Viral Advertising course

1. Viral vs. Traditional
The goal of viral marketing is to use
consumer-to-consumer as opposed to
company-to-consumer communications
- to disseminate information about a
product.

2. The Consumer-oriented Marketing Approach
Founded in 2004 in order to advance consumer-oriented marketing techniques and to make
consumer-driven campaigns an integral part of every brand’s advertising budget mix.

3. Viral vs. Traditional
Advertising :– Defined
Viral Advertising – Defined:
Unpaid, peer-to-peer (personal) communication of provocative content
originating from an identified sponsor using the Internet to persuade or
influence the audience to pass along the content to others.

4. Viral vs. Traditional
Advertising :– Defined

5. Viral Marketing vs. WOM
The rumor effect
From – "word-of-mouth” To – "word-of-mouse”
WOM eWOM
The most ancient form of advertising

6. Advertising And Convergence
Internet
Audio/Visual/Interactive
TV
Audio/Visual
Radio
Audio
Print
Visual

7. Word-of-Mouth (WOM)
Trust and Acceptance of Different Types of
Media Advertising
80%
70%
trust and acceptance
combined value of
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Word-of-mouth
Print Ads
TV Ads
Radio
Outdoor Ads
Direct Mail
Paid Search Engine
Media
Banners
Junk Mail (Spam)
Pop-up ads
Type
Source: PlanetFeedback, April 2003
Word-of-mouth is the most reliable form of
advertising.

8. Viral Marketing vs. WOM
The difference between viral marketing and
WOM is one of cause and effect.
Viral marketing – which might take the form
of influencer marketing programs, community-
building portals, viral videos and street-level
guerilla campaigns – builds awareness and buzz;
it’s the cause.
Positive WOM - which theoretically leads to trial
and acquisition - is the effect.

9. Intentional Viral Marketing
Unintentional dissemination does not involve
consumer willingness or awareness to promote the
brand.
Ex. Hotmail (“Get Your Private, Free E-mail at http://www.hotmail.com”).
Hence, users sending e-mails from a Hotmail account automatically
promote the service to every person they send a message to. Launched
in July 1996, 12 million users signed-up for Hotmail within 2 years. The
marketing budget over the same period of time was only $500,000.

10. Intentional Viral Marketing
Intentional viral marketing occurs when
consumers willingly become promoters of a product.
They are driven to do so either through an explicit
incentive (financial or other) or simply out of a
desire to share the product benefits (e.g., fun,
valuable …)
As examples, PayPal, by providing financial incentive to have
members recommend members, acquired more than three million
users in its first nine months of operation, while ICQ, a free instant-
messaging service, offered an option to invite one's friends
automatically. 12 million from 1996 to 1997

11. Why Viral Advertising
Viral Ads add the “WOW” factor to
any common product that is not
inherently viral.

12. Viral Advertising
Pull vs. Push
Traditional advertising is push-based
• We are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages each day.
• Ads are pushed in our faces everywhere we go (billboards, print, radio, TV…).
Viral advertising is pull-based
• Creativity of the ad propels exposure.
• Focus is on creating an environment in which consumers voluntarily market to one
another, thus becoming “sales agents” of the brand.
• No media buy.

13. The most cost-effective form of advertising

14. What are your objectives?
Branding
Targeted
Buzz
Traffic Viral
Campaign
Video Search Call-for-
Optimization action

15. Video Search Optimization
YouTube is the #2 •
search engine, second
.to Google
Optimize videos so •
they receive top
.ranking
Results: Targeted
traffic to your site for
months and years to
.come

16. Push vs. Pull
Conventional vs. Viral Advertising
Interruptive Advertising Viral Advertising
Intrusively “pushing” marketing Creating an environment where consumers
messages at consumers. voluntarily market to one another.
Don’t Be Conventional. Give Consumers What They Want…

17. Marketer’s Heaven
The Advantages of Viral Advertising
• Media-free
• Measurable impact
NEW MEDIA
(Individual appeal, • 100% voluntary
Active viewing)
• Peer-to-peer endorsement
• No geographical boundaries
• Immediate “call-for-action”
OLD MEDIA • Unregulated/uncensored
(Social appeal,
Passive viewing) • Individual appeal
• Self-targeted
• Lives forever

18. THE BUILDING BLOCK
Meme
The “catchy” idea in the concept of every viral campaign that makes
it self-propagate among surfers. The meme is the creative engine
that drives ad.
Examples: Jokes that spread like wildfire, smart pithy sayings,
works of art, catchy lyrics, rumors, concept of God…
Other names: Thought contagion, ideavirus, catchy.
Science: Memetics
* “The Selfish Gene”, Richard Dawkins, 1976.

19. Catchy Creative
:Key Viral Elements
 Humor/Funny
 Sexy
 Artistic
The catchy creative concept must
 Original
contain one or more of these
 Emotional
essential viral elements.
 Provocative
 Thought-provoking
 Punchy with a twist
 Short and to the point

20. Viral Marketing
How it all started?
- How the term “viral marketing” was coined?
- Is it a misnomer or just good copywriting?

21. Seeding & Tracking
Peer-to-peer email forwarding
Profile of the “Seeders” (”Sneezers”)
• The first of the video distribution chain.
• Opinion leaders and web trend setters.
• Not motivated by money.
• Distribute “quality” which helps them build their “cool” image.
• Need to have “good stuff” others haven’t seen yet – thus will lose interest if they
think others have seen it before – they have to be first in distribution cycle.
• Their accreditation derives from the quality of data they distribute.
Source: “Unleashing the Ideavirus” / Seth Godin

22. The Work Process

23. Consumer-driven Advertising
Self-Targeting Mechanism
First and foremost, the creative concept ensures that ads propagate to
its designated audience.
Further targeting can be achieved by choosing the right seeding
platforms.

24. Seeding & Tracking
Web-exclusive video content sites

25. Koolanoo.com
Support Your People
KOOLANOO
Support Your People
1400000
1200000
1000000
Views
800000
600000
400000
200000
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Months
.Six months after the Sept. 2006 launch, the viral got a second wind

26. ISRAEL MINISTRY OF TOURISM
World Cup
Ministry of Tourism
World Cup
140000
120000
100000 Distribution was
80000
adversely affected by
count
60000 Cea
40000
s
Fire e 2nd Lebanese War.
20000
0
03/07/06
10/07/06
17/07/06
24/07/06
31/07/06
07/08/06
14/08/06
date
World Cup

27. JamesAllen.com
James Allen
launch
www.JamesAllen.com
.Alexa Ranking indicating launch of the campaign

28. Merck (Helphairloss.com)
Views to Visits Correlation

29. Self-targeting mechanism
30% increase in visits to site
30%
54% increase in branded sections (where
you need to agree to a disclaimer in order
to get more details)
54%
The self-targeting mechanism built into
consumer-driven campaign worked.

30. Buzz Creation
1,600 1265
1,200
749
800
213
400
84
0
Google.com Google.co.il
Feb March

31. Recommended Reading
The Selfish Gene., Richards Dawkins, 1976
Grapevine: New Art of Word of Mouth Marketing, Dave Balter and
.John Butman
Thought Contagion, How Beliefs Spread Through Society, Aaron
.Lynch, 1999
Unleashing the IdeaVirus., Seth Godin, 2001
The Tipping Point., Malcolm Gladwell, 2002

32. Academic Studies (1)
From Subservient Chickens to Brawny Men:
(A Comparison of Viral Advertising to Television Advertising (2005
:Creative Strategies in Viral Advertising
(An application of Taylor‘s six-segment message strategy wheel (2006
Lance Porter
Louisiana State University
Guy J. Golan
Louisiana State University
URL: jiad.org/vol6/no2/porter
© 2006 Journal of Interactive Advertising

33. Academic Studies (2)
Format Fortune 500 Non Fortune 500
TV 62% 38%
Viral 40% 60%
Analysis of 501 Ads
235 TV Ads from www.advertisementave.com
266 Viral Ads from WOMMA
URL: jiad.org/vol6/no2/porter
© 2006 Journal of Interactive Advertising

34. Academic Studies (3)
Based on the seminal study on viral advertising by Porter and Golan (2005) and based on previous studies on
Taylor‘s six segment message strategy wheel (1999), the current study will present the following research
:questions
RQ#1: What advertising appeals were most frequently used in viral
?advertisements
?RQ#2: What were the advertising functions of the viral ads
RQ#3: Do viral advertisements base their creative message strategies on the
?ritual strategy more than they do on the transmission message strategy
RQ#4: Which of six segments on Taylor’s wheel were most commonly used in
?viral advertisements
RQ#5: Did different product categories use different messages strategies in
?viral ads

35. Advertising Objective (4)
Format Branding Call for Provide Total
action information
Television 197 (84%) 4 (2%) 34 (14%) 235 (100%)
ads
Viral ads 224 (84%) 10 (4%) 32 (12%) 266 (100%)
Total 421 (84%) 14 (3%) 66 (13%) 501 (100%)
URL: jiad.org/vol6/no2/porter
© 2006 Journal of Interactive Advertising

36. Appeal in Viral Advertising (5)
Table 1. Appeals used in viral advertisements (n=360)
Advertising Appeal Frequency Percentage
Humor 328 91%
Sexuality 101 28.1%
Violence 52 14.4%
Children 46 12.8%
Animals 64 17.8%

37. Function in Viral Advertising (6)
Table 2. Advertising function in viral advertisements
Advertising Function Current Study n=360 Porter & Golan (2005) n=266
Branding 252 (70%) 224 (84%)
Call for action 53 (14.8%) 10 (4%)
Provide information 55 (15.3%) 32 (12%)

38. Ritual vs. Transmission View (7)
Table 3. Ritual vs. Transmission views
frequency percentage
Transmission View 83 23%
As outlined by Taylor’s model (1999), the
creative strategy wheel is defined by the
Ritual View 210 58.3% transmission and ritual views that are
Combination 67 18.6% divided into six separate segments.
Total 360 100%
Table 4. Taylor’s six segment strategies in viral ads Transmission View:
frequency percentage Creative message based
Ration 88 24.4%
on information.
Acute need 59 16.4%
Ritual View:
Routine 5 1.4%
Creative message based on ego &
Ego 184 51%
need to be part of group. *
Social 58 16.1%
Sensory 6 1.6%
.Individual appeal of ads mentioned earlier *

39. Ritual vs. Transmission (8)
Table 5. Ritual vs. Transmission views across product categories
Industry Ritual Transmission Combination Total
NPO 41.6% (5) 16.6% (2) 41.6% (5) 100% (12)
Fashion 84.6% (11) 15.4% (2) 0% (0) 100% (13)
Food & Beverage 66.6% (36) 7.4% (4) 25.9%(14) 100% (54)
Travel 33.3% (2) 16.6%(1) 50% (3) 100% (6)
Electronic & Communications 46.7% (31) 36.3% (24) 16.6% (11) 100% (66)
Household products 50% (7) 35.7% (5) 14.3% (2) 100% (14)
Pharmaceuticals 46.8% (15) 25% (8) 28.2% (9) 100% (32)
Alcohol & Tobacco 82% (41) 4% (2) 14% (7) 100% (50)
Entertainment & Media 65.3% (17) 23.2% (6) 11.5% (3) 100% (26)
Banking 30% (3) 20% (2) 50% (5) 100% (10)
Automotive 64.1% (25) 30.7% (12) 5.1% (2) 100% (39)
Other 44.7% (17) 39.5% (15) 15.8% (6) 100% (38)
Total 58.3% (210) 23% (83) 18.6% (66) 100% (360)

40. Type of Advertising Technique:
Viral vs. TV Ads (9)
Appeal Mean Square F Sig.
Sex 2.212 21.490 .000**
Nudity .967 11.159 .001**
Violence 1.495 8.965 .003*
Humor .001 .013 .909
Animals .433 3.375 .067
Children .378 3.695 .055
Animation 1.249 14.789 .000**
Significant at the .05 level, **significant at the 0.001 level *

41. Appeal Across Industries (10)
Appeal Likely to use Not likely to use
Sex Fashion (.62) Issue Advocacy (.04)
Pharmaceutical (.39) Media & Entertainment (.07)
Automotive (.12)
Nudity Pharmaceutical (.36) Issue Advocacy (.0)
Automotive (.06)
Food & Beverage (.07)
Violence Media & Entertainment (.62) Fashion (.08)
Travel (.09)
Pharmaceutical (.09)
Automotive (.24)
Humor Media & Entertainment (1.0) Issue Advocacy (.64)
Travel (1.0)
Automotive (.97)
Food & Beverage (.95)
Communication & Electronics (.94)
Pharmaceutical (.91)
Children Issue Advocacy (.29) Pharmaceutical (.03)

42. Academic Studies (11)
Summary
This strategy may be a function of the advertising format rather than the
nature of the advertisers. Based on McLuhan‘s (1964) assertion that the
medium is the message, it could be argued that the creative/message
strategy of any viral ad will be largely determined by its meme
factor.
Since the success of any consumer-driven advertising campaign is
based on the willingness of users to forward messages (ads) to as many
people as possible, advertisers must shy away from boring fact
based strategies and towards more entertaining, exciting or
interesting attention grabbing strategies. The results of the current study
provide empirical evidence to this approach as they clearly highlight the
predominance of the ritual view strategy over the transmission view.
In layman terms, it could be argued that consumer-driven advertising
strategies target users through the gut rather than the brain.

43. Academic Studies (12)
Summary
When synthesized with the results of the
advertising appeal results, one could argue
that consumer-driven ads were often
based on an individual appeal (ego rather
than social) that was based largely on
humor while attempting to provide some
information to the user.

44. Academic Studies (13)
Additional significant findings
Fortune 500 companies created 62% of the television ads analyzed (146 ads).
Non-Fortune 500 companies produced the majority of consumer-driven ads with 60% (160 ads).
5.1% of television ads used sex appeals, 18.4% of consumer-driven ads used sex appeals.
Television ads were more likely to use animation (14.9%) as compared to consumer-driven ads
(4.9%)
Consumer-driven ads (26.7%) were more likely to use a violence appeal (mostly from the
Entertainment industry) than television ads (15.7%).