Viral Marketing: What Works and Why.
For many of us in the marketing and advertising industry, the concept of true viral marketing seems almost too good to be true. Here is a vehicle in which your message and brand can be spread pathologically via word of mouth for very little money and has the potential to reach hundreds of millions of people in a short amount of time…however, there’s a catch.
Viral only works if you can overcome the traditional “ad” feel. I know, I know, it goes against Advertising 101: no call to action, no tagline, minimal branding, no pitch, but the accidental groin shot will get forwarded much quicker than a clever commercial for paper towels. Bottom line – no one wants to endorse (which in the viral world, a forward IS an endorsement) something for free unless there is a darn good reason to.
The drive behind the new viral craze resulted from a combination of a few key consumer shifts and technology:
First off, people are looking for more genuine forms of entertainment. This trend is evidenced by the huge boom of reality television shows and the success of pseudo-reality “professional” shows like CSI and the countless lawyer/doctor shows.
With the advent of media outlets like YouTube.com coupled with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, media forms of all types are readily available on the Internet, and your friends (and fake friends) have never been closer. Video is no longer confined to television and audio confined to the radio. This, in effect, makes entertainment “open source” and gives the public the opportunity to be much more selective about what they tune in to for humor, action, and comedy.
The general public is tuning into the idea that they don’t have to be subjected to annoying ads via television and radio, hence the success of services like Tivo and satellite radio.
Given this perspective, it’s not surprising that the most viewed and notorious viral videos have no direct association with any company or brand. One example would be the Star Wars Kid video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPPj6viIBmU), with an estimated 900 million views since its original posting.
These barriers haven’t stopped companies from attempting to tap into this new frontier with their own “viral” campaigns. Here are a few examples of those who have done it right, and those who have failed;
Good Example:
Carlton Draught -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3xBk-qOjpQ
Here is a spoof ad that pokes fun at the fact that the company spent huge amounts of money on a commercial. This overcomes the “ad” feel by sarcastically poking fun at the fact that it IS an ad. The strategy was to release the ad on the internet two weeks before releasing it on television. In the two weeks prior to running on television, the commercial was viewed over 1 million times in 132 countries (Lees, 2005).
Bad Example:
Sony took a stab at viral marketing for its PSP product by hiring a PR firm to launch a “blog” that targeted a young hip audience. The pretense was that this blog was set up by some guy that wanted a PSP for Christmas (hence the now defunct domain alliwantforxmasisapsp.com). On this fake blog they loaded videos and other media supposedly created by this “fan” all made to promote the PSP. What Sony didn”t count on what that the public instantly saw through the garbage and inundated the blog with comments about how they had failed with their viral attempt. In the end it left the administrators of the blog blocking words like “viral” and “marketing” and had them deleting comments around the clock. Now, what’s really interesting is that this failed attempt actually produced other viral videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwdhg_whoKw) – made by angry fans – that focus on how pathetically Sony had executed the campaign.
What this all boils down to is that the bar has been raised and nothing in marketing is for free. To produce a campaign that can pass for entertainment and make someone excited enough to forward it on, you’ve got to know what you are doing. If executed well, the rewards can be tremendous, but never underestimate the sophistication of your audience. To find out how Endeavour can help with your next campaign, visit us online or just call 615-907-5332.
Jason M Ehleben
Partner, Creative Director
Endeavour Marketing & Media
References:
Lee, J. (2005) “Very big ad shows why we still call Carlton a beer,” The Sydney Morning Herald: Business, 28 Jul., pg.29.
