Why We Talk

The Truth Behind Word-of-Mouth

Seven Reasons Your Customers Will—Or Will Not—Talk About Your Brand

by Bj Bueno

Foreword by Paul Higham, former CMO, Wal-Mart

People talk. Since the dawn of time, they’ve grunted, groaned and gossiped about what they like and what they don’t; about the experiences that inspire them and the ones that fall flat.

As business owners and professional marketers we’ve cast the mold on innovative ways to amplify and cultivate Word-of-Mouth (WOM) advertising among consumers. So why then have our most brilliant marketing strategies failed to produce a winning formula that consistently increases WOM? Why has today’s “connected” consumer become virtually mute to our messages, our promises?

Could it be that while we’ve tried so hard to affect what people talk about to each other, we’ve overlooked the biological and psychological reasons why they talk in the first place? Have we failed to identify the core need people try to satisfy when they talk?

The answer to that question is natural; it’s primitive. We talk when it benefits us.

In Why We Talk, gifted marketing strategist and “professional listener” Bolivar J. Bueno dissects the evolution of WOM in the digital age and the unmistakable power shift that has taken place between marketer and consumer. Sharing one of the most insightful, organic concepts of this decade, Bueno bridges the monumental gap between the results business people want and the frustration they often get.

Provocative and inspiring, Bueno masterfully unveils the truth of why we talk and shares Seven Principles that will generate authentic product gossip. This book is a necessary survival tool in today’s media-fragmented marketplace; a tool of precision that cuts through to the heart of WOM.

Why We Talk will help you:

– Listen to your customers with your ears, eyes, heart, and instincts,and, in turn, create amazing experiences for them — experiences worth talking about.

– Generate authentic, relationship-building WOM.

– Develop marketing messages that speak to the hearts of your customers.

– Turn out products that sell by virtue of their distinctiveness or positioning rather than a promise you can’t fulfill.

– Decipher the real dynamics behind human communication and better understand your customers.

– Understand and market your products in a media-fragmented, community-driven environment.

This contemporary, groundbreaking work offers decisive insight into the explosion of technology in today’s marketplace and the meteoric growth of gotta-have-it-when-I-want-it consumerism.

Why We Talk challenges today’s marketers to hit the brakes on the dirt road to “the way we’ve always done it.” It will instinctively compel you to forfeit the pastime of talking at your customers and embrace listening to the critical conversations they are having that can help you service their needs better than anyone else.

What Others Are Saying

“Perhaps the most important skill in business is not strategic planning, or marketing savvy, or risk management, or investment analysis. Rather it is simply the ability to LISTEN. Why We Talk compellingly and elegantly illuminates why listening to your customers with your eyes, your heart and your instincts is more important than listening exclusively with your ears. Reading this book will forever change your approach to business AND to your most valued personal relationships. Your customers are talking … are you LISTENING?”

—Darryl “DC” Cobbin, Chief Marketing Officer & Vice President, Boost Mobile

“The first book that explores the science of word of mouth. Interesting to read and extremely helpful for any marketer.”

—Al Ries, author, The Origin of Brands

“Enter the land of tribes (and truth) where borders (and boundaries) are but an illusion. Buckle up and ride the speeding arrow as it pierces the psyche of the 21st Century consumer. Read on!”

—Brad Davis, Chief Marketing Officer, Washington Mutual, Retired

“This book shows you how to make the world’s most powerful communication tool work for you.”

—Jeffrey Fox, best-selling author of How to Become a Marketing Superstar

“Bueno’s archaeological dig into the human heart strikes gold! Captures the top spot on my word-of-mouth book list.”

—Todd N. Alexander, Brand Evangelist, Kreber

“BJ never ceases to amaze me. He can take a cultural or consumer phenomenon and peel it back to the very essence of its reason for being. Few people can grasp the intangible and abstract nature of brands, much less anchor it to the fundamental biological and psychological aspects of consumers, and BJ does this with ease”

—Jenny Skwierawski, Brand Intelligence Specialist, Miller Brewing Company