Great article in today’s NYT Magazine on creating (and paying for) formal mechanisms to foster word of mouth communication around a market offering.

So long as they keep things real, agencies like BzzAgent and Tremor offer a fantastic addition to the traditional marketing mix.  Of course, as with all promotional activities, formal word of mouth campaigns should only be used in addition to, rather than in lieu of, having a remarkable, human-centric offering worth talking about in the first place.  Even better, that offering should be designed to foster word of mouth behavior on its own, so that most of your word of mouth can be earned, rather than bought.