But what exactly is viral marketing and how exactly can you
make a viral campaign successful?
Michelle Heaton, Holly Willougnby and Kym Marsh Took Part in the campaign Source: The Guardian (2014)
What is Viral Marketing
The Collins English Dictionary (2005) describes viral
marketing as “a marketing strategy in
which conventional media are eschewed in favour of various techniques designed
the generate word-of-mouth publicity, in the hope of creating a fad or craze” .
In simpler terms those who read it spread the message rather than this being
accomplished by the company it’s self. These messages are usually in the form
of pictures or videos and while viral messages used to be commonly spread via
email chains, they are now far more conventionally shared over social media
sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.
Successful Campaigns
Many viral campaigns have succeeded in recent years, each
one unique. One factor that stands out from all of these campaigns is they
possess some quality that engages viewers, giving them a reason to share it
with those around them. Previous successful ads seem to either; be funny,
showcase amazing feats or have significant to the target audience.
Funny adds are by far the most popular option for viral ads
and in March of 2012 the Dollar Shave Club released their add on Youtube.
Entitled ‘Our Blades Are F***ing Great’ the ad clearly explained the company’s
product whilst at the same time adding large amounts of dry humour, this
resulted in shock value and encouraged viewer to share the link. The video has
now had over 13 million views and the resulting worldwide demand has caused the
Dollar Shave Club to post apologies on their site due to unavailability in some
regions.
Impressive ads are more often than not staged, but filmed in such
a way that the audience believe them to be real. The ads themselves showcase
feats that are so impressive followers feel the need to share these with their
friends. One such ad is the Quicksilver ‘Surfing With Dynamite’ that
showcases a group of young men throwing explosives into a river and using the
ensuing wave to surf on. It has been reported that this viral ad caused a grater impact than the combined remaining advertising channels for Quicksilver at the time (Altoft, 2008).
Back to the 'Selfie'
This is where we revisit the ‘no make up selfie’ which was given
meaning by connecting the posting of these photos as an act of courage,
comparing the deed to living with and
fighting cancer, this gave the campaign meaning and encouraged users to
participate.
The unique aspect of this campaign however is that it was
not created by cancer research, but instead was a growing trend spurred by
author Laura Lippman in support of Kim Novak who was receiving criticism over
her looks following the 2014 Oscars (Flood, 2014). From here the trend began to
spread, by users posting their own pictures and challenging friends to do the
same, even celebrities began joining in.
Laura Lippman in the first "No make-up selfie". Source: Flood (2014)
Even though the ad was in no way conceived by Cancer Research,
they merely made the right decision at the right time, the result was one of
the most successful viral advertising campaigns to date. The real reason for
success is in fact purely that the campaign was something that users actually
wanted to be involved in, rather than something being pushed onto them.
So the truth is that it may not be possible to re create the
epic success of the ‘no-make up selfie’ campaign, mainly due to the fact that
it wasn’t a conceived campaign but a wise marketing strategy to attach a
message to a growing trend, but that doesn’t mean we cannot learn from it.
If you want to be involved in viral marketing, and you want
your campaign to work you need to create something people truly want to share,
not just something you want people to share.
Altoft, P. (2008) Top 10 Viral Campaigns of all time. Branded3 [Online] <http://www.branded3.com/blogs/the-top-10-viral-marketing-campaigns-of-all-time/> [Accessed 26 March 2014]
The Collins English Dictionary (2005), Dictionary.com
Unabridged. [Online] <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/equator>
[Accessed 26 March 2014]
Flood. A (2014) Laura Lippman's selfie 'in solidarity' with
Kim Novak sets off tweet trend. The
Gaurdian, 11th March 2014. [Online] <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/11/laura-lippman-selfie-kim-novak-solidarity>
[Accessed 26 March 2014]
The Gaurdian (2014) No Make Up Selfies Raise £8m for Cancer Research in 6 Days. The Guardian. 25th March 2014. [Online] <http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/25/no-makeup-selfies-cancer-charity> [Accessed 26 March 2014]
