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Top 5 Viral Marketing Efforts
by Kent Lewis

Top 5 Worst Viral Marketing Efforts

5. Popular Link Free Company Shares - great multilevel marketing approach, zero follow through. Registration was challenging, no additional information was supplied after confirmation. Where is my stock? What’s it worth? Is anybody out there?

4. AllAdvantage Referral Program - another wonderful MLM scheme, get paid to surf. They made two fatal mistakes, however: offering multiple pre-written emails to pass along to a friend and changing their rate structure a few months after launch. Authenticity and advocacy is key to a successful campaign. Insulting participants with pre-written emails, then reducing the pay structure (even reducing balances) is a slap in the face. They gained millions of users, and will probably lose them all soon. I’m in the middle of collecting my last $30.

3. 800.com "3 for 1" promotion - one of the better promotions I’ve come across: 3 CDs, VHS or DVD movies for $1, shipped to your door. So nice, in fact, I ordered twice. The problem: it was so popular the site crashed and orders were backlogged for months, some were never received. To make matters worse, there was no follow up with participants, so a majority of participants were likely non-repeat customers. Furthermore, reported estimated acquisition costs ran $50 to $100 per participant, making it one of the more expensive online promotions.

2. Helloisanybodyoutthere.com by About.com - a highly irrelevant promotional guerilla campaign. So silly that I had to add it to the list, even though it was primarily an offline campaign where people in white suits held up signs with the lengthy URL. Accompanying advertising did not include the URL, further muddying the message. Far too obscure for most consumers to connect with, I believe it was a failure in driving traffic or extending brand identity.

1. Dancing Baby - perhaps the best-known and widely distributed .exe file ever. Unfortunately, the small company in California that made it failed to brand it or leverage the buzz generated. The viewer has no idea of the .exe is relevant to the company, because it was not properly identified. If they had, David E. Kelley would have had to pay royalties.

Top 5 Best Viral Marketing Efforts

5. Budweiser "Wassup" ads - not since the days of Clara Peller’s "Where’s the beef?" has a catchphrase permeated society so quickly and completely. The phrase, as depicted by a group of Bud-drinking buddies, has been irresistible to all walks of life. Many parodies have been created, ranging from Superfriends to senior citizens, and distributed widely via the Internet. While there was no way for Budweiser or the ad agency to have known it would have taken off like it did, they have been able to ride the high tides and kept the momentum going with additional ads like "Wassabi." The next step would be to release Internet-only versions.

4. .99 Bottle from eVineyard - unlike the 800.com offer, this special promotion was organized, consistent and leveraged basic relationship-building principles. Unfortunately, the email relationship (including personal emails from the founder), got a little out-of-hand, as outlined in a previous Anvil article. Overall though, the promotion resulted in many new customers and was able to retain most of them.

3. Telestar’s "Virus" .exe - the most highly relevant and memorable product-focused .exe I’ve seen. When you open Wow.exe, a message comes up: would you like to delete your hard drive? The cursor automatically goes to "Yes" and it proceeds to delete your files then goes to a blank screen. Then a message "aren’t you glad this wasn’t the real thing?" and a brief explanation of a computer game called Virus. A great trick; it both educates the "victim" and may even sell product to gamers.

2. SmartBeep "Blind Date" ad - a hilarious ad adapted to Web format where a man picks up his blind date. When she hops in the car, she realizes she has a moment to cut the cheese before he gets in and does so. Once he sits in the driver’s seat, he asks her if she’s met his friends sitting in the back. Excellent ad, unfortunately not the most relevant and even worse: Web fans have created a version of the ad stripped of the company’s branding, making it more appealing to some. A good lesson on better branding integration into the ad (ala "Wassup?").

1. Blair Witch Web site - a movie that changed the face of Hollywood and how films are made. The raw "mockumentary" generated tons of buzz via the Internet, primarily through an ingenious site that played off the witch theme. The site included a history of the "Blair Witch" and police photos of the groups "missing" automobile. Increasing the interest in the movie and its realism, may heard about the movie well in advance of the local showing in theaters. The buzz also overflowed into parodies like "The Blair Sandwich." All helping Artisan Entertainment generate a huge return on their $50,000 investment. The current Web site is now gearing up for the sequel: Book of Shadows: Blair Witch II.

So sharpen your pencil and invite your marketing friends to join you for a big brainstorm session. Don’t forget the Budweiser.