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It’s more or less generally acknowledged by now that traditional advertising can no longer hold a candle to social media buzz. That’s why we’ve seen bloggers so often wooed with free food and other rewards, and it’s also why California-based marketing firm Attack created the Underground Book Club. The Underground Book Club generates pre-release buzz for new book titles by engaging Attack’s network of online brand ambassadors. From that network of more than 50,000 people, Attack uses proprietary staffing technology to pick out those whose interests mesh best with the genre and the particular book in question. Working with the author or literary agent, it then gets an advanced reading copy of the book into those ambassadors’ hands months before it’s due for release. Next, Attack creates what it calls an “immersive reading experience,” including everything from social media conversations to surprise engagements with “characters” and the author. Book lovers get the prestige of reading books early, in other words, while authors and literary agents get the benefit of early buzz. In a promotion of Karen Essex’s book “Dracula in Love,” for example, Attack pinpointed 55 brand ambassadors who were avid readers, vampire-fiction enthusiasts and active social media users. Daily Facebook conversations and an online video chat with the author were among the tools of engagement used. All together, the campaign produced 6,710 social media impressions, 619 click-throughs and a 9.2 percent click-through rate for the book. Figures like that are nothing to sneeze at — but they just might be something to emulate. 😉 (Related: Blogger helps connect consumers and brands — Food blogger turned intermediary & purveyor.) Spotted by: Scott James