Mark Hughess recent title Buzzmarketing: get people to talk about your stuff brought to mind one of Groucho Marxs more famous quips: I never forget a face, but in your case Ill make an exception. Thats because I have a steadfast rule of not reviewing or commenting on books that I havent fully read. But in this case Im willing to make an exception.

Ill start with the cover, which is the one thing I really like about this book. The bright, playful illustration of one person speaking into anothers ear is eye-catching, and serves the core message of the book well.

What did I not like about this book? For starters, the topic. Do we really need yet another book on the art of buzz marketing? On generating word-of-mouth, creating tipping points, spawning viral marketing, all in the service of garnering attention for the latest insignificant bauble? To date the only proven success of buzz marketing has been the buzz marketers themselves. The author is famous for the gimmick of convincing the people of Halfway, Oregon, to rename themselves Half.com, when he was VP of marketing at that company. Okay, thats a real applicable lesson for all you marketers out there.

In his book, Hughes draws lessons from such important business topics as American Idol and Britney Spears, advising people to start conversations (and buzz) by pushing one of the six buttons of buzz: the taboo, unusual, outrageous, hilarious, remarkable, and secret. I cant quite figure out which one of these categories his book fits into. Was humdrum one of them? Or maybe the piling-on, as in jumping onto a topic already covered to death by many predecessors. At least he has the grace to avoid drawing lessons from the Blair Witch Trial, a case study that has inspired far too many business authors.

The point is, why arent there more celebrated books about how to make great products? Or books that question the role of business today? Or take on topics like making meaning among the employees? Marketing is essential, but most marketing books are tired. And one last gripe: in the notes the author misspells the name of Rosabeth Moss Kanter.

From last months’ Washington Post comes an article about new pricing policies being used on the Net:

“The idea used to be that you, the consumer, could shop around, compare goods and prices, and make a smart choice. But now the reverse is also true: The vendor looks at its consumer base, gathers information, and decides whether you are worth pleasing, or whether it can profit from your loyalty and habits. You may try to jump from site to site to hunt for the best buy, but that’s time-consuming. And there are comparative shopping sites such as Bizrate or Nextag, but these can be tough to navigate, and companies are learning quickly how to game the system.”

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