25-10-2012, 03:56 PM
Viral Marketing
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The concept behind viral marketing
The concept of viral marketing is by no means new. Word-of-mouth
marketing, viral’s forefather, has been around for ages. The principle behind
word-of-mouth marketing is simple; use influencers to generate peer-topeer
product recommendations or buzz. Prior to the advent of the Internet,
however, this form of marketing was too disjointed to effectively benefit most
advertisers. The effect of word-of-mouth was largely contained to specific
geographic areas simply due to the lack of widespread social networks. Wordof-
mouth was generally limited by the ability of the influencer to physically
speak to another prospective customer, hence the term “word-of-mouth”.
enter the internet
The Internet has radically changed the concept of word-of-mouth, so much
so that the term “viral marketing” was coined by venture capitalist Steve
Jurvetson in 1997. The term was used to describe Hotmail’s email practice of
appending advertising for themselves to outgoing mail from their users. The
assumption is that if such an advertisement reaches a “susceptible” user, that
user will become “infected” (i.e., sign up for an account) and can then go on to
infect other susceptible users.
While email may have been the original catalyst; the advent of
social networks, online communities and chat provide the ability to
distribute information exponentially faster than ever before. Where
word-of-mouth marketing could take weeks or months to reach a
thousand people, viral marketing can reach hundreds of thousands
or millions in a matter of days or hours. The spread of an effective
viral marketing campaign is akin to an epidemic outbreak of a
virus, limited only by the potency and relevance of the marketing
message.
Why viral marketing
The proliferation of marketing and advertising, coupled with the onslaught
of millions of media channels in today’s world, has given cause for consumers
to tune out and effectively avoid a great deal of traditional supplier driven
messaging. The creation of technologies such as PVRs, satellite radio and
Internet ad blocking software are driving a fundamental shift in the way the
public consumes media and the advertising often tied to it. Television ads,
radio spots, online ads and even emails are facing increasing competition for
effectively capturing the viewer’s attention and provide positive ROI for the
marketer.
This competition, coupled with the rising cost of media buys, has caused
marketers to search for an alternative means to reach the customer. Viral
marketing is an attractive solution because it utilizes the free endorsement
of the individual rather than purchase of mass media to spread the word.
Because the distribution model is free, viral can potentially be lower cost and
more effective than traditional media.
The marketing mix
Viral marketing is by no means a substitute for a comprehensive and
diversified marketing strategy. In employing viral marketing to generate peerto-
peer endorsement, brands have also learned that the technique should
not be considered as a standalone miracle worker.
James Kydd, Brand Director for Virgin Mobile who just launched the 11th
release in their successful series of viral marketing campaigns, states,
“viral marketing is best used not as a one-off tactical end in itself, but as an
integrated strategic part of the overall marketing mix. It is a means to an end
whereby it not only generates buzz, but also provides ongoing, quantifiable
brand benefits, such as increased awareness, peer-to-peer endorsement and
ultimately more sales.”
Common viral marketing messaging
While the messaging and strategy ranges radically from campaign to
campaign, most successful campaigns contain some commonly used
approaches. These approaches are often used in combination to maximize
the viral effect of a campaign.
free products or services
Many viral marketing programs utilize free products or services to spark
interest. Giving away low-cost items such as t-shirts can often lead to the sale
of much higher cost items. Marketers often use low cost items as a method
of collecting consumer data and building a database of potential customers
that are already familiar with the brand.
compelling content
From hilarious to raunchy to controversial good content and concepts can
often make or break a viral campaign. Creating quality content can often
be more expensive than simply offering a free product, however the results
are often better. The general rule of thumb is that the content must be
compelling, it must evoke a response on an emotional level from the person
viewing it. This fact alone has allowed many smaller brands to capitalize on
content based viral campaigns. Traditionally larger brands are more reserved
and risk adverse to the possibility of negative reaction.
Delivering ta ngible benefits
Specialist seeding expertise can be found, and appropriate viral content is not
impossible to create. But, not every brand remembers during planning that
the point of a viral campaign is not only to “go viral,” but also to benefit the
brand strategically.
A perfect example of an online viral campaign that misses the mark on
the brand benefit front is Burger King’s “Subservient Chicken” (www.
subservientchicken.com). The campaign uses an interactive video of a man
dressed as a chicken in a humorous take on web cam activity. The product it
aims to promote is its latest chicken sandwich, which in itself does not inspire
consumer-driven activity. Instead, the viral agent delivers this, having been
seen by 46 million people according to Burger King.