Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is one of my favorite types of advertising. Viral marketing can be achieved in many ways but is usually uses the internet for to get their messages across. This can range from movies making fake websites to promote their movies to brands like Nike showing Kobe Bryant jump over a car. The point of it is to make that something look believable. They can also be challenging like being an interactive game to decode something. Viral Marketing is making waves even in the most of unlikely of places. Obama girl made headlines by promoting Obama's presidency Sometimes Viral Marketing will be a little subtle in what it is promoting. They won't directly say what product they are promoting, but it will be within the realm of their industry. There was a video of a guy back flipping into his jeans. At first it just looked like a cool video but it turned out to be marketing campaign for Levi Jeans. One of my favorite examples of viral marketing is from The Dark Knight. They used many examples of Viral Marketing. The movie made fake websites for the companies involved in the film. They also did a fake promotional campaign for the fictional district attorney from the movie Harvey Dent. Also The Blair Witch Project may have created viral marketing. The incredible success of the film could be attributed to its unique website that effectively blurred the lines between fact and fiction.  The website, that still exists today, spoke convincingly of the mythology behind the Blair Witch, contained a realistic photo of the three filmmakers/stars with a caption that the photo was taken “less than a week before their disappearance,” along with a sideshow of other rather generic, yet real photos that made many believe that this site was actually authentic. Another great example of the technique is the famous Messin With Sasquatch. Jack Links made these advertisements which debuted on YouTube. These appear to be self-shot videos about groups of guys messing with a Sasquatch or bigfoot. Viral Marketing is a great tool for brands that want to get their message out through other means. It helps to by making consumers play games or decrypt messages and actually makes them interact with the advertisement. One of the best ways to sell something is to let people interact with it. If people feel they are a part of the brand then they will be more likely to buy it. Viral Marketing is awesome for the consumer and great for the company and I hope it continues to flourish.