Viral Marketing...is not a disease.

Viral marketing does not exactly sound like something pleasant. It sounds like some disease or ailment and not a successful marketing scheme. It is however becoming the new trend in advertising and marketing. So if it is not an illness, what does it mean?

Viral marketing is basically any type of advertising or promotion that encourages people to spread around to their friends through social media networks or by word of mouth.

Viral marketing is great for companies and consumers because it is something that benefits the client or consumer and promotes the company at the same time. Consumers do not feel like they are being told what to buy or like, but instead become interested in the campaign and in turn promote the product or service.

Many companies are using viral marketing to reach consumers because of its proven success. I saw this recently on an episode of the Apprentice. The task for the two teams on the show was to come up with a commercial for All Small & Mighty detergent that would be edgy and popular enough to be spread around the internet.

The teams both presented pretty controversial ads. One featured an adulterous Clint Black and the other a team of midgets scrubbing Jesse James.



I didn’t find either commercial particularly funny and the client agreed. While the attempts at viral marketing were racy, they were not true to the product or the demographic (housewives and soccer moms). Ultimately neither commercial was chosen.

This proves that viral marketing can be a tricky thing, and does not work well for all products. Moms who use All detergent are not checking YouTube everyday for the funniest new videos. They may not be able to come up with a successful viral marketing campaign for them.

Some products and companies lend themselves very well to viral marketing though. My absolute all time favorite YouTube video is actually an ad for Starburst.



The ad is funny and quirky enough that it catches people’s attention and makes you want to pass it along to your friends. This promotes the product in a positive light because people associate the product with having a good time, and it gets the company or product’s name out to more people.

The best viral marketing campaigns utilize a number of resources that consumers already use. If a company can attach an online game, free prizes, or even go so far as making a TV show from an ad they will have a successful viral marketing campaign.

A great example of this is Burger King’s Subservient Chicken. The ad, which promoted the TenderCrisp Chicken Sandwich, developed a following because of its catchy jingle and interesting concept. It even encouraged people to go online and watch an actual person in a chicken outfit perform commands.





This campaign went on for three years and definitely propelled the image of Burger King as a creative advertiser.

Viral marketing is an excellent way to promote a product and is fun for consumers. I don’t think people will ever get sick of viral marketing.