Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is the term used for forms of marketing, e.g. videos and images, that have become so popular due to their individualities that they have spread across the internet and through mobile devices, imitating the properties of a virus.


Here are examples of popular viral marketing/internet phenomena:



Badger Badger Badger:

http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/

"Badger Badger Badger" is a perfect example of a wide-spread video phenomenon which involves a flash-made video by a small group of animators usually under the name of 'Weebl'. The video shows a piece of landscape where animated badgers danced to a looped song about said animals.

Many of this user's videos are hosted in one location, and merchandise and music is sold on this website. The videos don't exactly promote the merchandise but they encourage people to purchase merchandise displaying their favourite video characters.


Cadburys 'Gorilla' advert:

http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?q=cadburys+gorilla&emb=0

This is a popular advert that was shown on daytime TV. The advert depicted a close-up of a Gorilla (which is a person in a costume), and it eventually panned out to show it playing the drums to Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight'. At the end of the advert the logo for cadburys chocolate appears, which adds just a small, yet effective touch of marketing. The video is widely appreicated and shared and is thus considered viral marketing.


T-Mobile Dance advert:

http://www.gadgetvenue.com/the-t-mobile-dance-01152559/

Another popular advert that promotes sales, this video shows a crowd moving about in Liverpool Street station, with random members of the public suddenly breaking into synchronised dance combining hip-hop, disco and ballroom. The dance was filmed by secret cameras around the station in order to shoot the advert from various angles.

Citroen C4 'Transformer' advert

http://www.citroen.co.uk/new-cars/citroen-c4-hatchback/

This advert by car-making company Citroen showed one of their cars, the C4, transforming into a 'Transformers'-esque robot, which then began to dance to David Guetta Vs The Egg's "Love Don't Let Me Go". The dance itself was performed by choreographer Marty Kuldeka, who had laser pads attached to his body in order to follow his movements and build the CG 'robot' around the dance. This advert is another example of just how quickly viral marketing works, with the video being posted all over the internet and sent to friends via filesharing websites.


The Subservient Chicken

http://www.subservientchicken.com/


This popular website shows a seemingly live webcam feed of a man in a chicken costume, who will obey most orders the visitor of the website gives him (for example, if you type in 'jump' he will jump, 'dance' he will dance, etc.). The idea was created by Burger King to promote sales, and URL of this website was quickly passed around the internet, earning it the status of viral marketing.

Mentos & Diet Coke

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-274981837129821058

A famous set of videos promoting the sales of Diet Coke and Mentos. A small group of people created works of art using lined up bottles of diet coke. Each bottle was attached to the one next to it via a small cap that had a mento sweet on the underside, and when the cap of a bottle was blown off, it pulled a piece of string that activated the next bottle's cap. Once the sweet dissolved in the diet coke a chemical reaction came into effect, and the pressure of the gas from the reaction forced the cap upwards and the mixture burst out, creating a fountain of coke. The group controlled how high some 'fountains' could go to create amazing artistic effects, which provoked the beginning of a worldwide phenomenon. Videos were uploaded over the world in response to the original videos, thus showing that the promotion was successful and numerous members of the public helped to increase the sales of Diet Coke and Mentos.