Viral Marketing

The other night I went to my local drive through to grab a quick meal for the family – of course, it was a big order. After paying for the meal, I parted ways with the drive-thru window, only to get home and realize that I did not have the kids’ meals. Of course, I was incredible angry. All of my horrible drive-thru experiences came rushing back. To this day I don’t think I have ever gone through a Taco Bell and had something missing, usually the sauce I requested, napkins, etc. All that is going through my mind as I make the 10 minute drive back to the restaurant. I…

In an article at CNet, Piper Jaffray’s Safa Rashtchy, an Internet media analyst, believes the internet revolution is just underway. Social networks are becoming the fastest growing online communities, far surpassing the portals such as MSN and AOL. In specifics, MySpace has grown 119% in the past six months (up to 27.4 billion page views from 12.5 billion). In fact, MySpace now has 48 million monthly visitors, nearly 75% of Yahoo. The social network is not going away soon. In fact, it is splintering and growing in rapid fashion. As like minded people find each other, they begin their own sub communities and develop again. The Medusa-like growth of these networks is attributed to the…

The LEGO Company has been making great moves lately, moves that are building the online presence of the company and rewarding loyal customers.

I remember playing with Lego’s as a child and they provided hours of entertainment – I’m very glad to see that the company and the Lego is healthy and growing, especially in this age of computers. Lego’s were one of the first toys I bought for my kids as I think it’s fantastic for childhood development and creativity skills.

From The Long Tail, LEGO has done many other things than simply selling a product, which they do well. They have invited participation from customers…

However, it was the doomed from the start, says Jackie Huba at Church of the Customer.  Anytime you give the public the tools to create something for themselves and have it displayed at that company’s website, you are asking for trouble. Chevy was asking for people to take a variety of clips, music and create their own commercial.  People could add graphics and slogans, but the campaign was taken over by eco-groups building commercials that became anti-GM and anti-SUV.  All of a sudden, GM had some cleaning up to do . . . Somehow, it seems as though big corporations and ad agencies are always trying to create the next big viral…

I first heard about this a few months back, when someone blogged about the attention Snakes on a Plane was getting from simply the combination of the title and the lead character, Samuel L. Jackson.  I must admit, those to elements create some interesting images in my head.  Apparently, it does for others as well, but to a whole new level. Google now has over 2 million results for “Snakes on a Plane“. The creators of the movie have watched intently as fan-created trailers have hit the net, along with plot suggestions, movie posters, T-shirts, and of course, blogs.  Filming was wrapped up last summer, but the producers are re-shooting scenes…