Viral Voodoo

Lost in the Viral Fringe

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:45:00 +0000

While some feel that Lost is losing more and more of its audience due to continually unanswered questions, writer and producer J.J. Abrams’s new series Fringe is following the Lost blueprint. Fringe, so far, follows FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham through a serious of mysterious biological anomalies. Similar to Lost, the series has been planting various numbers and symbols which will likely come to have greater meaning as the episodes continue.

One of Fringe’s major players is a corporation called Massive Dynamic. The show implies that Massive Dynamic is a huge company with great influence and impact on the daily lives of the general public, similar to Lost’s Hanso Foundation. Massive Dynamic appears to be involved in various aspects of aerospace, transportation, computing, communications, energy, and biological and medical research and production. The latter seems to be of greatest importance to Fringe thus far.

Producers have gone to great lengths to develop a realistic and convincing website for Massive Dynamic, as well as commercials during FOX’s air of Fringe to draw viewers to the site. This is again similar to the incorporation of the Hanso Foundation commercials and website for Lost. These websites may give avid fans clues into the story line and a greater understanding of the characters and happenings of these shows. The commercials and websites have been a very intriguing way for J.J. Abrams and others to extend beyond the TV screen to bring the experience online for the viewers. Through the four seasons of Lost, there have been various websites providing clues and insights into the mysteries of the show, some of which gained the cooperation of American Express by requiring an AmEx card to access information in the site (at no charge to the user.) One mysterious Fringe-related website that has popped up is 1.61803398874989484820458683436563811.com (This number is Phi, which refers to the golden ratio and Fibonacci sequence which seem to have some relevance in the show.)

Fans created a user-generated encyclopedia (or wiki) for Lost called Lostpedia, and surprisingly, a wiki has already been created for Fringe, Fringepedia, after the air of only two episodes. These wikis help fans to sort through multitudes of information provided through the show and various websites, many of which take a good bit of digging to find. Additionally, many viewer blogs and podcasts have been created in order to cultivate a following for Fringe among fans. A list of these can be found here on Fringepedia.

The transition from offline to online experiences within these series has enabled much higher engagement among fans than most other standard television series. The buzz created around these shows is extended far beyond the typical viewing and interactive space and into the blogosphere, where viewers can interact for continuous research and dialog between episodes keeping the show on the forefront of their minds.

The "Buzz" in Viral Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:15:00 +0000

How effective is viral marketing and word-of-mouth advertising? Personally, I feel word-of-mouth and viral marketing are one of the best ways to advertise a product to consumers. I feel it's honest and really gives consumers the perspective from an unbiased individual. I think this is where the Buzz Agency is going with their campaign. The Buzz Agency, which is a network of regular-Joe brand advocates, is making a bet that word-of-mouth marketing will outperform any other discipline when it comes to ringing registers and driving advocacy for brands.

The agency is starting its "WOM Impact Guarantee" program, which recently launched and will run throughout the rest of 2008. They are inviting any brand marketer and its agency partners to take part in a challenge in which their agency and agency partner will run competing campaigns. If the Buzz Agency does not top the competing agency by 20% across four metrics -- brand awareness, consumer opinion, purchase intent and actual sales -- the agency will refund the marketer the cost of its word-of-mouth campaign and measurement costs.

This is pretty competitive, so Buzz Agency definitely has faith in word-of-mouth advertising. I have faith in it as well. It has been proven to be an effective way to market to consumers, as long as it's done in the right way. However, I think it is a good idea just to show advertisers the effectiveness of this type of marketing and advertising. There has been a significant rise in this advertising especially with social media marketing outlets and video-sharing sites. However, I presume there will be more different ways to do word-of-mouth advertising in the future as well.

Their CEO and Founder, Dave Balter knows the agency may not win every challenge, but he has no doubt the program will have a lasting impact on every marketer that takes part.

He stated that, "Our success may come with a little hair on it," he said. "Our batting average may not be perfect on this, and we may miss one or two. But even if that happens, we are going to show marketers that [word-of-mouth] works."

McDonalds + Music= Viral Success?

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:18:00 +0000

"Two all beef patties, special sauce..."

Do you remember those lines from the past Big Mac chant campaigns? Well, McDonalds is bringing the campaign back with a different, fresh twist. Personally, I think this campaign will be better than ever. The campaign is interactive and consumer-generated and allows customers to create their own songs and/or music videos to the McDonalds chant. The consumer-generated songs and videos can then be uploaded to Myspace. McDonalds partnered up with Myspace for the campaign's contest to find the most interesting song or video. I really like the idea of the consumer-generated campaign. It draws more attention to the product and helps to spread the campaign virally. It allows the consumers to truly interact with the brand and product. Also, it is definitely a brilliant idea because of the popularity of sites like Youtube. It is a smart move by McDonalds to capitalize on the video-sharing phenomenon. There are many people out there who love to create videos and music. So, why not use it to their advantage? The winner of the contest will have their video or song featured in a future McDonalds commercial. So, McDonalds great job on this campaign. I think it will be successful...I am totally "lovin' it."

Check out the campaign here: BIG MAC!

The Un-Intentional "Sexy" Wii Fit Viral Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:48:00 +0000

Nintendo denied it. But, could Nintendo have launched a viral campaign promoting their latest and popular game, Wii Fit? It's a possibility. The supposed campaign is the video, entitled "Why every guy should buy their girlfriend Wii Fit", which has been viewed more than 4 million times on popular video sharing site, Youtube. The couple in the video stated that despite the fact that they are both in the marketing industry, it's not a viral ad. Nintendo denied any connection with the video as well stating, "This has and is absolutely 100 percent nothing to do with Nintendo.Nintendo did not create it and were not aware of it until it was brought it to our attention." The couple claims it was filmed secretly and that the girlfriend who was filmed was initially angry.

In my opinion, I think the couple knew what they were doing. The couple wanted that internet fame. I think the couple was clearly bored and was looking to do something funny. I don't think Nintendo used the couple for a viral campaign. However, Nintendo should use the free publicity to their advantage. In the marketing industry, brand awareness is extremely important. The video makes the viewers aware of the product and its "special features" that come along with it. It has grabbed many people's attention and will possibly help increase some sales of Nintendo. So, Nintendo use this free publicity to your advantage and make even more people love your console and its products.

NBC's American Gladiators: Interactive and Viral Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:53:00 +0000

I recently fell into a viral campaign, which I feel is necessary to discuss here because it truly shows you how viral marketing works. Yesterday, I came across a friend's Myspace bulletin which contained a hilarious video relating to NBC's show, American Gladiators. After the video was viewed, the video linked you directly to their website. So, there are two positives in that because the video and website help to promote the show and allow viewers to become more aware of it. The link actually brought you to their games section of the website, which allowed people to interact with the brand in different ways such as creating the video. Hence, the show has used both viral and interactive marketing to further engage the viewer's attention. Both are positive ways to market the show. The video basically was a parody of the show and allowed you to put someone's face on someone else's body during the entire video. I thought it was a brilliant idea, which slightly reminded me of Office Max's viral campaign during the holiday season that allowed individuals to put their friends or family in elf costumes. I thought it was so hilarious that me and a fellow co-worker decided to try it out ourselves, so we placed our supervisor's headshot in the video. I must say the result was pretty funny and it gave us relevant experience on how a viral campaign starts. After posting the video on our company blog, the video started to spread virally. Now, it makes me wonder who else has tried putting someone else's face on these videos. Our experiment with the game gave us a great firsthand experience to see how viral campaigns can spread so quickly.

The Tasty Way To A Viral Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:56:00 +0000

Have you heard of the tasty new ways to launch a viral campaign? Well, Welch’s has come up with a different way to market their product. Some of their recent ads have featured a lickable insert that allows consumers to taste test the product before purchasing it. Good idea? I definitely think so! The campaign has garnered a lot of buzz and allowed the product and brand to get awareness. Welch’s worked with the company, First Flavor, to deliver the idea that would receive well-deserved attention. According to an article, “Everyone from Diane Sawyer to Al Roker was talking about it, making it seem like the latest fad.”

In my opinion, it deserves the attention it received because it is something different and fresh. I feel it could definitely be a new fad in the making. So, consumers beware…you may be seeing more taste strips in you future.

I was talking to a co-worker today about the idea and she thought it was absolutely brilliant. I mean, if you saw the ad would you tell the people you know? I would and I did. According to a study conducted by Starch Communications, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, the Peel 'n Taste flavor strips helped to raise awareness and increased purchase consideration with consumers, for those who are brave enough to try them.I think the best thing about this campaign is the viral aspect of it. Viral marketing helps to spread the word and can help produced result. A full 70% of people interviewed remembered seeing the ad. Of that group, 62% took some action, from mentioning it to others to actually purchasing the juice. Those results put the ad on par with an eight-page insert, as measured against Starch Adnorm figures. Those numbers are pretty incredible.

So, it makes me wonder what type of marketing is going to happen next? But, this is one of the most innovative things I’ve seen in awhile. Can you imagine seeing these taste strips in stores in the future? It could happen. I’m also looking forward to an upcoming campaign by the Anti-Smoking Florida Association, which will feature an advertisement with a taste strip that tastes like the bottom of an ashtray. The Anti-Smoking campaign is sure to get buzz and when it does, don’t forget that I told you so.

Disney's "Camp Rock": Viral Campaign Success?

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:33:00 +0000

Disney is at it, again! This time it isn’t High School Musical, but the up-and-coming movie, "Camp Rock". In my opinion, Disney has always done a great job with marketing their movies, but with the success of the "High School Musical" franchise they want to reach even more. Their new campaign for "Camp Rock" seems like it will be a very successful campaign that will spread virally. Through having younger siblings, I was able to see directly how word-of-mouth about a movie can spread among their demographic. I think the success of "High School Musical" had to do with the word-of-mouth catching everyone’s attention and curiosity. Everyone was like “What is High School Musical?” So, everyone was checking the movie out and seeing what the buzz was all about. I think "Camp Rock" has the potential to do the same. I am already hearing buzz about the movie from my younger siblings and others alike. The movie premiering June 20th on the Disney Channel stars the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato.

The marketing campaign for the movie includes a partnership with Target that will tie-in the movie with the retailer's latest "Hello, Good Buy" TV spots, featuring the Jonas Brothers singing the commercial’s song. Best Western and Ubisoft will pitch a "Camp Rock" sweepstakes. The Jonas Brothers will also have a customized issue of People magazine, hitting newsstands around the "Camp Rock" premiere. The magazine will also feature exclusive content about the movie. Promos will be aired in movie theaters via a new partnership with Screenvision, prior to movie trailers shown during family-friendly movies such as "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" and "Kung Fu Panda."

When the movie premieres, fans can also listen to an audio simulcast of the movie on Radio Disney's 42 stations and on RadioDisney.com. But rather than rerun the movie for the remainder of the weekend, "Camp Rock" will move to Disney's broadcast sibling ABC for an exclusive premiere during "The Wonderful World of Disney," hosted by the Jonas Brothers. The movie hops over to ABC Family on June 22, before it moves to Disney.com the following Monday for full-length, full-screen video streams.

Lastly, there will be ways to purchase your own “Camp Rock” souvenirs such as the "Camp Rock" soundtrack or the DVD, which will be released a few weeks after the TV premiere.

The movie being shown on many platforms will allow for different metrics helping Disney distinguish between all forms of movie viewing. Through these different methods of showing the movie, Disney can possibly capture different audiences and gain more viewers. "High School Musical 2" reached a record 17.1 million viewers during its August premiere on Disney Channel alone.

Disney has the ability to be innovative and find the next new star and franchise. What they’re trying to do with all the new media is to find the next way to interact with their viewers.

I feel these methods will be an effective way to market. Fans will spread the word to other people and they will have access to the movie during different times. I can already see the herd of smiling children in excitement of all this Disney goodness! Disney also hopes this move keeps parents excited as well! Only time will tell if Disney’s efforts will be successful, but I feel we have a possible TV movie phenomenon in the making.

The "Camp Rock" campaign is the largest for any Disney Channel original movie, stated Richard Loomis, Disney's senior VP-marketing and creative.

Donuts, Scarves and Rachael Ray: Viral Marketing Ploy?

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:51:00 +0000

Dunkin Donuts didn’t know. However, their new online campaign with Rachael Ray went viral. But, was it their intention or not? I think not! Their online campaign starring Rachael Ray as the spokeswoman for Dunkin Donuts’ iced coffee caused controversy among the conservative bloggers. The controversy had nothing to do with Dunkin Donut’s coffee, but simply over Rachael Ray’s attire. Last weekend, Dunkin' Donuts decided to pull the online ad after conservative bloggers suggested the scarf she wore in the ad looked like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men that some associate with jihad. Margie Meyers, senior VP-communications for Dunkin’ Brands stated in an article, "Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by the stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended."

Many people can argue that Dunkin Donuts intentionally used the scarf as a marketing ploy. These days advertisers and marketers are known for using more controversial ways to get their message across to audiences. However, I highly doubt that Dunkin Donuts’ intention was to cause uproar over Rachael Ray’s scarf. Was it successful? From a marketing standpoint, I think it was very successful because the controversy caused more people to visit the website and as a marketer, you want brand awareness for your product. So, Dunkin Donuts should be thankful to those conservatives who caused curious viewers to visit their website. I just find it funny how the conservative bloggers nitpicked a scarf’s design in a commercial. Seriously? Aren’t there more important things to worry about than a scarf?

What Makes A Viral Campaign Interesting?

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:10:00 +0000

I read an older article (2006) today on O’Reilly Radar about Web 2.0. If you’ve kept up with the online trends, then you know that this isn’t news, but there was an idea in particular that stood out and still seems to be key when it comes to using Web 2.0 for your company’s advantage. Consumers now not only want to get product or service information from a company’s website, but they also want to be able to discuss it among themselves, and get information from others who have experienced that product or service.

So, with all this said, the key to Web 2.0 success for companies is to get people talking about the product more than the company does. By starting forums, blogs, and social networking, companies can achieve that state of popularity or new age of advertising. For example, Audi recently engaged in an “alternate reality branding” campaign for its new A3 by staging a car theft scene from a dealership in New York. People were very intrigued by these events and started talking about it, blogging about it, posting videos, and other user-generated media. Turned out, that Audi managed to attract campaign zealous followers who would even show up at the dealership and post up flyers to help recover the stolen car and waited eagerly for updates on the thickening plot.

How do companies garner consumer interest in their campaign? Through relevancy. People are tired of irrelevant ads being bombarded at them from every direction; instead, now, with the availability of viral media, companies need to think of creative ways to position themselves in this new culture of online communities and retain interest while building communities. Check out Clickz.com, Suite101.com, and Goecart.com to get some ideas on how to keep a viral marketing campaign relevant and interesting.

What do Viral Marketing and Passing Gas Have in Common?

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:33:00 +0000

With the expansion of online social networking media, marketers now have another highly useful channel to utilize for spreading the word about their campaign. With the emergence of these channels, and now that the Internet is available to over 760 million people worldwide, viral marketing has had astonishing effects for pushing products, goods, services, and raise awareness. Recent studies show that 58% of the US population uses the Internet as a primary source to get information. This percentage is the highest among other traditional sources of information such as professional advisors, newspapers and magazines. Therefore, marketers have a great advantage when it comes to exploiting the Internet, because of its long reach. As far as viral marketing goes, the Internet is a gold mine for targeting specific niche audiences; even the fickle Gen-Yers, especially now with all the social networking sites available. With use of the Internet, viral marketing can take on many faces and use many themes to spread the word.
I was browsing through YouTube today and I came across what I thought was an excellent viral marketing commercial for Troegs Beer. Troegs Beer is a microbrewery from Harrisburg Pennsylvania that is run and crafted by two brothers. Considering that micro-breweries do not have the financial muscle or the audience to compete with behemoth breweries like Anhueser Busch or Coors, viral marketing is great way to go to reach the crowds that enjoy exclusivity as well as specialty products. This is nice, but what I really enjoyed about their commercial is that it was simple, and had a specific target: men or men who love beer. The commercial displayed a beautiful model in a yellow bikini describing the great taste and array of products; meanwhile she’s belching and farting. The use of potty humor has given this specific video on YouTube an excellent rating, over half a million views and many comments. After I watched that commercial, I started noticing that there were many food and drink commercials that utilized potty humor; and my best guess is that it’s entertaining, and in a gross way, authentic. There were several videos about girls passing gas in general; this must be a new trend.

What does all this mean? It means that with viral marketing, a marketer can maximize the use of that specific channel to an audience by being specific; and letting people with similar interests spread the word. With the expanding numbers of bloggers and the millions of members involved with social networks; the possibilities are endless, no matter how stinky.

We Didn't Start the Viral

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 03:15:00 +0000

Have you ever hit a brick wall when thinking about how to make your project go viral? The video below may just be what the doctor ordered for that nasty bump the wall probably left on your head!

The guys over at cakke.com pulled inspiration from Billy Joel to create the video below which covers all types of viral successes from the last few years or so.

While you're watching, it would be smart to think about the unique properties of each that drove them into infamy and how you might be able to apply them to your next viral campaign.

Enjoy!

Go Viral by Secret!

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:18:00 +0000

Sometimes, the best way to spread news is to tell a secret. You just need to know exactly who to tell the secret to.

Back in the grade school days, if you wanted to spread something, you'd tell that secret to a certain blabber-mouth friend that was a source of gossip and information for the entire class (or grade, or even school if you found the right person). The secret could be out quicker than if you outright told everyone yourself.

Why does it work? Everyone loves the secrecy and level of exclusivity of being a part of the secret, and even when the exclusivity has gone out the window, no one wants to be the last to know.

So, how can this be applied in internet marketing?

First, you have to identify the right group to start the message with. Following standard diffusion theory, you'd want to identify valuable groups like opinion leaders and mavens (those who go the extra mile to get the ball rolling for new products by helping others).

What if your product isn't new? This concept will be just as effective if it is not - because the target just has to perceive it as a new concept - it just has to be new to them.

Once you have identified the group, the message must be transmitted in a way so that the recipient sees value in sharing it with their online friends. The value can be monetary, such as a high amount of savings, convenience, or just plain fun. And mixing those concepts couldn't hurt either.

In addition, for the concept of secrecy to work, creative and effective copyrighting is a must. The following example is from the email that was sent by one of the best and most consistent copy writers of our time, Woot.com.

Sales of Microsoft's Zune MP3 player have been dwindling for various reasons including the release of Apple's new line of iPods. In addition, a new version of the product planned for release soon, so previous revisions of the product are collecting dust in warehouses. Woot.com saw an opportunity to take these players and sell them at discount rates to its customers, but to exhaust their supply, they had to get creative.

They started by offering the Zune at a discount price on their site, the price later dropped, and they issued a coupon to previous buyers for a future purchase. This unnecessary, but thoughtful step started a relationship with the Zune crowd that they had started to collect.

After waves of sales on the units, it is obvious that they still had not been completely tapped out. In a genius move by one of their marketers, they decided to reach out directly to their Zune crowd. They offered refurbished units at their lowest price ever and sent an exclusive email out only to those who had already bought a Zune from them. Excerpts from the email are below:

"..shhh... don't tell anyone! We have a limited quantity of official factory-refurbished black Zunes (now aka Zune 30's) to offer effective immediately. Our elite strikeforce of pirate-tongued, ninja-trained negotiation commandos worked their powers of persuasion to obtain every single official factory-refurb Zune 30. No, no blackmail, extortion, or coercion was involved (as far as we know). The point is, you won't see these anywhere else."

"Sneak a friend or two in if you want - this is indeed an exciting chance to join the Zune in-crowd..."

Did it work? I'm typing about it now, aren't I?

In the midst of a hard day's work, a friend gave me a call to tell me about it. I hadn't been interested in the previous iterations of the deal, but when he described the "secret" aspect, I must admit that my interest rose.

I am on the fence now, but that is a fence that I wouldn't be on without the promotion. I've even contacted others to converse about the deal since. Will they generate one or more sales from the original email sent to my friend? Surely.

And then there's this guy. According to pageviews, he told over 10,000 of his friends! I do believe it's safe to say quite a few sales were generated there.

Halo 3: When to Jump on the Viral Bandwagon

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:23:00 +0000

One might expect a video game company to beg a huge corporate-sponsored chain like 7-Eleven or Burger King to support its title. However, as AdAge points out, they and others have spent millions to jump on the Halo 3 gravy train.

One of the huge number of promotions included "a short episodic online series" produced by Peter Jackson, after talks of a Halo movie did not come to fruition.

Discovery was able to strike a deal with Microsoft, the publisher of Halo 3, to gain exclusivity on displaying the final episode for one week, starting September 25th - the same day that the game is released, and it will continue to carry their branding afterward. Discovery is using it as a cross-promotional tool for an upcoming series, Last One Standing, which is looking to draw a similar demographic as Halo. Click on the picture above to view the video and promotion.

Not only did Discovery make a wise decision by jumping on the Halo 3 bandwagon, but they joined into an already existing viral promotion that has been proven to draw visitors by the thousands. They didn't have to develop the content, but instead were able to just jump right in. In addition, Microsoft is promoting the video already on msn.com, Facebook and other sites.

And to top it all off, it is believed that they paid a lot less than others to become a part of the Halo promotional entourage. This is the type of "Perfect Storm" that marketers dream about. Good job Discovery!

iTunes - TV's New Viral Vehicle?

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:05:00 +0000

Scheduling one popular show against another for a long time was a way to block out the competition, as it was only easy to watch one show at a time.

With the integration of Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) like TiVo into our lives, not only has skipping commercials become a breeze, but dual tuners allow us to watch one show and record the other for later viewing - or just watch both whenever we feel like it!

As technology advances, our lives are supposed to be easier, and our free time expanded, right? We know that that hasn't became true for many of us, especially those up and coming Gen Y'ers with company-provided cell phones who are unfortunately kept on a corporate leash. Luckily for broadcasters, we only have a finite amount of free time.

So what can they do to compete at this point? Make it more convenient for us to watch! Many channels have been hosting programs online in various forms for some time now. Desperate Housewives, for instance, invites viewers online to watch the episode again for free and Scrubs has advised that it may be downloaded on iTunes. Although these options have been present, neither have really been groundbreaking enough to cause huge changes in the way we watch TV.

This Fall season, television networks are getting serious about expanding the battleground beyond the TV.

Not longer after NBC dropped iTunes (or iTunes dropped NBC - depends on who you ask), Fox has picked up the slack by offering their new shows without ads for free - or at least the first episode of each. Only time will tell if this really puts a nail in NBC's coffin, or if NBC's new NBC Direct will take off.

Offering the shows for free on iTunes is brilliant. It is superior to offering them for free elsewhere, because many people are already browsing for content to purchase on iTunes and are more than willing to snag an episode for free. Those busy Gen Y'ers will be able to download it to their computers and watch it at their convenience - and not have to worry about streaming issues that have been seen with previous services offered by other networks.

Apple also benefits from the deal. As the message is transmitted about watching these new shows for free, the iTunes name is embedded as well. And the more that people see that watching TV shows via iTunes can be a viable option, the more quickly it will be adopted. Now if Apple would only give away the Apple TV for free or as part of a package, we could really see it take off. Or maybe they'll rent them out? Cable providers have been doing this with their boxes for years.

Only time will tell how this battle will turn out and whether it really will change the way that we watch TV. Stay (i)Tuned!

Another Reason Why Viral is the Way To Go

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:29:00 +0000

When TiVo came on the scene not too long ago, it started the slow death of the 30 second ad spot. It was the catalyst that served to convince even the most conservative marketers that it was time to start thinking about Web advertising.

TV advertising went on for over 50 years without threat, but unfortunately, Web marketers have not been as lucky. Within the last year, an extension for Mozilla Firefox has become popular, and some advertisers are worried about it - and they should be. Pop-ups aren't going to be the only thing blocked by knowledgeable Web-surfers.

The add-on application is called Adblock Plus. The program integrates with a user's browser (only Firefox at this point) and identifies, then blocks, advertising messages. The program is able to identify banners and advertisements by size and location and through a maintained database. The application is completely open-source and also not for profit, so ad companies can't easily buy it up and shut it down. And even if they did, another iteration would surely and swiftly rise from the dust.

Although it poses quite a threat for that portion of internet advertising, it has only been adopted by a small portion of the public. The New York Times quoted the creator of Adblock Plus, citing that approximately 2.5 million downloads have taken place so far, and 300,000 to 400,000 downloads occur each month. If growth continues at that rate, it will surely be something for marketers to worry about.

What does any of this have to do with Viral marketing? Well, Adblock Plus isn't blocking YouTube videos. It's not MySpace profiles or emails. And when interesting content is passed on from a friend or co-worker, the recipient will often go out of their way to experience it.

To sum it up: banners out, viral in.

Bob Dylan's Subterranean Viral Blues

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:11:00 +0000

In order to promote his album due for release in October, Dylan: His Greatest Songs, Bob Dylan has gone viral.

Using content cut from the famous Subterranean Homesick Blues portion of his movie Don't Look Back, users are able to fill in ten cards with whatever content that they would like. Those cards are then injected into the video clip, followed by a message urging viewers to check out the new album. It is then able to be shared via email.

Potential abuses for this are obvious, as the possibilities are endless. Regardless, that will serve to make the campaign even more popular.

This piece is a prime example of what viral is all about - simple and effective.

My only criticism is that it doesn't appear that it can be shared in any way but email. A welcomed addition would be to generate code to put the created video on a blog or social networking page, or to be able to send the video to sharing sites such as YouTube or Google Video. But even though these options aren't readily available, surely resourceful fans will find ways to capture the video and share it beyond its intended means - which can only be a good thing for album sales.

Martha Stewart Invades Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:32:00 +0000

Martha Stewart has had a presence on MySpace for some time, but has just recently opened an account on Facebook.

MySpace has been known for some time to host profiles that have been used for marketing purposes to reach young, hip audiences. The nearly endless amounts of customization that are available (due to the acceptance of both html and flash code being injected into profiles) and the willingness of users to accept friendships from friends, rock bands and nearly any celebrity that they are interested in (whether the page is official or not) makes MySpace a perfect candidate for this type of promotion.

But let's take a look at Facebook. On Facebook, profiles are plain, and all generally look the same. Focus is more on the individual, their statistics, interests and their own content (which has made Facebook a top photo sharing site). And the custom there is generally to befriend only people that you have actual relationships with. The function to show how you know each person is built into the code which proves this.

Because of the differences in each site, maybe it wasn't best for Martha to just open up a profile as she has on MySpace. However, one can see why it was chosen to be done. With the success of the MySpace profile, someone decided that the next logical step was to duplicate it on Facebook. Surely, it will be successful to an extent, as there will be hardcore fans who are willing to let that transcend the normal unspoken rules of Facebook, but it probably wasn't the most appropriate implementation.

Facebook has recently added applications to allow users to spam-up their profiles in a controlled manner (unlike the ability to change backgrounds and font colors to make text unreadable a la MySpace). Wouldn't it have been more appropriate and effect to launch a Facebook application instead of a profile?

The application route has a number of benefits. First, purists (those who will only befriend those they actually know) would be more likely to accept her in the form of an application. They also would be able to enjoy whatever service that the application gave. The application would also be more visible, as it would be seen every time that the person's profile is viewed, and the host would view it quite often as well. The only loss of not having the profile would be the visibility in the user's RSS feed, but an application can actually take this to the next level. Instead of the user seeing Martha's updates, the application can prompt users to post their own updates in their RSS feed (or even do it automatically on approval) and all of their friends can see them as well.

It should be obvious by this point that creating an application versus a profile would be a more efficient way to go viral. Aside from what has already been discussed, users also have the ability to automatically prompt other users after they have added the application - and many do. These automatic invitations come from the user specifically and not from Martha, therefore their effectiveness is sure to be heightened. Also, recipients of invitations must make an effort to accept or deny them, so cannot be as ignored.

So marketers and PR agents, please learn to see the differences between MySpace and Facebook and learn to respect those differences - it will benefit you and your client in the end.

How Not To Go Viral On YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:30:00 +0000

While again reading Ad Age this morning, I came across an article about Neiman Marcus "taking over the YouTube homepage" to celebrate its 100th Anniversary.

After a quick skim, I jumped over to YouTube for a look at the promotion. The page seemed completely normal, with a number of revolving video previews on a white background. I scrolled down the page, then back to the top. I finally returned to the article, assuming that the promotion just hadn't been launched on the site yet.

After finishing the article, I thought I'd take a second look. There it was - I found it! In the top right-hand corner, I noticed that there was a slightly larger video frame, with text including the Neiman Marcus brand name below.

Was this really the promotion? Maybe it was overstated by Ad Age, but this didn't look like taking over the page to me. Can it really be expected for people to find and play this, when it can hardly be found by a person actually looking for it?

Maybe there were other hurdles, but it appears that before the video even starts, something is needed to draw one to that portion of the page. If $250,000 or more is being spent, why not go the extra mile and actually throw some design into the mix?

Additionally, an unfamiliarity with the medium was apparent as well. Working within the already restrictive means on the site, there was one other addition that really could have helped it stand out - the first frame of the video. This first frame acts like a web banner, to make people want to click on it and play the video. Instead of inserting a frame with a large, readable company logo, or other means to entice the viewer, they stick with the first frame of the reel - which is unfortunately boring. See it for yourself below.

The clip starts with a number of people speaking about their impressions of the brand. This could have been interesting with the correct videography. Of the four minute clip, over the first minute is visually uninteresting, with no images regarding the actual store or brand - instead people just speaking about their experiences. No one has ever been able to glue someone to the screen with this type of shot, period. I wouldn't have finished the clip if it weren't for the feeling of necessity to write this blog post. YouTube audiences agree - the initial video has 2/5 stars as of this writing. And in addition, the initial installment of the video has over 75,000 views, while the second installment was only able to draw under 50 viewers. That means a staggering 1 in 1500 clicked through to see the next video - ouch!

Can the executives who made the decision to go on YouTube be blamed? Not really. The move to go on YouTube with the brand was actually a pretty solid one. They even had the numbers to prove it. The video probably looked fine to them - they're business people, not directors.

However, it appears that the ball was dropped a number of times during the design of this promotion. In the future, they may want to rethink the overall management of their viral promotions.

What Do You Mean - Marketers Can't Tell The Future?

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:43:00 +0000

Yesterday, Ad Age criticized Forrester Research, among others, for inaccurate predictions of product penetration into the US market, calling them "wrong as often as right". Apparently, Ad Age isn't aware of the fickleness of the American public, or the nature of prediction in an unpredictable market.

Can one really expect anyone to be spot on when giving an educated guess on the usage of emerging technologies? High-tech items, such as the DVRs that Forrester was criticized for inaccurately predicting usage of, are potentially a fast mover in the arena of diffusion. They shouldn't be considered a failure for predicting penetration within 10%.

Prices of components to make DVRs, the need for those components in other devices, and corporate greed are just some of the factors that influence pricing on these units. And unit price (along with those annoying subscription fees) is one small piece of the pie in convincing grandma that she needs a PVR. Therefore, to be accurate, Forrester would have had to predict each of these factors, along with gas prices - because they factor into disposable income - and business plans of multiple companies in the supply and distribution chain. Yet they still wouldn't have a full view which could enable them to make a guaranteed accurate prediction.

Does it seem impossible yet? And I haven't even scratched the surface.

People think it silly when a person gets mad at the weatherman for inaccurately predicting the weather. However, that weatherman (or rather his team of meteorologists behind the scenes) have a finite amount of factors which can be quantitatively measured to come to a scientific conclusion. Marketers don't always have that luxury.

Since it isn't possible to quantify all of the factors that can hinder a device from catching on, when in comparison to trying to tell the weather, a 50/50 prediction accuracy is not half bad (50/50 drawn from Ad Age's wrong as often as right description).

Telling the future isn't as easy as it is made to look in the movies. It is also a lot easier to point fingers than to give constructive criticism - Ad Age did the former in this case. And calling the predictions lies, now that is a bit harsh.

Search Engine Optimization Within Viral Videos Necessary Soon?

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:39:00 +0000

How to monetize video content on the Web has been discussed for some time. Advertisers have experimented with preroll and other types of advertisement, but the feeling that it could be improved was always there. This was discussed in depth on our podcast, Internet Marketing Voodoo, in an interview with social media guru, Micki Krimmel.

Aside from where to insert ads, there has also been the question of relevancy. To make sure an ad is relevant, one must rely on classification schemes which may inadvertently or purposely miss classify content. And checks beyond that could require expensive manpower, or a limitation of the ad's reach.

New technology is looking to change all of that. A number of services are pioneering the field of online video search. Per MediaPost, they include Pluggd, Adap.tv, Digitalsmiths, Get Interactive, Adjustables, AdBrite and blinkx's AdHoc. YouTube has also got into the act by announcing its own InVideo platform which is explained further here.

And what does this mean for viral videos who are not looking for sponsorship, but rather attempting to have as many views as possible in order to spread a message? A logical extension of the technology would be building it into search technology. One would assume that before long users searches may actually include data obtained from scanning actual video feeds.

This has the potential to change the production of viral videos to an extent. Certain symbols or actions may become more prominent in order to be scanned properly and be brought up for certain desired search terms. Interestingly, actual video content will have to be modified in a search-engine friendly way. This brings to mind the change in production of films in the past, when they started only shooting important information in the safe zone, so it wouldn't be lost when ported to less wide formats such as VHS or Cable TV.

Only time will tell if such technology is implemented, though it seems the real question is, how long before it is implemented?

Favicons Help Spread Word of Mouth

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:17:00 +0000

So you've gone viral and attracted thousands of visitors to your site. You do want them to come back... right?

There are a ton of factors which will contribute to this, but there is one that is too often overlooked: the favicon!

What is a favicon exactly? They're little icons that show next to a Web address when a site is visited, or saved as a favorite. Favicons allow users to save them to any type of link bar in their browser without the need of accompanying text. This allows more sites to be listed, and utility is enhanced for the user.

Above is an example of a portion of my Bookmarks Toolbar in Firefox. Can you guess which I am more likely to click on? The three to the left which are missing icons are sites that I deemed important enough to put toward the beginning of my toolbar... but I can't remember off of the top of my head which are which, and therefore simply don't visit them as often.

Users who save links in this manner (more and more are doing so, as they learn about this possibility) are more likely to keep your site at their fingertips. If your site doesn't have a favicon, it will have to have an even higher degree of relevancy than if they did. Additionally, they may be less likely to keep it for an extended period of time.

And users who save their links in this fashion - ready at their fingertips - will be more likely to pass it on to others, and possibly even show them how to have it ready as well. Just think about it... your icon will be on their browser all the time!

The quality and attractiveness of the favicon can be important as well. I came across someone with a carrot in their link bar and asked them about it. They responded about how cool they thought it was to have a carrot in their collection.

Additionally, the fact that the favicon serves as the only method of identification for the site once it has been acquired by the user means that a deeper connection will be made with the symbol. This can also help to be effective when branding is paramount.

Favicons are especially effective for sites that are competing for the user's downtime. A good favicon can enable it to be added to the bar and be clicked on far more often than if it were buried within the favorites menu.

It is surprising how many top sites ignore this magnificent little tool, especially considering how easy it is to create and implement. A simple 16x16 icon must be created and simply integrated into the HTML code of the corresponding site. Further information on implementation can be found here.

Ready to be inspired? Check out this list of 50 Remarkable Favicons.

Ask Not What Your Audience Can Do For You...

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:11:00 +0000

...Ask what you can do for your audience!

Are you ready to do anything they ask to make your project go Viral? Well, Trevor is!

Who is Trevor exactly? If you haven't been directed to him yet by a friend or coworker, he's the Mentos Intern. Actually, he's YOUR intern, ready to do whatever you ask him to do.

He's kind of like Burger King's Subservient Chicken, but with a better skill-set.

Tell him what you want him to do, and he'll do it. However, you can't just come on in to the chat (which, by the way, is easy and well-executed) and ask him to "Tell me that you love me and say it like you mean it" (yes, I actually tried). He's a busy man, so you've got to schedule tasks for him, and get them approved. As I was told by a member of the chat "Trevor doesn't give his love away so easily."

The setup is pure genius! You enter the site, and are entertained as Trevor does his daily tasks that have been assigned by loyal watchers. There is a level of interaction with him, but one must plant a seed (by adding a task to his calendar) and later, come back to see if it has grown. In that time, the viewer can pass on the link to others and tell them about the task that they have requested.

And if Trevor does in fact take them up on the offer, the user is likely to not only tell about it, but blog about it too. A Google search brings up such tales as "I made Trevor the Intern BARK!"

Mentos, I applaud you!

Go Viral By Solving a Problem

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:00:00 +0000

As any [honest] marketer will tell you, there is no guarantee that a campaign, message or product will go viral. However, there are certain steps that can be taken to help it on its way.

What will be discussed today is something that may need to be addressed in the development stage of the product. Or rather, if the item to be promoted already exists, introspection may be necessary to see if this could be appropriate.

And what is this killer way to move something virally? Solve a problem.

How is that going to work? If something solves a problem for one person, they're likely to recommend it to another, and so forth. Additionally, there are other avenues for this to travel.

Let's look at a prime example here: Firefox. Do you know what Firefox is? How did you learn about it? If you use it, why?

It is very possible that you started because you had a need or had to resolve a problem. While helping others with their computer problems, I have not only recommended the product, but also installed and/or walked people through installation countless times. I've even given instruction.

Why? I like to think because I'm a nice person who likes to help. Although everyone is not that way, a large number of the population is, and they will help you go viral.

Another example of something that could work in this category which is more promotion-based would be a widget. Widgets can be installed to the computer and can resolve a number of issues. Just make sure that they resolve your goal as well.

When Word of Mouth Goes in the Wrong Direction

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Tue, 22 May 2007 14:13:00 +0000

The goal of every viral campaign is to reach the largest amount of people and spread a message, feeling or awareness. So the more the merrier, right?

Well not always... Sure if you're a rockstar who can't make it in the US, it's a nice consolation to be "big in Japan". But there's really no use of your viral campaign going out of your target region (unless it can somehow make it back in).

So if you're advertising a US-only product and that makes it big overseas, what does that mean? Likely, that you're going to be wasting a lot of bandwidth!

Are there precautions that can be taken to make sure that this doesn't happen? First, you should make sure that you know where the traffic is coming from on sites which you plan to transmit your messages on. Anyone with access to Google Analytics can give you these numbers.

It also can be possible to block traffic from overseas to your servers. But be careful, it is possible that things can go awry and block those that should be viewing and passing on your messages!

What's a friend worth on a social network?

noreply@blogger.com (MindComet) — Mon, 14 May 2007 17:28:00 +0000

If you've browsed around MySpace a bit, you may have caught pages for users that appear almost to be sponsored by a certain brand. Or you might have caught brand names in the user's top 8. This is an interesting way to meet with your potential market - through a friend.

So what is the value of a friend on a social network? Fox and Carat asked just that in a recent study. As Rex Briggs states, the value lies within how users pass information around social networks. But additionally, brands are given credibility when featured prominently by a trusted friend.

MySpace top 8 spots have made or broken friendships, why would they not do the same for brand relationships?