Rule #2 This is still marketing, never forget that

Seth has a very funny shaped head. But it must be configured that way specially beacuse it contains a quite astounding brain. Have a read of his sage like wisdom:

"Being viral isn’t the hard part. The hard part is making that viral element actually produce something of value, not just entertainment for the client or your boss...
Marketers are obsessed with free media. We create content that is hampered or selfish or boring. Or we create something completely viral that doesn’t do any marketing at all...
Something being viral is not, in and of itself, viral marketing. Who cares that 32,000,000 people saw your stupid video? It didn’t market you or your business in a tangible, useful way.”

All too often the rationale behind the "can I have a viral, please?" brief is not a marketing one. It is one that predominently centres on a covetous desire of getting something for free. And producing something a bit sexy in the process.

Both are misguided starting points. Just because this form of marketing exists doesn't mean it is the answer to your needs. Hey, door drops and cold calling are in your marketing arsenal too, but I don't see everyone clamouring to do those with every campaign.

Viral marketing is just that - marketing. Therefore it conforms to all of the rules and processes of a classic marketing strategy. What is the business issue you are addressing? What are your marketing objectives? Who is your target audience? What is the desired out-take and action of that audience? What is the market environment that you are in? What is a desired cost per response? What constitutes a response? And on and on.

When you work through these questions, the solution may well be another marketing mechanic altogether.

It is all too easy to drool at the rampant success of films like the Viral Factory's brilliant LED sheep. In fact, let's oogle at it now:

Blimey. Best part of 10 million hits! That is truly incredible. Buuuuut, I wonder how many of those knew it was about a new LED TV? How many knew it was from Samsung? How many of their target audience are in that 10 million? And how many LED tellys has it sold to them? Or more importantly, how many telly's did Samsung want it to sell? Probably none. But as Matt from the Viral Factory tells us, the brief was merely to associate Samsung and LED in a fun way that creates a bit of buzz. And to a proportion of the 10 million, it has no doubt done that. So brief answered. Sales are not what they were after.

So next time you think that getting a zillion people to see you wacky film will shift a million units off your shelf, think again. An old school sales promotion may well be the answer to your marketing needs.

And that drags us on neatly to the next point - a sales promotion can be spread virally too. All will be revealed in Rule #3 Not all virals are video and not all video is viral

Comments

[Seth Godin]

funny shaped?

at least my pinstripes go horizontally.

great post...

[Ewarwoowar]

Blimey. I now feel like I finally met Elvis, and all I could think to say to him is "you're a bit podgy".

Honoured to have you on 25 letters, Seth.

Your head is welcome back to view the other 4 rules any time.

[Matt Law]

bang on

[matt smith]

Hi, I'm from the viral factory. Good to see some intelligent thoughts on viral marketing, not the usual guff.

That said, I do want to say a couple of words in defence of the sheep spot. The brief was to link Samsung with LED technology in a fun, positive way, and cause a stir. I humbly submit we achieved this.

You're still right about everything though.

cheers, matt

[Ewarwoowar]

Thanks Matt, just the kind of useful insight about the brief that I was after. I've tweaked the post to reflect that.

I think (as do 10 million others) that the sheep film is brilliant. Especially when put in context that the brief was about creating a fun association, not driving home a sales message. That is answering a marketing need, not just creating a film for the sake of it.

Cheers
Nick