Going Viral
We’ve all participated in it one way or another. Although it now has a professional-sounding name and has been generating buzz in marketing circles the last few years, it’s actually a very old form of marketing that’s been around for centuries. It’s called viral marketing.
Viral marketing is an advertising technique that uses pre-existing social networks and common behaviors to spread an idea or marketing message. One form is word-of-mouth marketing. Someone has an experience with a product or service, then tells a couple of friends about the experience. Those friends tell four more and so on. That example captures the essence of viral marketing. The goal for marketers, though, is to increase brand awareness, promote a product or service, disseminate an idea, or boost sales.
In this digital age, viral marketing is becoming much more exciting, sophisticated and entertaining. Marketers can use the internet, emails, podcasts, blogs, videos and more to generate buzz and get people talking. Take, for example, the recent buzz around a video, originally posted on YouTubeTM, of a ball girl at a minor league baseball game that jumps an incredible six to 10 feet up in the air to catch a ball. She’s standing far back in left field watching it as it approaches. As it flies over her area, she runs and jumps high into the sky to catch it. Afterward, she casually tosses the ball to a nearby player.
For days people flocked to YouTube, and still do, to see this amazing video. Even here in my office, coworkers forwarded each other links to this video clip. Finally, after some research, it was discovered that the video was not ‘real’ but a viral marketing campaign for Gatorade®. The word about this campaign spread through local social networks, then local sports news coverage, to the national news and even on shows like “Good Morning America.”
So, was this campaign successful? Sure. It got people talking about Gatorade, even those that are not big sports fans or sport’s beverage drinkers. The video received over 2 million views on YouTube and has been the ‘most shared’ video on other video-sharing sites like Break.com. Outside of website statistics, I’m sure links to the video have been forwarded via email a countless number of times.
The great thing about viral marketing is that companies have the potential to reach a large number of people without having to spend a great deal of money on a campaign. It takes just a bit of creativity and a little spark to turn it into something really big.
“Ball Girl” produced by Element 79 Partners, a Chicago area ad agency.
For other viral marketing examples, click here.
Until next time,
Steve