Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk about Your Stuff »

Mark Hughes is the CEO of the consulting firm Buzzmarketing and lectures widely on the subjects of word of mouth and buzz. He is a former executive of eBay's Half.com, PepsiCo, and Pep Boys.

As VP of marketing at online retailer Half.com, Mark Hughes didn’t have a huge budget for advertising. Yet he helped drive the number of Half.com users from zero to eight million in just three years. His secret? Making the company a magnet for media attention and word-of-mouth, by any means necessary. Most notoriously, he persuaded the town of Halfway, Oregon, to rename itself Half.com—called “one of the greatest publicity coups” in history by Time. In this breakthrough book, Hughes offers a practical guide to the art of successful buzz marketing—which many people talk about these days but few truly understand. He draws on real-world examples of companies that got people to talk about their stuff— from Miller Lite during the “Tastes Great—Less Filling” era, to American Idol’s stunning use of buzz to become a global phenomenon, to current companies that find creative ways to break through the ad-glutted marketplace. Buzzmarketing explores the six secrets of great word-of-mouth campaigns and shows how any company can thrive by pursuing a buzz-driven strategy rather than just hoping for a lucky break. Readers who have enjoyed books like The Tipping Point and Purple Cow will find Buzzmarketing to be the ideal guide to applying buzz to their real-world business needs.

Brian Swette

Buzzmarketing works. It's not just a nice-to-have, it's a must-have! (Brian Swette, former chief marketing officer, PepsiCo)