The epic success of the "No Make-Up Selfie", Can It Be repeated?

After the massive success of the ‘no make-up selfie’ viral campaign for Cancer Research, which has raised over £8million in just 6 days (Peacock, 2014), there is no doubt that marking departments across the globe are sitting in board rooms trying to work out exactly how to replicate theses impressive results.

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, how do we get the same results?

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.

If you want to read more about Cancer Research's Campaign or Viral Marketing use the references below or check out the Facebook page here. Alternitivly search the web, the campaign has been heavily featured in the news.

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, 11^th 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]

Peacock, L. (2014) £8m: The total raised so far by #nomakeupselfies. The Telegraph, 25^th March 2014. [Online] <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10721107/No-make-up-selfie-cancer-campaign-raises-8m-in-6-days.html> [Accessed 26 March 2014]