General

Wild buzz created by – consumers…

mentos-coke fountain

( See the experiment live.)

Here’s some novel buzz for Mentos, compliments of consumers who love dropping mints into Diet Coke and showing everyone else what happens.

NOTE: The WSJ doesn’t allow their articles to be displayed unless you subscribe. Talk about bad marketing vibes. HERE is the PDF of the article.

Mentos estimates the value of online buzz to be over $10 million

(Because so many more people now know what Mentos is…)

You can see the experiment live on the website of the two guys who did it…

About the author

Kim Klaver

6 Comments

  • Kim,
    In your article I felt really frustated after clicking to your link to have WSJ.com login page I have no time to subscribe to all these. So far I trusted your pitch on transparency now I am wondering if you get paid when people subscribe to WSJ online ?

  • ‘g, you really are a cheapskate’… not having a WSJ scrip and thus being unable to access the piece is another humbling reminder of just how my life has become a stuttering Edsel in a line-up of supercharged Italian exotica.

    And, having seen how Coke cleans a stained toilet bowl, I’m wondering if we should just scoff the mints and instead drop into the Coke some of the less-reputable folk this business attracts?

    😉

  • Very sorry Anne and g about the WSJ piece not showing up. I had no idea, since it shows up on mine, and yes, I subscribe.

    And no, they don’t pay me for you to subscribe. Why should you do that when I review it for cool stuff for you?

    I just won’t use them anymore…What I will do is post the picture of the page so you can see what all the fun was about…

  • Kim,

    You can access the video without having to log into anything if that is what Anne is worried about. Just go to http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html And just a testament to what great marketing that is, I loved the video so much I just shot it off to all my friends. It’s pretty entertaining. If you haven’t seen it yourself I recommend it, the tune they put it too is also really catchy.

  • K, I tried real hard to come up with a comment of value. Failing miserably, I instead wandered off-topic by grabbing this remark of yours:

    >The WSJ doesn’t allow their articles to be displayed unless you subscribe. Talk about bad marketing vibes.

    Personally, I don’t think it is ‘bad vibes’. They know their market and they’re going after it. Perhaps a lesson for us all… appeal to those who’ll buy our stuff – not just look at it.

    Does free stuff really help develop a market – or simply encourage the habit of expecting to not pay for good stuff? I see too many examples where ‘give it away’ is just an excuse for the ineptitude of poor marketing… a quick-fix way to stimulate interest.

    To clarify: by all means allow a trial – an appropriately boundaried trial defining access for appraisal – but don’t pander to the freeloaders.

  • Guys, just enjoy the video and read the now “free” article. I’m not a candy eater, but if I was, I’d buy Mentos. I’m not a soda drinker, but if I was, I might not buy Diet Coke. If you read the article, you’ll understand. Or just go to eepybird.com and, after enjoying the video of course, read some well-written witt from these guys. This is what “sells” me. Thanks for all you add to our lives, Kim, especially the humor.

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