Successful Viral Marketing Campaigns
(Written by guest contributor Sarah Jane Griesemer)
Having an idea, product, video, or marketing plan go viral is something of a holy grail for online marketers. Sure, everyone wants it to happen to them, but how do you do it? What is the magic formula for a successful viral marketing campaign? The answer, unfortunately, is that there isn’t one. You know a good viral campaign when you see one, and since by its very definition it is spread by word of mouth and has everyone you know talking about it, you definitely can’t force it. But you can study the phenomenon. Here are five successful viral campaigns of Internet past that are great examples of what viral marketing is all about.
Blendtec
Tom Dickson, the founder of Blendtec, is the star of YouTube Viral Video Classics in which he blends everything from the Stimulus package to an iPhone to BIC lighters. The quirky series has garnered Blendtec over 3.5 million views. Although there is no disclosure of exact numbers, Dickson is quoted as saying the campaign provided an immediate financial success for Blendtec. Will it Blend? has developed a cult-like following, even inspiring Will It Blend? merchandise and the use of the Will It Blend? tagline on popular discussion sites.
Burger King
Whopper Sacrifice
In January 2009, Burger King launched a Facebook application called “Whopper Sacrifice.” Facebook users would add their application to their account, which would then show a tally of the user’s progress to a free whopper on the user’s profile page. Once the user “sacrificed” ten friends, they would be sent a coupon for a free Whopper. The catch? While Facebook does not usually notify you when you have been de-friended, this app sent an email to the recently de-friended, letting them know you were trading their friendship for a Whopper. Facebook intervened, stopping the application after just under a week, but not before 233,906 friendships were sacrificed, and the legend of a marketing campaign based on dumping friends was born.
Coraline
Portland advertising agency Wieden and Kennedy was tasked with creating buzz for the release of the feature film Coraline. To create web buzz, the agency handcrafted fifty boxes of “relics” from the movie, which were then mailed to fifty carefully selected bloggers. Receipt of the boxes created an Internet stir, even inspiring blogs whose sole purpose was to track down recipients of the unique boxes. The box campaign helped to stir and create initial excitement for the movie’s release.
The Blair Witch Project
Back in the summer of 1999, home from college for summer break, I remember the first time someone said to me, “Have you heard of this whole Blair Witch thing? It’s so creepy…” Not wanting to appear uncool, I agreed and then dashed home to the Internet to see what it was the cool kids were talking about. Stumbling upon a website detailing found movie footage, three missing documentary filmmakers, and the legend of a witch, I was hooked. Was it real? Was it not? Who cared, we HAD to see this movie. Created and marketed on a reputed budget of $350,000 (depending on whom you trust, budget estimates range from $2,500 and up), the film grossed $100 million in its first weekend alone, leaving the legend of the Blair Witch to become its marketing strategy, not piled up sticks and stones or handprints in the basement.
OfficeMax
Looking to boost holiday traffic to its OfficeMax.com during the holiday season, Office Max challenged San Francisco-based advertising agency Evolution Bureau with creating a viral campaign to boost sluggish traffic numbers. What they created was the Elf Yourself! sensation that brought 36 million viewers in five weeks. In 2007, the Elf Yourself! site generated 193 million viewers. What created all this traffic? Nothing more than letting visitors put their face on dancing elf bodies, and the option to email it along. Picked up by mainstream media, Elf Yourself! has been deemed one of the most successful viral campaigns, ever.
