Cherryflava

Is viral marketing’s holy grail?

Posted on 18. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra in Uncategorized

Its no secret that; those irratating 30-second ads that brands insist on disrupting your pleasurable viewing of the tenth rerun of The Terminator on SABC 3 with, cost marketers a small percentage of the gross national product to produce.

Even more ironic is that all marketers and ad agencies know that you change channels when the ads come on, but they still spend good beer money on making and flighting them.

So, is the solution to go ‘viral’?
To get someone to produce a short film clip so edgy, dangerous and ‘outthere’ – slap your logo on it and hope the world spreads your good message of luv through their mailboxes.

In the last two years websites dedicated to hosting the
sort of content that might go viral, have themselves become internet
traffic hubs.

You Tube now attracts more viewers than MTV, and that means a potential goldmine for advertisers.

Already. viral ad agencies have sprung up and viral ad hosting sites are charging brands around $8,000 (£4,300) a week for the ad to get placed on the front page, guaranteeing a large initial audience.

Sure viral is a nice idea and a cost effective way to communicate, but here’s a warning – be prepared for a bumpy ride. Its nice and Web 2.0 to go the route, but its like throwing your brand out there and asking the world what they think of it.
Be prepared for some negative reaction.

Marketing’s viral goldmine – BBC News
Budweiser – Wassup Commercial: The Original – YouTube [our all time favourite]
John West fights a bear for a fish – YouTube [another viral classic]
Banned XBox 360 ad – YouTube