Viral Marketing

Dr. Moloy Ghoshal

 Topics for Discussion
 Definition
 Techniques of viral-marketing
 Tools of viral marketing
 Components of viral marketing
 Types of viral marketing
 Advantages and disadvantages of viral
marketing
 Examples and conclusion
 Definition
• Viral marketing is defined as “marketing techniques
that seek to exploit preexisting social networks to
produce exponential increases in brand awareness,
through processes similar to the spread of an
epidemic”
• Viral Marketing is that, which is able to generate interest
and the potential sale of a brand or product
through messages that spread like a virus, i.e. quickly, and
from person to person.
 Techniques of viral marketing:-
1. BUZZ MARKETING:-
• It is the interaction of consumers and users of a
product or service which amplifies or alters the
original marketing message. This emotion,
energy, excitement, or anticipation about a
product or service can be positive or negative.
• Marketing buzz originally referred to oral
communication but in the age of social media;
Facebook, Twitter, & Whats-apps are the
dominant communication channels for buzz-
marketing.
2. WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING (WOMM)-
• Word-of-mouth marketing is a term used in the marketing and
advertising industry to describe activities that companies
undertake to generate personal recommendations as well as
referrals for brand names, products and services.
• Word-of-mouth promotion is highly valued by advertisers. It is
believed that this form of communication has valuable source
credibility. Also people tend to believe who they know.
• According to a research conducted by Nielsen, 92% of
consumers believe recommendations from friends and family
over all forms of advertising.
• In a recent study, 64% of marketing executives indicated that
they believe word of mouth is the most effective form of
marketing.
 Tools of Viral Marketing
• Viral marketing can be done through internet
campaigns. Normally, by making use of blogs,
landing pages, Facebook fan pages, Twitter
accounts, YouTube videogames, newsletters in
massive e-mails, e-mail sequence campaigns,
affiliate networks and others.
 Components of Viral Marketing

• 1. Message: Every message cannot be considered for

viral marketing. Only the ones that are interesting,
unique, engaging, and have the potential to spurt a
phenomenon are shared widely.
• 2. Environment: People are sensitive to
the environment, and hence, it has proved as a crucial
component in viral marketing. External factors like
timing of the context, matter a great deal.
• 3. Messenger: It is the most important component and
ensures the transformation of a simple message into a
viral one. There are three specific types of the
messenger.
 Contd….
i. Market mavens are referred to individuals who are
considered information specialists and are amongst
the first to get the message. They are the first ones
to transmit these messages to their target audience
via social network. E.g. Warren Buffett, Bill Gates.
ii. Social hubs are referred to people who have a huge
social connection and can serve as a bridge between
different cultures.
iii. Salespeople are referred to people who receive a
message from the market haven, make it persuasive
and relevant and transmit it to social hub for
distributing it to further horizons.
 Types of Viral Marketing
V-marketing is of two types- Paid & Organic
Quality of a good organic V-marketing
1. Feeling vs. information
-people are not interested about who you are
but how you make them feel.
2. Emotional Viral marketing
• e.g. Samsung ad (pachana ..pachana), Amit
• Blind girl story
 Contd…
3. Attention Seeking Potential- e.g. Fevicol (pakad
ka rakhna), imperial blue (men will be men)-
use the feelings like
Excitement, sad, anger, surprise, happy etc.
4. Call to Action (CTA)-Use beautiful jingles e.g.
i. Mango frooty ….. Fresh n juicy
ii. Bola mera lips………. I love uncle chipps
iii. Vicks ke goli lo ……
iv. Buland bhatrat ki buland tashbir… hamara bajaj
v. Yeh hi hai right choice baby……..aaha-Pepsi.
 Contd…..
• 5. Exaggerate the sense of insecurity & fear
Examples-
- Hair oil (dandruff, hair fall treatment)
- LIC Policy
- Lifebuoy (99% germs free)
- Policy bazar
- Clearasil lotion (pimples)
 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF VIRAL
MARKETING
ADVANTAGES:-
• High credibility (instant recognisation)
• Low cost (compare to TV, News paper, etc)
• Great reach (youth r techno savvy, difficult to
attract thru conventional ads, global reach thru
internet, social media eg. Baba Jackson)
• High efficiency
DISADVANTAGES:-
• Association with unknown groups
• Not all products or services are viral
• Once unleashed are not controllable
• Limited size of information
• Information distortion
• Hard to measure
Gift to loved one
Speed
Power of signal
Part of happenings in life
 Conclusion
 Through the investigation and analysis of various
viral marketing campaigns, it has been concluded
that the future of advertising is viral marketing.
 It will be the leading choice of medium for
advertisers by 2020.
 The majority of the campaigns studied revealed
not only positive effects on the brands through
high reach, but also at a rapid and time efficient
pace.
THANK YOU