:

Given that we are a nation of busy, overworked people who in poll after poll claim to be sick of advertisers jumping out at us from all directions, the number of people willing to help market products they had previously never heard of, for no money at all, is puzzling to say the least. BzzAgent, which has a particularly intense relationship with its fast-growing legions of volunteers, offers a rare and revealing case study of what happens when word-of-mouth theory meets consumer psychology in the real world. In finding thousands of takers, perfectly willing to use their own creativity and contacts to spread the good news about, for instance, Al Fresco sausage, it has turned commercial influence into an open-source project. It could be thought of as not just a marketing experiment but also a social experiment. The existence of tens of thousands of volunteer marketing ''agents'' raises a surprising possibility -- that we have already met the new hidden persuaders, and they are us.

Lots of questions, Chasers.  Is this something journalists should be aware of when it comes to trend stories?  Is this something media companies can use to help develop new readers -- aka, young readers -- for their Web sites and alternative print publications?  For some other thoughts on this, check out the AdLand blog.  It seems that some bloggers are being accused of being "buzz agents."

Just after having digested the 7,761 words from the NYT, came news from Netflix, the DVD rental company.  Netflix is creating a social network for its customers and their friends to share what DVDs they've watched and read their opinions.  When you read the ClickZ article on the topic, substitute news or newspapers for DVDs:

There are a number of strategic benefits of the Friends feature -- both for getting and keeping customers, according to Tony Gentile, principal with Internet industry consulting firm Buzzhit.

"The whole idea behind social networking is that it's highly viral, and will allow them to acquire more subscribers, more quickly, at a lower cost," he said. "If I were invited to a service that I knew nothing about by someone I knew, I'd be more likely to try it and give it a longer chance to prove itself than if I just stumbled upon it." Customer acquisition costs could be lowered by as much as 30 percent if this effort is successful, Gentile speculated.

It also adds value to existing users by providing more relevant ratings and recommendations, and providing a sense of community, he said. "If my friends like a movie, that means something more to me than a recommendation from someone I don't know."

The sense of community can help reduce churn, a problem all subscription services must address. Netflix has addressed churn by lowering its prices, offering a free trial period, and making it easier for new and trial users to get up and running quickly so they receive their first movies within a day or two and start experiencing the service more quickly.