I was recently pointed towards NSyndrome - a viral campaign for the new Nokia N95.
This site and the campaign demonstrate the typical behavior for advertising agencies. They know that viral marketing is extremely effective, but they struggle to get it working because the product does not sell itself.
The solution - and one offered by most agencies - is to create a fake story, with a fake message to get people hooked on a fake idea. The idea, which in this case is particularly lame, is a story that N95's somehow get embedded into people's physiology.
They created a fake site and filled it with fake content - even added fake comments to simulate interest from other people. And, everything is a lie.
The NSyndrome site is a site made by Nokia - or more precisely Nokia's advertising agency Lowe Brindfors. It wasn't started by Zep and Scott, they didn't first discover these phenomena in a Latino nightclub in New Mexico, there is no such thing as an NSyndrome - in fact everything is a lie and a desperate attempt to create a viral campaign.
This is just stupid.
A viral campaign is about trust - it really is. If a friend of yours sees something that he thinks is interesting, and forwards it to you. You then trust this information because it came from your friend and perhaps you forward it yourself to several of your friends.
If you lie, you not only disgrace your own brand, you also make me look bad because I forwarded it to my friends.
Effective viral marketing is always about sharing something people think is worth sharing - and for something to be worth sharing it has to be genuine.
If you base your campaign on lies and deception, you might get a short term result - but the long term effect on your brand is literally a disaster. How can anyone trust you again?
A good viral campaign is funny, cute, provocative and very interesting. But, it is also trustworthy, genuine and reliable.
Here are 5 "rules" that you should always remember - to go along with my last tips on viral marketing:
Later today, Apple is having yet another one of their mystery press events, where they are expected to talk about iTunes. One very strong rumor is that they will extend iTunes into the online renting business, allowing US customers to rent TV shows at 99 cents.
Earlier today, Facebook launched its location based service called Facebook Places. We all knew it was coming, and that it would not be highly innovative, but there were still a few surprises.
There where two interesting stories this week about emerging digital markets. First, we heard from Amazon that the sale of ebooks has now surpassed the sale of hardcover books.
It is not unusual for many websites to lose 20-50% of their traffic during the hot summer months. It happens every year, because people rather want to be outside with their friends, having fun barbecuing, than sit inside in front of a computer.
Gatorade has released a video of their social command center. It is quite impressive, and ultra-geeky. It looks more like something from Norad, than anything you would expect from a soft-drink company.
You might have heard the stories about Digg losing 50% of its traffic in just one month, based on data from Compete.com. They are all asking the same question. Is Digg dead? (no it isn't)
I was watching several of video from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce - or simply the RSA. Besides having a YouTube channel filled with interesting content, they have created some of the best story telling videos I have ever seen.
Traditional marketing is pretty simple. You ask your graphic designer to create a beautiful presentation of your product. Next, you give a magazine a handful of money to buy exposure to a certain amount of people. That’s it. You create an ad, pay money, and get exposure.
Isn't it odd that so many companies fight change instead of embracing it? Shouldn't we welcome it with open arms? See it as huge opportunity to get ahead of our competition?
Companies are constantly trying to come up with something new and exciting, but most of the time they to tend to focus on the wrong thing. Instead of creating a story, they make a book. Instead of creating interesting articles, they created a printed magazine. Instead of making remarkable products, they design a new website.
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