allaboutadvocacy.com

That’s Mr. Squiggles to You Pal

Fur is back this holiday season!  “Furry” to be more precise.  And of the electronic hamster persuasion no less. No, not the hamster-dancing-fools of Internet past.  This time it’s personal.  This time it’s pets. This time it’s the Zhu Zhu electronic pet hamsters.

While these super-lovable Wonder Pets can’t fly, there’s little that can be done to stop them rocketing off of retailers’ shelves right now.  Or to keep their prices from reaching a dizzying $100 on eBay and Amazon.  So move over Pyrus Dragonoid, Ventus Skyress and you so many Bakugan Brawlers.  That’s boy’s play.  There’s a new must-have gift A-team in town–four in all.  Pipsqueek, Num Nums, Chunk, and (sorry Mr. T), the sensational Mr. Squiggles.

So just how did this overnight marketing phenomenon happen?  A big helping hand from some ground up, influential seeding and grassroots marketing, as reported by Beth Snyder Bulik in Advertising Age today.  In plain english: word-of-mouth advocacy.

Tune in next week when we ask Philip K. Dick “Do Zhu Zhu’s Dream of Electronic Sheep?”  The lucky reader who nails that reference might even get their very own Mr. Squiggles, that is if there are left to be had!