The Brands

"A formula of dollars spent to get people to talk, plus those people not buying enough of your product to recoup the costs of what it takes to get those people to talk equals bankruptcy."

Bird Flu Viral Marketing: Cluck, Cluck, Goose
By Jim Meskauskas
Thursday April 22, 2004

We are beginning to see a number of contagious media initiatives that are successfully becoming viral even while branding a company. The pieces themselves seem to spoof commercials but are at the same time commercials themselves. Some have high production values and others look like home movies but most all have one thing in common, they make us laugh.

Viralmeister.com is a whole site dedicated to showcasing this type of viral content. Many other sites have become portals to this type of content and there is a big push to seed your campaign into these sites as part of your marketing plan. Fark.com is another seeding ground for all types of content that your "mainstream" channels would find undesirable.

The successful pieces in this bunch are not just one liners. There is a lever of sophistication in the way they are crafted. The VW example, starts off as a tense moment that prays on society's fear of terrorism and then ends with the terrorists plot blowing up in his face. This like the whassup! example, uses a current news item to play off the timing factor. These should not be expected to be timeless. In fact the trends seem to show the opposite. The more it relates to today's headlines and pop culture, the more pressure there is on the receiver to pass it along before the window of relevance closes.

What is the effectiveness of these campaigns? The messages are not necessarily promoting the brands. The buzz generated is not about how great their product is. Its more of a sponsored joke or social commentary. The old school tried and true supporters are taken aback by the almost silliness in thinking that such a tactic would have any success. It has always been easy to sit back and criticize the early stages of a new idea. The medium is still in a early stage and there are still discoveries yet to be made. The internet net is mimicking print, radio and TV at this stage. When it comes into its own is when it will really get the recognition it deserves.

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