Turns Out Just Saying A Marketing Campaign Is Viral Doesn't Make It So

from the who-knew? dept

Thu, Jul 10th 2008 12:12am — Mike Masnick

In case you hadn't realized it, a new research report (that I'm sure you can buy for plenty of money) says that it's not so easy to make a viral marketing campaign actually be viral. Who knew? Well, probably everyone but some marketers. Viral campaigns are nice if you can get them to work, but betting an entire strategy on a viral campaign is pretty dangerous, no matter how much the media pretends that there's some secret magical formula to make products viral.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: marketing, viral campaigns

18 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Rekrul, 10 Jul 2008 @ 4:31am

For "viral" marketing to work, it has to be entertaining, If people don't want to watch it, it's not going to get passed around. Also, in my opinion, for viral marketing to work, it has to have an air of mystery around it. The best example of this is the "River Tam Sessions" that were circulated before the release of the movie Serenity. When they first showed up, nobody was sure who was behind them, if they were excerpts from the film, if they were extras that were going to be used later, etc. They were mysterious and cool. So they got passed around.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Jul 2008 @ 5:23am

Rule One for creating a viral marketing campaign: Don't let the lawyers get involved.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Jul 2008 @ 6:21am

I don't know why everyone is linking to this article, it doesn't really say much of anything...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
chris (profile), 10 Jul 2008 @ 6:35am

viral is the peoples' decision, not yours
the problem with viral marketing is that most of the promoting is done by people, not the media. people are unpredictable.

it's really quite risky when you think about it: you have to create something that will be entertaining, which probably means a fair amount of expense. then you have to not explicitly promote it, and trust that people on the internet will pick up on it and run with it. that seems pretty counter intuitive for a marketing campaign.

the two latest books by william gibson (pattern recognition and spook country) feature an uber sleazy marketing firm that specializes in viral marketing. the firm pretty much spends tons of its clients money on frivolous research projects into strange internet phenomena.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
JS Beckerist, 10 Jul 2008 @ 7:40am

Re:
www.ilovebees.com :-)

Halo 4 PLEEEEEASEEE!!!! :-P
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Joe, 10 Jul 2008 @ 8:04am

If someone is really interested in this
If you are interested in viral marketing and interesting ideas for giong about doing a viral campaign you should read "Pattern Recognition" I think the author is William Gibson, but it had some interesting points and was all about viral marketing in one form or another.

One interesting thing brough up was hiring attractive people to "talk" about certain things when out at bars and clubs to ingrain that conversation/product/whatever in the minds of people looking to meet/date other people. Then those people learn about the subject and start talking about it to the other people they are hitting on, and it goes from there...obviously doesn't work for all products but in this world what does?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Cyn, 10 Jul 2008 @ 11:16am

Marketing is just deception
Most marketing is just deception anyway. Selling you something you neither need, nor want, and convincing you its better than it is.

Or do your McDonald's hamburgers look like the ones on TV and are served by smiling, happy people? I've never been to a fast food restaurant where the food looked like it does on TV, and I've never been served by someone happy to be there.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy!, 10 Jul 2008 @ 12:04pm

Kelly's hollywood Meeting
I love viral campaigns. Because when your goal is to make a viral campaign, it fails. FAILS FAILS FAILS. No amount of money spent to create a viral campaign.

How it's perceived:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ASaYAA7oo
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Jul 2008 @ 12:41pm

I don't see how designing a viral campaign should automatically be difficult there have even been a few good examples, like the LYNX/AXE deodorant ads. Some TV ads would transfer virally.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Elohssa, 10 Jul 2008 @ 3:38pm

Wait a minute...
...you mean Emperor Norton wasn't actually the ruler of San Francisco?

I just assumed he was because he said so.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
pinny, 11 Jul 2008 @ 5:39am

viral magic
It drives me crazy attending conferences that deliver this crap that there is a magic formula and bring examples of successful campaigns people have done. The problem is everyone uses the same ones and every book out there tries to create the magic formula for WOM. I just love that someone out there is calling a spade a spade
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Elle, 11 Jul 2008 @ 6:30am

Re: Kelly's hollywood Meeting
"...Because when your goal is to make a viral campaign, it fails. FAILS FAILS FAILS. No amount of money spent to create a viral campaign." I disagree with this. An example of a viral campaign that worked: NIN's Year Zero.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Elle, 11 Jul 2008 @ 6:32am

Re: Wait a minute...
Actually, Emperor Norton was Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. He just ruled from San Francisco. And yes, he was because he said so.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Elle, 11 Jul 2008 @ 6:39am

Re: If someone is really interested in this
Creepy; viral marketing should be considered an STD.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
groupshoes, 27 Oct 2009 @ 4:25am

my opinion
Nice airtical, i would like to tell all of my friends about it. By the way, i would like to introduce everyone of you a very nice website, it offers cheap air max trainers for men and women. Such as Air max 1, air max 2, air max 90, nike air max 2009+, air max 2010 new, nike air max TN, nike air ltd trainers, air max 95. Dunk SB shoes, nike shox shoes. You can find almost all the nike series there, in huge collection and varies colorways. They have Latest style and classic style. Though their price are low, don't worry about it's quality. They are realll ones!!! I have bought from them for so many times, and very satisfied with the their goods and service. Come on, you'll love it.

[ link to this | view in thread ]
groupshoes, 27 Oct 2009 @ 4:26am

my opinion
Nice airtical, i would like to tell all of my friends about it. By the way, i would like to introduce everyone of you a very nice website, it offers cheap air max trainers for men and women. Such as Air max 1, air max 2, air max 90, nike air max 2009+, air max 2010 new, nike air max TN, nike air ltd trainers, air max 95. Dunk SB shoes, nike shox shoes. You can find almost all the nike series there, in huge collection and varies colorways. They have Latest style and classic style. Though their price are low, don't worry about it's quality. They are realll ones!!! I have bought from them for so many times, and very satisfied with the their goods and service. Come on, you'll love it.

[ link to this | view in thread ]
Sagive, 26 Apr 2010 @ 8:33pm

all the eggs in the basket?
i think no matter what kind of strategy you pick
you should never invest your whole going down one road..

besides.. as far as i c it.. a viral campaign needs
a lot of luck in order to check on. cant trust that.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
sohel, 7 Aug 2012 @ 11:36pm

Nike Air Winkelen Koop Air Max 90, Air Max 1, Air Max One,
Air Max Classic, Nike Air Max, Nike Air Max 90, Nike Air Max 1
[ link to this | view in thread ]