So far all my blogs have taken the stance that viral advertising is most definitely the way forward and something all companies should be striving for, however is this statement true? To be clear we must first define what viral marketing is. Wilson (2000) describes viral marketing as any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, thus creating the potential for exponential growth in the exposure and influence of the message. Therefore, the concept refers to a message that spreads to other people because the first recipient liked it and chose to send the message on to others, using what some people prefer to call ‘word-of-mouse’ communication (Klopper, 2002).

Although there is much evidence proving the inclusion of a viral marketing strategy in a company’s operations is beneficial, there are reasons that exist which suggest it can also have adverse effects. As expressed by Krishnamurthy (2000), the problems that can hinder a viral advertising campaign include:

• Brand Control: Should an advert be successful in going viral, it is then out of the firms control. Knowing precisely who is viewing the content is impossible to measure, many being people outside of the initial circle the firm was trying to connect with, therefore the content could be viewed as something it is not. As well as this, it is possible for the message to be modified by people with the acumen and knowledge to do so before being shared or passed on, leading to variability and uncertainty, potentially being harmful. Furthermore, should the content be shared via email some consumers may perceive the content as spam, thus having a negative impact on the brand image (Klopper, 2002).

• Uncharted Growth: Viral marketing can lead to unanticipated exponential growth patterns. This may force firms to alter strategic direction to cope with demand in a relatively short period of time, whilst attempting to stay in control and fully understand the necessary processes. This was the case for email providers ‘Hotmail’, in which many individuals in India began emailing each other, contributing to the use of the Hotmail service shooting up and it was unsure as to whether the company expected this growth or even wanted it.

• Lack of Measurement: The challenge of measuring whether a viral advertising campaign is effective or successful can be extremely difficult. It is very difficult to track or measure where a sale has come from, was it a result of the advert campaign or just a generic sale from other sources? Being unable to track the results of a campaign renders it useless,  particularly as there are other marketing strategies which can be adopted which enable increased ease of measurement.

Thevenot & Watier (2001) document their worries with viral marketing campaigns, agreeing with Klopper (2002) that viral content being confused with spam messages is a major concern for viral marketing. They state ‘companies wishing to use viral marketing campaigns need to make sure the motivation they offer persons to spread the buzz is not so great that it encourages spamming’. Spam messages can exhaust a potential customer’s patience and affiliation with a brand; even turning the consumer against a brand due to spam messages. Klopper (2002) suggests that a way to get around this obstacle is having a disclaimer at the top or beginning of the viral content reminding consumers that they did ‘opt-in’ to receive this content, however at the same time the content must always carry an ‘opt-out’ option should the consumer wish to do so.

It is important for a company who is looking to develop a viral ad campaign to recognise and understand the areas of vulnerability and problem before implementing their campaign. In the digital age, it might well be possible to include consumers in marketing and let them spread the word to millions around the world. However, companies that pursue this tactic should remember that it is no miracle cure for their marketing ills. At best, it is a way to support a broad marketing programme. At worst, it is an awful little bug spread by desperate marketers and their unsuspecting consumers. Below is an example where viral marketing has taken a turn for the worse, in this case at the expense of Microsoft!

Vista Install In 2 Minutes

References

Klopper, H.B. (2002) Viral Marketing: A Powerful, But Dangerous Marketing Tool. South African Journal Of Information Management. Vol. 4 (Issue 2).

Krishnamurthy, S. (2000) Is Viral Marketing All It’s Cracked up to Be? Click Z. 9 May 2000 [Online] http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1703213/is-viral-marketing-all-its-cracked-be [accessed 3 May 2014]

Thevenot, C. & Watier, K. (2001) Viral Marketing. Washington: Georgetown University Press

Wilson, R.F. 2000. The six simple principles of viral marketing. Web Marketing Today (70):1–4. [Online]. < http://www.jrlenterprises.com/viral-marketing.htm > [accessed 27 April 2015]

The main obstacle associated with viral advertising campaigns is the risk from unsuccessfully connecting with its desired target audience, or any audience for that matter. The primary contributor to effective communication in an advertising campaign is the content that it’s made up of, as well as the ability of the content to articulate a consistent  narrative that delivers a compelling story. According to Llopis (2014), content marketing is a powerful way to create a long lasting, fruitful relationship with consumers. This relationship holds particular significance to any company, not just for the direct components of the acquisition process as well as repeat purchase, but also for the indirect components, which includes word-of-mouth (WOM).

Word of Mouth Marketing is:

a) giving people a reason to talk about you

b) making it easier for the conversation to take place.

It is via WOM that information dissemination occurs rapidly (Woerndl et al., 2008). However, information that is passed on can take either a positive or negative form, depending on the satisfaction level of the consumer. Negative WOM communication has more of an impact when influencing consumers than positive WOM, significantly affecting a consumer’s views on a particular product (Solomon, 2014). Previous research conducted by Solomon (2003) has found that ‘90% of dissatisfied consumers do not purchase products or services of the company involved in the negative word-of-mouth communication’, further supported by Whitler (2014) stating that 92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising.

The realisation of ‘eWOM’ became apparent in the 1990s, the creation of Web 2.0 allowing consumers to generate content and thus spread information via a virtual community (Marsden, 2006). The best example of this is the website TripAdvisor, where consumers can review hotels they’ve stayed at during holidays, allowing others to see past the marketing and glossy photos many hotels post on their official web pages. Many hotel websites now feature the reviews they have received on TripAdvisor as a result. According to Varadarajan and Yadav (2002), the emergence of eWOM has led to four important transitions in the buying environment:

1. Facilitating access to the type and amount of information associated with price and non-price attributes of competing product offers.
2. Increasing ease of comparing and evaluating alternatives in the buyers’ consideration set.
3. Improving quality of information.
4. Organising and structuring information.

This new revolution in the way consumers communicate their opinions is leading to a change in the way marketers think too. Whereas we are used to reading about the 4 Ps, there is now a focus on the 3 Es; Engage, Equip, Empower. Mastering these techniques theoretically should lead to the company winning the popularity contest amongst consumers. To further elaborate on the 3 Es, this is what they stand for (Whitler, 2013):

Engage – Give consumers the gift of you, engage with them and listen to what they are telling you. Be part of the conversation about your brand. Be a presence in your fans’ lives. A prime example of a firm doing this is @NikeSupport on Twitter. They constantly respond to followers , answering queries on their apparel, Fuel Band or other products. Every few minutes they respond to someone new.

Equip – Make a consumer have reason to talk about the firm. It can be amazing products, great service, insider knowledge, social elevation, incredible stories, unbelievable facts or amusing disclosures. It depends on the company understanding their consumers and what they like about them, providing whatever it is they need. Apple revolutionizes technological devices and delivers amazing products to its consumers, allowing them to naturally rave about the newest iPhone. Another area to excel in and that’s on the rise is social customer service.

Empower – Give consumers different ways to talk and share. Make them feel special by letting them know they are important to the firm and that sharing their opinions is important to the firm. Lay’s is an excellent example to highlight how they empowered their fans to “Do Us a Flavor,” and allow consumers to create a new flavor of potato chips to hit store shelves. Over 3.8 million submissions were sent in 2013 making it one of the biggest marketing campaigns for PepsiCo owned Frito-Lay.

Given that this is not a new concept it is difficult to understand why it has taken marketers so long to grasp. A general consensus is that technology has made this concept a far more efficient tool, and learning how to adapt technology to suit this method has been the main stumbling block (Whitler, 2013). Given these changes, WOM, and indeed eWOM, will become more influential to advertising campaigns and it is this effect, sometimes known as the ‘snowball effect’ which allows an advertising campaign to go viral. An advert that has attempted to grasp the 3 Es is the clip below, which achieved over 6.5 million views on the day it was released.

Volvo Epic Split

References

Llopis, G. (2014) Top 7 Reasons Your Content Goes Viral. Forbes. 24 February, 2014 [Online] http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2014/02/24/top-7-reasons-your-content-goes-viral/ [accessed 27 April 2015]

Marsden, P. (2006) Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution. Oxford: Elsevier

Solomon, M. (2003) Conquering Consumer space; Marketing Strategies for a Branded World. New York: Amacom

Solomon, M. (2004) Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having and Being. New Jersey: Pearson

Varadarajan, P. & Yadav, M. (2002) Marketing strategy and the internet: an organizing framework. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Vol. 30 (Issue 4), pp. 296–312.

Woerndl, M., Papagiannidis, S., Bourlakis, M., Li, F. (2008) Internet-induced marketing techniques: Critical factors in viral marketing campaigns. International Journal of Business Science and Applied Management, Vol. 3 (Issue 1) pp. 34-45

In a time of vast viral potential through various social media channels since the development of Web 2.0, enabling the ease of creation of user generated content, it is by no means a formality to create a marketing campaign that reaches or indeed impacts the target market whom you wish it to.

Berger and Milkman (2012) completed a study to identify why certain pieces of online content go more viral than others. The results showed that content often went viral when a science was applied, rather than just hoping, the key characteristics being:

• It was positive, dwelling on positive issues or topics.
• It evoked a strong emotional reaction.
• It was practically useful.

For any Ad Campaign the most important and powerful tool to efficiently utilise is emotion. Harvard Business School professor Thales Texeira (2012) expresses the importance of instilling strong emotions in video advertising and keeping branding to a minimum. She states adverts that maintain a stable emotional cycle without emotional fluctuations aren’t as effective at engaging viewers for very long. Therefore, for effective engagement there should be alternating tension and relief, creating a feeling of going on a journey.

Possibly the most recent example of appealing to an individuals emotions is the Dove Real Beauty Sketches, which has achieved over 65 million views on YouTube. Women described themselves to a forensic artist from which he drew a portrait, detailing how other people might see that individual. The realism of the advert creates a story which can appeal to many women, Dove’s primary target market, that many could relate to, provoking potentially powerful and moving emotions. This coupled with the ambient lighting and subtle music contribute to the visual success of the campaign. The advert can be viewed below.

Dove Real Beauty Sketches

A further avenue to explore is the way companies can focus on psychology when wanting an advert campaign to go viral, rather than the technology used to share content (Texeira, 2012; Schawbel, 2013). Phelps et al. (2004) examine which particular emotions can be focused on to appeal to human psyche and achieve viral content, revealing that inspiration, humour, sadness and fear are the most likely quartet that will achieve this. Research agrees with this, Berger & Milkman (2012) suggesting that content of a happy nature is more likely to be shared and go viral, whilst sad content is less likely to go viral but may be more likely to be emailed to colleagues.

Other studies have been conducted to find a correlation between the content of a video and the likelihood of it going viral. A decision tree has been developed by Botha and Reyneke (2013) demonstrating the decisions a user has to go through before deciding to share the content.

Considering Texeira and Berger & Milkman’s studies, it seems that marketing divisions should attempt to include the following in their campaigns:

1. Create a form of audience interaction, which will aid when communicating the adverts underlying message.
2. Create something unique or unusual, it will be more successful, especially when combined with the right music and lighting.
3. A campaign that takes the viewer on an emotional journey will be more memorable, thus more likely to be shared.

References

Schawbel, D. (2013). Jonah Berger: How to Make Your Marketing Campaigns Go Viral. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/04/25/jonah-berger-how-to-make-your-marketing-campaigns-go-viral/ [Accessed 25 April 2015].

Texeira, T. (2012) The Harvard Business Review. The New Science of Viral Ads <http://hbr.org/2012/03/the-new-science-of-viral-ads/ar/1> [accessed 25 April 2015]

Hello all, welcome to my blog where I shall be discussing all topics relevant with my IT382: Digital Marketing module during my final year at University before moving on to that big wide world full of opportunity…I hope!

So here we go, I do hope you find my blog interesting and welcome any feedback!