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Viral Marketing or Viral Advertising
is a marketing strategy that encourages people to pass along a marketing
message. Essentially, a marketing technique aiming at reproducing "word
of mouth" promotions. In regard to this article, I wish to discuss
the use of viral marketing as it pertains to the internet or other technology
driven methods such as e-mail.
The goal of
fashion influencers is to get their message
trending so it can go viral & influence
consumers.
Some would
say that viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing
techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases
in brand awareness. However,
I am not certain that viral advertising truly would need a "pre-existing"
social network. In my opinion, if the message (content that
you wish to go viral) is truly being viral it may not need a pre-existing
network. It may actually create its own network as it moves
along across the internet. Also, let me point out that all
networks are not "social" networks. The internet
is also comprised of "business" networks and other forms
of communities that comprise a quote un quote network. By
the way, the perfect example of a business to business network is
the
Fashion Industry
Network. If your marketing message is "fashion"
relevant, the Fashion Industry Network, may be the best place to
plant the seed of your marketing message.
The purpose
of a viral advertising technique is to
introduce web users or website developers to pass
on a marketing message to other web
sites or other internet
users. The concept
of having a message get passed along from one person to the next
is a very powerful ability. Similar to a viral health condition,
once the viral attribute takes hold, it may move along in a defined
or previously undefined manner. The point is, the power of
the viral marketing technique may take on a life of its own.
A life that the originator may not be able to control, edit, or
yield.
Fashion influencers help develop fashion
trends by having
their message spread virally.
In addition
to passing along a "message", the viral marketing can
also pass along a practice or platform for delivering the message.
For example, YouTube is viral as it markets its own brand name.
At the same time the marketing (video / content / message) is moved
virally around the net, the YouTube platform (way of distributing
the message) is also being sent virally throughout cyberspace.
Although the video is the key component that can be used by individuals
or companies to market their name or product, the actual video player
is going along for the ride. This player may contain YouTube
company logos, links back to the site, etc. The player which
is viral, also provide an easy method for webmasters to place the
embedded player onto their respective sites. Hence, the viral
nature continues.
Another way
to describe viral marketing is to say that it is virtually any
form of advertising and/or marketing technique that spreads like
a virus. Getting
passed from computer to computer, from
consumer to consumer, from web
master to webmaster, from market to market
and so on. This form of marketing is
based on the assumption that people will share interesting
and entertaining content.
However, unfortunately viral marketing may also spread information
or content that is not so interesting.
Fashion blogs
and
fashion website developers often use
this sort of marketing strategy to create buzz (word-of-mouth)
for a new product or service.
Fashion designers
can potentially generate
exposure that is often much more valuable than traditional advertising.
Currently
viral marketing is not considered to be "traditional"
advertising. I think that this is simply because it has not
been around long enough to be termed traditional (obviously this
depends on when you are reading this article...). In my opinion,
this type of marketing is here to stay and will undoubtedly because
a traditional and very common method among marketing professionals.
Viral marketing
is also done by e-mail communication. However, I do not plan
to speak much on this issue because I personally do not like some
of the methods utilized by e-mail marketers.
If you are
ready to quickly spread enthusiasm about a product or
service, give
this type of marketing a try. Keep in mind that your
marketing message may have exponential growth. Clothing & footwear
companies can help get new styles trending by using successful marking
techniques. It is always trendy to have
your message heard.
For an example
of viral marketing for the fashion industry, you may wish to view
the
fashion gadgets,
fashion widgets,
and
fashion rss.
The use of gadgets, widgets or rss feeds could be considered a form
of viral marketing.
You can
also see an example of how Apparel Search has used this concept
by checking the following:
Apparel Search
on Delicious
In addition to viral
marketing, a fashion company should certainly take advantage of
additional methods as well. There is still something to be
said for the good old
fashion press release.
Because I am not the sharpest tool in the shed,
it is important to also learn about viral marketing from other educational
methods on the internet.
Below is a definition found on the Wikipedia website April 29,
2009 at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/viral_marketing.
"The buzzwords viral marketing
and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques
that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases
in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives
(such as product sales) through self-replicating viral
processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and
computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered
or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.
Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive
Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software,
images, or even text messages. The basic form of viral
marketing is not infinitely sustainable.
The goal of marketers interested
in creating successful viral marketing programs is to
identify individuals with high Social Networking Potential
(SNP) and create Viral Messages that appeal to this
segment of the population and have a high probability
of being passed along.
The term "viral marketing"
has also been used pejoratively to refer to stealth
marketing campaigns—the unscrupulous use of astroturfing
on-line combined with undermarket advertising in shopping
centers to create the impression of spontaneous word
of mouth enthusiasm."
The term Viral Marketing was coined
by a Harvard Business School graduate, Tim Draper. The
term was later popularized by Tim Draper and Steve Jurvetson
of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson
in 1997 to describe Hotmail's e-mail practice of appending
advertising for itself in outgoing mail from their users.
Among the first to write about
viral marketing on the Internet was media critic Douglas
Rushkoff in his 1994 book Media Virus. The assumption
is that if such an advertisement reaches a "susceptible"
user, that user will become "infected" (i.e.,
accept the idea) and will then go on to share the idea
with others "infecting them," in the viral
analogy's terms. As long as each infected user shares
the idea with more than one susceptible user on average
(i.e., the basic reproductive rate is greater than one
- the standard in epidemiology for qualifying something
as an epidemic), the number of infected users will grow
according to a logistic curve, whose initial segment
appears exponential. Of course, the marketing campaign
may be wildly successful even if the rate at which things
are spread isn't of epidemic proportions, if this user-to-user
sharing is sustained by other forms of marketing communications,
such as public relations or advertising.
Among the first to write about
algorithms designed to identify people with high Social
Networking Potential is Bob Gerstley in Advertising
Research is Changing. Gerstley uses SNP algorithms in
quantitative marketing research to help marketers maximize
the effectiveness of viral marketing campaigns. In 2004
the concept of Alpha User was released to indicate that
it had become now possible to technically isolate the
focal point members of any viral campaign, the "hubs"
who are most influential. Alpha Users can today be isolated
and identified, and even targeted for viral advertising
purposes most accurately in mobile phone networks, as
mobile phones are so personal.
In response to its use, many sites
have started up trying to describe what viral marketing
is.
Notable
examples
-
The Ponzi scheme and related
investment Pyramid schemes, are an early and unfortunate
example of viral marketing. In each round, investors
are paid interest from the principal deposits of
later investors. Early investors are so enthusiastic
that they recruit their friends resulting in exponential
growth until the pool of available investors is
tapped out and the scheme collapses.
-
Multi-level marketing popularized
in the 1960s and '70s (not to be confused with Ponzi
schemes) is essentially a form of viral marketing
in which representatives gain income through marketing
products through their circle of influence and give
their friends a chance to market products similarly.
When successful, the strategy creates an exponentially
growing network of representatives and greatly enriches
adopters. Examples include Amway and Mary Kay Cosmetics
among many others.
-
Early in its existence (perhaps
between 1988 and 1992), the television show Mystery
Science Theater 3000 had limited distribution. The
producers encouraged viewers to makes copies of
the show on video tapes and give them to friends
in order to expand viewership and increase demand
for the fledgling Comedy Central network. During
this period the closing credits included the words "Keep
circulating the tapes!"
-
In 2000, Slate described TiVo's
unpublicized gambit of giving free TiVo's to web-savvy
enthusiasts to create "viral" word of
mouth, pointing out that a viral campaign differs
from a publicity stunt.
-
In 2001, BusinessWeek described
web-based campaigns for Hotmail (1996) and The Blair
Witch Project (1999) as striking examples of viral
marketing, but warned of some dangers for imitation
marketers.
-
Launched in 2002, BMW Films
was among the earliest viral marketing campaigns.
It attracted nearly 55 million viewers and helped
to elevate the career of Clive Owen.
-
Burger King's The Subservient
Chicken campaign, running from 2004 until 2007,
was cited in Wired magazine as a striking example
of viral or word-of-mouth marketing.
-
Cadbury's Dairy Milk 2007 Gorilla
advertising campaign was heavily popularised on
YouTube and Facebook.
-
The release of the 2007 concept
album Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails involved a viral
marketing campaign, including the band leaving USB
drives at concerts during NIN's 2007 European Tour.
This was followed up with a series of interlinked
websites revealing clues and information about the
dystopian future in which the album is set.
-
In 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment
promoted the return of Chris Jericho with a viral
marketing campaign using 15-second cryptic binary
code videos. The videos contained hidden messages
and biblical links related to Jericho, although
speculation existed throughout WWE fans over who
the campaign targeted. The text "Save Us"
and "2nd Coming" were most prominent in
the videos. The campaign spread throughout the internet
with numerous websites, though no longer operational,
featuring hidden messages and biblical links to
further hint at Jericho's return.
-
In 2007 the New York Times'
advertising columnist Stuart Elliott wrote about
a business-to-business viral campaign for a software
company, showing that viral advertising has application
in areas outside of consumer marketing.
-
The 2008 film Cloverfield was
first publicized with a teaser trailer that did
not advertise the film's title, only its release
date: "01·18·08." Elements of the viral
marketing campaign included MySpace pages created
for fictional characters and websites created for
fictional companies alluded to in the film.
-
The Big Word Project, launched
in 2008, aims to redefine the Oxford English Dictionary
by allowing people to submit their website as the
definition of their chosen word. The viral marketing
project, created to fund two Masters students' educations,
attracted the attention of bloggers worldwide, being
featured on Daring Fireball and Wired Magazine.
-
The marketing campaign for
the 2008 film The Dark Knight combined both online
and real-life elements to make it resemble an alternate
reality game. Techniques included mass gatherings
of Joker fans, scavenger hunts around world, detailed
and intricate websites that let fans actually participate
in "voting" for political offices in Gotham
City, and even a Gotham News Network that has links
to other Gotham pages such as Gotham Rail, a Gotham
travel agency, and political candidate's pages.
The movie also markets heavily off of word of mouth
from the thousands of Batman fans.
-
Both the second and third games
in the Halo series were preceded with viral marketing
in the form of an alternate reality game.
Viral
expansion loop
A viral expansion loop is similar
to viral marketing with one notable difference: viral
marketing can't be replicated indefinitely, while a
viral expansion loop must be in order for it to exist.
When properly conceived and implemented, a viral loop
almost guarantees self-replicating growth. Companies
that have attempted to utilize viral loops to their
advantage include social networking engine
Ning, and viral loops power many Web 2.0 icons,
including
Twitter,
Orkut,
YouTube,
Facebook,
MySpace, M3mob.com,
Digg and
Flickr.
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We hope this article helped you
learn a bit more then you knew before you started reading this page. Certainly,
it is not as interesting as a typical
fashion article,
but not all articles can be strictly about style and
glam. If you were looking for a more
stylish article, you are welcome to check the fashion news section for loads
of interesting fashion news.
Learn more about
Fashion Marketing.
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