The power of hype

By on November 19th, 2009 In Hype!

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the value of hype and how it impacts what we want as consumers. Do public relations professionals have any control over hype — in other words, can we create it or is it organic?

At midnight tonight thousands of people will line up to see the first screening of New Moon. Would the desire to see the film be there if not for the media hype? Or does the media, powered by the film’s PR team, simply enhance preexisting hype? Would fans find the movie and go see it in the same numbers if the media ignored it? I think hype is inherent in the product itself and cannot be created by external forces…only fueled.

There are all kinds of rumors on the web these days about a new tablet computer from Apple. Yet Apple has said nothing publicly about a pending tablet product. Regardless of what Apple has said or hasn’t said, the hype is building. Is this because the proverbial public wants it to be true? Would I be cynical if I said I believed Apple was secretly fueling the hype by leaking bits and pieces of information to raise expectations? Does it matter? I think the idea of an Apple tablet computer is so appealing to consumers that the idea itself creates the hype. Again, the PR team for Apple and the media can only fuel hype that already exists organically.

So I guess what I’m saying is that hype can not be created, but only fueled. And that means if you have a product or service to push, you can’t truly create hype. Still, every once in a while we can be fooled into believing hype exists when it doesn’t. Is America really all hyped up about Black Friday or is the buzz a creation of corporations that need to sell products and the media that is literally reliant upon the related advertising dollars? Does the hype really reflect reality?

Or maybe I’m just being too esoteric.

Comments

Marketing $ociologist Says:
November 19th, 2009 at 12:29 pm

“if you have a product or service to PUSH, you can’t truly create hype”

The days of “push” are over; as over as photographic film processors or typewriter manufacturers. The day of attracting customers, and CREATING a buzz are part of 21st Century marketing tools.

That’s why print and television media are pretty much done and blogs, plus Twitter – the 21st Century’s greatest marketing tool – are growing daily. Just checked, Facebook still #2 behind Google but in front of Yahoo; 21st Century marketing.

MediaRelationsExpert.com
@PhoenixRichard

Akash Sharma Says:
November 20th, 2009 at 7:52 am

“Buzz” and “Hype”, due to social media revolution we listen to these words almost everyday because both of them are dependent on the social attitude of people and you are quite true on the point that hype cannot be created but fueled.
Also there is an unusual aspect about it thats the unpredictable nature as we just don’t know which headline gets the most diggs, or which video gets viewed the most that simply means there is no formula for getting hype as you say it has to be organic.
But this paves the way for another question that how do some people and brands generate buzz consistently for eg.Perez Hilton and apple as mentioned above.

Thanks for sharing the post which should make people think a bit differently as happened in my case.

Dan Wool Says:
November 20th, 2009 at 9:43 am

Hype is short-term – good for movies bad for everyone else.

Great product is the best PR. That’s the only thing that creates true “hype” and long term revenue streams. You can always manufacture it, but is it authentic? What will the company do when the public buys a hyped good that’s not as advertised? They entrench against it and WOM will drag it down as fast as it rose.

I’d remind everyone that hype killed Apple’s last tablet computer – the Newton.

Akash Sharma Says:
November 20th, 2009 at 10:27 am

Hi Dan nice points there you are absolutely right on the point that great product is the best PR and also WOM plays a very important role in spreading the right kind of hype.

Quotes for the week ending 21 Nov 2009 « Says:
November 21st, 2009 at 1:02 am

[...] Linda Vandevrede, at ValleyPRBlog, on the role of PR in hype, or whether it evolves in some ‘organic’ way. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)[ 448 ] Top Artists for the week ending 4 Nov 2007Week Ending Sun 15th Nov 2009Weekly Recap – Week ending 02-Nov-07   [...]

Can we create hype? – Textifying Says:
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:21 pm

[...] week on Valley PR Blog, blogger Len Gutman addressed the value of hype and if as PR practitioners we create the hype or if [...]

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