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Great Examples in Viral Video Marketing: VW

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Aubrey Curry

Last year’s most-talked about Super Bowl ad was undeniably VW’s ad with a little boy dressed as Darth Vader. For the few of you out there who haven’t seen it, said little boy walks around dressed like Vader, “The Imperial March” playing in the background, trying to use The Force to start random household objects. He finally “succeeds” by starting his dad’s 2012 VW Passat.

It’s a super cute commercial, and apparently hit home with A LOT of people, considering it’s had almost 50 million You Tube views.

On January18 VW released a 60 second teaser for this year’s Super Bowl ad. Again, it features “The Imperial March.” But with DOGS.

Again, it looks like VW has another viral hit on its hands–after only a week it’s had well over 7 million views, and has been shared on Facebook by the likes of Cesar Millan, Mashable and probably 90% of my Facebook friends.

So what makes VW’s Super Bowl ads such great examples in viral online marketing? Lots of things, the primary of which are:

They’re fun
VW obviously knows who its target audience is–car buyers in their 30s and 40s who like style and safety and who have a fondness for Star Wars (which was a staple for a lot of us born in the ’70s and ’80s)
They’re creative and stylish
They release just enough to get you invested and wanting more
They make you laugh (anyone who doesn’t at least smirk at Chewbacca dog has no soul)
Timing

That last one is super important. Timing. The Super Bowl is on February 5, meaning VW chose to release this year’s teaser just over two weeks before The Big Game. That’s two weeks for people to view the video, share the video, talk about the video and get excited to see the entire commercial. Last year’s commercial had leaked footage that had the web buzzing for days leading up to the Super Bowl, and that commercial had EVERYONE talking afterwards.

Sure, VW has the brand and the money to run an awesome advertising campaign–and they do. But they’re also showing (or, at least, Deutsch is convincing VW’s marketing department) that they know how to create buzz and make something go viral. Volkswagen and Old Spice are quickly becoming two of my favorite brands from a viral marketing perspective (I drive a Ford and as a female don’t use Old Spice products, so I have no skin in this game), as they are two companies who aren’t afraid to take a risk, be funny, and go viral.

What do you think some of the best recent viral marketing campaigns have been? Discuss below!

Posted in B2B, B2C, Blog, Content Development Strategy, eCommerce, Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing, Videos | Tagged video marketing, viral marketing | Leave a comment

2012: A Mobile World

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Calandra Buckner

Over the past few years, mobile has made quite a splash in our everyday world and the digital marketing landscape as a whole. Back in the day we saw people with maybe a mobile phone or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). We have now evolved from those devices that now seem quite primitive compared to the technology that is widely available to us today. In today’s society, the use of mobile devices has grown exponentially; we can’t go anywhere without seeing someone on Smartphone, a tablet, or even an eReader. More and more people are “plugged in,” and that number is only going to grow as people continue to integrate things like mobile apps and other capabilities into everyday life. We use apps for everything from shopping, finding jobs, and staying connected to feeding our mobile gaming addiction with apps like Angry Birds and Words with Friends. Mobile devices have absolutely become staples of everyday life. Honestly, could you go a day without your Smartphone?

With the integration of mobile into everyday life also comes a whole new world of opportunities for marketers. Mobile devices offer a platform that can be utilized to reach thousands of people daily.

Let’s look into some data on the mobile impact in 2011 and a little insight into the future. The data below was collected from Nielsen’s State of the Media Mobile Report Q3 2011, Yahoo, and Gartner.

The number of Smartphone owners has more than doubled in 2 years
In Q3 2011, 26.3 million mobile consumers viewed mobile video
Currently, 87 percent of app downloader’s have used deal-of-the-day websites like Groupon or Living Social, and 54 percent of Smartphone owners claim to use their mobile headsets frequently while shopping
The majority of 25-35 and 18-24 year olds now own Smartphone’s (64% and 53% respectively)and they have led in Smartphone penetration compared to other age groups since 2009
By 2013, more people will use mobile phones than PCs to get online
In mid-2011, we reached a point at which consumers were spending more time on their mobile devices than on their PCs
86% of web users now use a mobile device while watching TV. The number of Smartphone subscribers using the mobile internet has grown 45 percent since 2010
49 percent of mobile customer say they frequently use their Smartphone’s while shopping
The majority of Smartphone owners (62%) have downloaded apps on their devices and games are the top application category used in the past 30 days*

Search engines and social networking websites are popular among Android Smartphone and iPhone owners (see figure below)

So … What Does This Mean For Marketers?

As mobile devices become more advanced the way people interact through these devices will also evolve. Which means the way marketers can interact with potential consumers must evolve and take advantage of this opportunity. “The promise of mobile marketing is its ability to reach the right consumer, at the right time, and the right place – including the very moment and point of purchase. The term “So-Lo-Mo” (for social, local, mobile) has been coined to refer to this opportunity.” (Nielsen)

There are many creative and effective ways to interact with potential customers, but here are 6 ways marketers can utilize this quickly expanding mobile landscape:

Test the mobile waters with basic mobile advertising.
Launch text message subscription campaigns. With this option consumers can opt in and receive information about your company on their mobile device.
Use QR codes can help generate leads, completed sales, and maybe spark consumers to connect with your company through different avenues like social media.
Utilize location-based deal platforms like Groupon and Living Social
Implement Geo-fencing technology, which is a technology that is compatible with a majority of mobile phones. The location-based technology alerts consumers by SMS while in parameters of participating shopping centers on deals that are available at surrounding stores.
Develop an app for your business. For example, if your business is a restaurant, offer your nutritional information through an app. If your business is a clothing store, offer your product line through your app. Apps are a great way for you to offer valuable information to potential and existing customers.

Do you have a mobile strategy?

Posted in B2B, B2C, Blog, eCommerce, Online Marketing | Tagged 2012 online marketing trends, mobile marketing | Leave a comment

Free white paper: 2012 Online Marketing Trends

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Aubrey Curry

The landscape of online marketing is changing–there’s no denying that fact. Those changes, while foreseeable, often come with their own set of questions. How do I implement that? How do we address this issue? What the heck IS that? Learn how you can embrace each of those trends in order to have a successful 2012 that’s full of great leads, improved ROI and happy clients.

Download now!

Posted in B2B, B2C, Blog, eCommerce, Online Marketing | Tagged 2012 online marketing trends, white paper | Leave a comment

Social Media Trends 2012

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Susonnah Gonzalez

Social media trends come and go, but as online marketers, it’s crucial that we stay on top of them. Like a rolling snowball, social media is only growing bigger and bigger and seems to swallow anything that crosses its path. We know it should be a critical part of our integrated marketing campaigns, but what exactly should we expect to see come 2012?

Gaining Leads from Social Media Outlets

As more information becomes available on social media sites, users will be spending the majority of their time on Facebook, Twitter and the like. Consequently, users will turn to social media to learn more about their favorite brands and what they have to offer. Marketers expect to see improved social analytics that will provide them with more detailed information about their social ROI and how social fits in the conversion funnel.

It will be imperative for marketers to not only produce more social content describing their products and services, but produce meaningful content that will create leads. Blasting a survey or a question to your fans won’t be enough. As social media grows, your fans will become overwhelmed with information being spouted by their favorite brands. Your social content must be both useful and compelling to grab and keep the attention of your fans.

Social on Other Devices

What devices? You guessed it—mobile and tablets. The word “mobile” is being passed around a lot when it comes to speculating 2012 trends, but what does it mean to you as a digital marketer? It means content will be (and should be) targeted to mobile users. And it would be wrong to ignore the renowned tablet. As the variety of tablets increase and prices decrease, more consumers will be drawn to using tablets in place of their laptops or desktops. Marketers can prepare for this by creating content that is quick and easy to access. With more users turning to mobile, start adapting your social content for smaller screens. Bloggers would be wise to shorten the length of their blog posts, and it would behoove social marketers to stay away from flash.

Frictionless Sharing

However controversial, frictionless sharing is likely to grow in 2012. It’s the automatic sharing of content from news sites and music sites such as Spotify, and word is more companies will integrate with Facebook’s Open Graph. Here’s what Facebook has to say on their developer’s page:

“We are now extending the Open Graph to include arbitrary actions and objects created by 3rd party apps and enabling these apps to integrate deeply into the Facebook experience.”

What does it mean? It means frictionless sharing is only going to grow. Users don’t have to hit a button or paste a link onto their wall anymore; it’s the easiest form of sharing that Facebook can devise (so far).

TV + Social

Turn on your TV and you won’t be able to avoid the calls to action propelled by social. At the bottom of the screen, hash tags compel viewers to tweet about the show, and already dozens of shows incorporate Twitter and Facebook into their programming. Shows such as The Voice use Twitter and Facebook to collect public opinion on an array of topics, making the audience a major factor in their planning. The use of social in TV programming will grow immensely within the next year, and social media crowdsourcing will reach a whole new level. The key to using this successfully is to listen to your audience and take what they have to say into consideration. Implement their feedback into your marketing campaigns.