INTRODUCTION TO VIRAL MARKETING Welcome

Programme – Day 1 What is viral marketing? Showcase and examples Team task Preparing the ground Seeding Tools of the trade Ethics, legal and codes of conduct

What is viral marketing?

Showcase and examples

Team task

Preparing the ground

Seeding

Tools of the trade

Ethics, legal and codes of conduct

Programme – Day 2 Review day 1 Bringing your campaign to life Case studies Project management Launch Measuring success Team task presentations

Review day 1

Bringing your campaign to life

Case studies

Project management

Launch

Measuring success

Team task presentations

Introductions

Pub Quiz

Round 1 1. How many households in the UK had broadband by the end of 2007? 2. What was the online ad spend for the UK in 2007? 4. What is the percentage of unwanted emails (spam) sent over the net each year? 5. Who between the ages of 25 and 34 spend more time online: women or men? 6. How many SMS (texts) were sent in December 2008 in the UK? 15.4 million £2.8 billion 97% Women 7.7 billion 7. What is the most popular online activity? Using email – 29.9m 3. What percentage of the internet population is over 55? 19% 8. What is the average age of a visitor to YouTube? 34 9. Which age group were the largest users of SMS in 2008 Q3 in the UK? 55+ 10. What percentage of 15-24 year olds watched user-generated content in 2007? 87%

Round 2 1. Who is the trade association for the internet marketing industry? 2. Name three types of media that can be used in viral marketing 4. Name three video sharing sites 5. What is an ARG? 6. Which lager brand created a digital pint game for the iPhone? The IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) Email, online games, SMS, social media apps, video… Augmented or Alternative Reality Game YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Brightcove, DailyMotion, MySpace, Flickr, Metacafe Carlsberg 7. How many views on YouTube in the UK has the Cadbury’s Gorilla ad had? Over 5 million 3. Which 1960s singer used viral marketing to promote their greatest hits box set? Bob Dylan 8. Which off-license chain prior to Christmas 2006 used email and social media to promote a 40% off online printable voucher? Threshers 9. How many views did Burger King’s Subservient Chicken game rack up in its first week? 46 million

Viral marketing: a board room debate

So, we’re allocating budget, but what is it?

Your favourite viral marketing campaign? Why? How did you find out about it? What makes a good viral campaign?

Why?

How did you find out about it?

What makes a good viral campaign?

Summary

Showcase examples

Hotmail Launched as one of the first free email service in July 1996 and bought by Microsoft in Jan 1998 for a estimated $400m. Why? Within 18 months of launch it had already gathered around 8.5 million subscribers How? Hotmail simply attached an automated signature at the bottom of each e-mail message that promoted their free service. Every single e-mail sent by a Hotmail user contained this message, thus spreading it like a virus. Recipients would see the ad, and as a result, they too signed up for Hotmail. By 2008 Hotmail had 270 million users and was available in 35 languages

Launched as one of the first free email service in July 1996 and bought by Microsoft in Jan 1998 for a estimated $400m.

Why?

Within 18 months of launch it had already gathered around 8.5 million subscribers

How?

Hotmail simply attached an automated signature at the bottom of each e-mail message that promoted their free service. Every single e-mail sent by a Hotmail user contained this message, thus spreading it like a virus. Recipients would see the ad, and as a result, they too signed up for Hotmail.

By 2008 Hotmail had 270 million users and was available in 35 languages

The Blair Witch Project Released in US - July 14, 1999 Production Budget - $35,000 Total US Gross - $140,539,099 Prints and Advertising Budget - $6,500,000 Worldwide Gross - $248,300,000 A buzz was created on and off line to promote the film via the creation of a myth that the creators had found actual footage of an unexplainable phenomenon left by a missing group of campers. The creators themselves seeded this myth by appearing on Pierson show "Split Screen" with 8 minutes of footage they claimed was found in the woods. Pierson encouraged indie aficionados to debate the truth of the Blair Witch on his web site. When The Blair Witch Project website went live they further spread the disinformation. The film was introduced as Sundance during midnight screening, where industry and Hollywood elite were treated with same guerrila/fandom strategy, "flyering" Sundance with "missing" leaflets . http://tbwp.freeservers.com/webring.html http://www.blairwitch.com/mythology.htm

Released in US - July 14, 1999

Production Budget - $35,000

Total US Gross - $140,539,099

Prints and Advertising Budget - $6,500,000

Worldwide Gross - $248,300,000

A buzz was created on and off line to promote the film via the creation of a myth that the creators had found actual footage of an unexplainable phenomenon left by a missing group of campers. The creators themselves seeded this myth by appearing on Pierson show "Split Screen" with 8 minutes of footage they claimed was found in the woods. Pierson encouraged indie aficionados to debate the truth of the Blair Witch on his web site. When The Blair Witch Project website went live they further spread the disinformation. The film was introduced as Sundance during midnight screening, where industry and Hollywood elite were treated with same guerrila/fandom strategy, "flyering" Sundance with "missing" leaflets .

http://tbwp.freeservers.com/webring.html

http://www.blairwitch.com/mythology.htm

Burger King: Subservient Chicken Behind the scenes details: http://www.barbariangroup.com/posts/1938-happy_5th_birthday_subservient_chicken

Behind the scenes details: http://www.barbariangroup.com/posts/1938-happy_5th_birthday_subservient_chicken

Simpsons: the movie, avatar creator

Will It Blend?

Mini – ‘Ave a word

Questions?

Play time: what makes these viral? http://dylan.sonybmgmusic.co.uk http://www.willitblend.com http:// aveaword.glueserv.com / http://www.icetruck.tv/news/ http://www.knowthesigns.com/ http://www.horselstest.no/english/ http://www.mcvideogame.com/game-eng.html http://demo.fb.se/e/ikea/comeintothecloset2/site/default.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKAInP_tmHk (note no. of views)

http://dylan.sonybmgmusic.co.uk

http://www.willitblend.com

http:// aveaword.glueserv.com /

http://www.icetruck.tv/news/

http://www.knowthesigns.com/

http://www.horselstest.no/english/

http://www.mcvideogame.com/game-eng.html

http://demo.fb.se/e/ikea/comeintothecloset2/site/default.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKAInP_tmHk (note no. of views)

Discussion: what makes something go viral?

Viral marketing elements (a selection) A successful viral marketing strategy: Give away products or services (including entertainment) Provide for effortless transfer to others Scale easily from small to very large Exploit common motivations and behaviours Utilize existing communication networks Take advantage of others' resources

A successful viral marketing strategy:

Give away products or services (including entertainment)

Provide for effortless transfer to others

Scale easily from small to very large

Exploit common motivations and behaviours

Utilize existing communication networks

Take advantage of others' resources

Lunch

Team brief

Planning Identify: Brand or product(s) to be marketed Target market Budget Timings Overall aim: brand awareness, increase sales, increase customer details acquisition? Activity that may impact on campaign and timings – brand redesign, new product launch, PR campaign, your schedule (eg. holidays)

Identify:

Brand or product(s) to be marketed

Target market

Budget

Timings

Overall aim: brand awareness, increase sales, increase customer details acquisition?

Activity that may impact on campaign and timings – brand redesign, new product launch, PR campaign, your schedule (eg. holidays)

Planning: before you go too far… Be honest – how good is the brand or product you are trying to market? ie… How hard are you going to have to work, and if you’re successful will the brand/product stand up to the attention?

Be honest – how good is the brand or product you are trying to market?

ie…

How hard are you going to have to work, and if you’re successful will the brand/product stand up to the attention?

Planning - benchmarking Understand and benchmark your current online presence Official Customer, PR, media, generated Understand your existing customer base and review how you communicate, benchmark Understand who are the best influencers for your brand Review and revise where required before going any further

Understand and benchmark your current online presence

Official

Customer, PR, media, generated

Understand your existing customer base and review how you communicate, benchmark

Understand who are the best influencers for your brand

Review and revise where required before going any further

Benchmarking your online presence (In addition to any server-side stats package - Google Analytics, WebTrends etc)

(In addition to any server-side stats package - Google Analytics, WebTrends etc)

Exercise 1. Use the following sites to understand how your site is reflected in search : Google and another search engine (note organic as well as paid-for search results) http://web.grader.com/ http://www.justsearching.co.uk/tools/site-comparison/ Did you find any unusual links or associations? If benchmarking: record the results, in particular, the number of back links and position within search (1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd etc)

Use the following sites to understand how your site is reflected in search :

Google and another search engine (note organic as well as paid-for search results)

http://web.grader.com/

http://www.justsearching.co.uk/tools/site-comparison/

Did you find any unusual links or associations?

If benchmarking: record the results, in particular, the number of back links and position within search (1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd etc)

Exercise 2. Use the following sites to get a sense of how your chosen site is reflected in social media : Blogs – www.icerocket.com , www.technorati.com or www.google.com/blogsearch Microblogs: www.twitter.com , www.tumblr.com Social networks – www.flickr.com , www.myspace.com , www.facebook.com , www.bebo.com Social bookmarking – www.delicious.com , www. Social news – www.digg.com , www.reddit.com , www.newsvine.com Video sharing: www.youtube.com Also check: www.wikipedia.com , Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, forums Benchmark: quality and quantity of mentions, clips and posts Note: This list is not exhaustive. For a more comprehensive list see: http://www.lotame.com/blog/defend-your-brand-within-30-important-social-media-platforms/

Use the following sites to get a sense of how your chosen site is reflected in social media :

Blogs – www.icerocket.com , www.technorati.com or www.google.com/blogsearch

Microblogs: www.twitter.com , www.tumblr.com

Social networks – www.flickr.com , www.myspace.com , www.facebook.com , www.bebo.com

Social bookmarking – www.delicious.com , www.

Social news – www.digg.com , www.reddit.com , www.newsvine.com

Video sharing: www.youtube.com

Also check: www.wikipedia.com , Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, forums

Benchmark: quality and quantity of mentions, clips and posts

Note: This list is not exhaustive. For a more comprehensive list see: http://www.lotame.com/blog/defend-your-brand-within-30-important-social-media-platforms/

Your customers are your best evangelists and viral marketers

As are your employees

Therefore: to increase the likelihood of a campaign going viral it’s best to already be regularly communicating, listening and talking with your customers and employees. Respect Listen Learn Converse

Email

Comments, forums, message boards

Listen before you blog, Twitter, Facebook…

Ethics, best practice, the law

Ethics WOMMA fundamental principles: Happy, interested people will say good things about you Honest, genuine opinion is our medium We start, support, and simplify the sharing Word of mouth cannot be faked Word of mouth marketing empowers the consumer http://womma.org/ethicscode/code/

WOMMA fundamental principles:

Happy, interested people will say good things about you

Honest, genuine opinion is our medium

We start, support, and simplify the sharing

Word of mouth cannot be faked

Word of mouth marketing empowers the consumer

http://womma.org/ethicscode/code/

WOMMA Code of conduct Consumer protection and respect are paramount The Honesty ROI: Honesty of Relationship, Opinion, and Identity We respect the rules of the venue We manage relationships with minors responsibly We promote honest downstream communications We protect privacy and permission in a campaign when asked by consumers or the media. We will provide contact information upon request. http://womma.org/ethicscode/code/

Consumer protection and respect are paramount

The Honesty ROI: Honesty of Relationship, Opinion, and Identity

We respect the rules of the venue

We manage relationships with minors responsibly

We promote honest downstream communications

We protect privacy and permission in a campaign when asked by consumers or the media.

We will provide contact information upon request.

http://womma.org/ethicscode/code/

Legal Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 the following are now outlawed: Creating fake blogs Falsely representing oneself as a customer; and Falsely advertising on social media site

Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 the following are now outlawed:

Creating fake blogs

Falsely representing oneself as a customer; and

Falsely advertising on social media site

No longer permitted: ‘ Astroturfing’ , the practice of falsely creating the impression of independent, popular support by means of orchestrated and disguised public relations activity. For example, in the context of social media, astroturfing techniques could include the creation of a dedicated blog, posting comments on others' blogs or on message boards, submitting supposedly amateur videos to YouTube ‘ Flogs’ the creation of a fake blog by a PR agency or organisation that poses as a customer to promote a product or service. http://www.cipr.co.uk/Membership/conduct/social-media.asp

‘ Astroturfing’ , the practice of falsely creating the impression of independent, popular support by means of orchestrated and disguised public relations activity. For example, in the context of social media, astroturfing techniques could include the creation of a dedicated blog, posting comments on others' blogs or on message boards, submitting supposedly amateur videos to YouTube

‘ Flogs’ the creation of a fake blog by a PR agency or organisation that poses as a customer to promote a product or service.

http://www.cipr.co.uk/Membership/conduct/social-media.asp

Privacy and Data Protection Ensure you have a privacy policy on your site which should include: The type of information that will be collected; How the information will be used and stored; Whether the information will be released to a third party; and The use of cookies on the website and how you can disable them http://www.cipr.co.uk/Membership/conduct/social-media.asp

Ensure you have a privacy policy on your site which should include:

The type of information that will be collected;

How the information will be used and stored;

Whether the information will be released to a third party; and

The use of cookies on the website and how you can disable them

http://www.cipr.co.uk/Membership/conduct/social-media.asp

Also see: Chartered Institute of Marketing Chartered Institute of Public Relations ASA - British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing Word of Mouth Association UK Data Protection Act 1998 Information Commissioners Office (ICO)

Chartered Institute of Marketing

Chartered Institute of Public Relations

ASA - British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing

Word of Mouth Association UK

Data Protection Act 1998

Information Commissioners Office (ICO)