Pontiac and Oprah Buzz

Thursday, September 16, 2004 at 12:42AM
Rob in This crazy business

OK, this is straight from the Yahoo! Buzz Index just a few minutes ago:

Overall Movers

1. Pontiac G6, +10288.53%
2. Oprah Winfrey, +1620.54%
3. Mauna Loa, +834.47%
4. The Benefactor, +648.97%
5. Monday Night Football, +563.39%
   

Overall Leaders

1. Oprah Winfrey
2. National Hurricane Center
3. Hurricane Ivan
4. Britney Spears
5. NFL
   

Observations:

• Pontiac is obviously getting a huge lift for their $7 million giveaway.
• Pontiac's buzz is growing exponentially faster than Oprah's, BUT Oprah is #1 overall. (Pontiac just missed the top 5 overall, and Oprah has nearly double the score.)

I don't know if this is brilliant marketing or not, but it sure is fun to watch. One thing is certain: It will work best this time. Each future duplicate of this promotion will be incrementally less effective. Not that this will stop companies from trying.

Article originally appeared on MacKayNet - Rob MacKay (http://www.mackaynet.com/).