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Lost in the Viral Fringe

While some feel that Lost is losing more and more of its audience due to continually unanswered questions, writer and producer J.J. Abrams’s new series Fringe is following the Lost blueprint. Fringe, so far, follows FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham through a serious of mysterious biological anomalies. Similar to Lost, the series has been planting various numbers and symbols which will likely come to have greater meaning as the episodes continue.

One of Fringe’s major players is a corporation called Massive Dynamic. The show implies that Massive Dynamic is a huge company with great influence and impact on the daily lives of the general public, similar to Lost’s Hanso Foundation. Massive Dynamic appears to be involved in various aspects of aerospace, transportation, computing, communications, energy, and biological and medical research and production. The latter seems to be of greatest importance to Fringe thus far.



Producers have gone to great lengths to develop a realistic and convincing website for Massive Dynamic, as well as commercials during FOX’s air of Fringe to draw viewers to the site. This is again similar to the incorporation of the Hanso Foundation commercials and website for Lost. These websites may give avid fans clues into the story line and a greater understanding of the characters and happenings of these shows. The commercials and websites have been a very intriguing way for J.J. Abrams and others to extend beyond the TV screen to bring the experience online for the viewers. Through the four seasons of Lost, there have been various websites providing clues and insights into the mysteries of the show, some of which gained the cooperation of American Express by requiring an AmEx card to access information in the site (at no charge to the user.) One mysterious Fringe-related website that has popped up is 1.61803398874989484820458683436563811.com (This number is Phi, which refers to the golden ratio and Fibonacci sequence which seem to have some relevance in the show.)

Fans created a user-generated encyclopedia (or wiki) for Lost called Lostpedia, and surprisingly, a wiki has already been created for Fringe, Fringepedia, after the air of only two episodes. These wikis help fans to sort through multitudes of information provided through the show and various websites, many of which take a good bit of digging to find. Additionally, many viewer blogs and podcasts have been created in order to cultivate a following for Fringe among fans. A list of these can be found here on Fringepedia.

The transition from offline to online experiences within these series has enabled much higher engagement among fans than most other standard television series. The buzz created around these shows is extended far beyond the typical viewing and interactive space and into the blogosphere, where viewers can interact for continuous research and dialog between episodes keeping the show on the forefront of their minds.

The "Buzz" in Viral Marketing

How effective is viral marketing and word-of-mouth advertising? Personally, I feel word-of-mouth and viral marketing are one of the best ways to advertise a product to consumers. I feel it's honest and really gives consumers the perspective from an unbiased individual. I think this is where the Buzz Agency is going with their campaign. The Buzz Agency, which is a network of regular-Joe brand advocates, is making a bet that word-of-mouth marketing will outperform any other discipline when it comes to ringing registers and driving advocacy for brands.

The agency is starting its "WOM Impact Guarantee" program, which recently launched and will run throughout the rest of 2008. They are inviting any brand marketer and its agency partners to take part in a challenge in which their agency and agency partner will run competing campaigns. If the Buzz Agency does not top the competing agency by 20% across four metrics -- brand awareness, consumer opinion, purchase intent and actual sales -- the agency will refund the marketer the cost of its word-of-mouth campaign and measurement costs.

This is pretty competitive, so Buzz Agency definitely has faith in word-of-mouth advertising. I have faith in it as well. It has been proven to be an effective way to market to consumers, as long as it's done in the right way. However, I think it is a good idea just to show advertisers the effectiveness of this type of marketing and advertising. There has been a significant rise in this advertising especially with social media marketing outlets and video-sharing sites. However, I presume there will be more different ways to do word-of-mouth advertising in the future as well.

Their CEO and Founder, Dave Balter knows the agency may not win every challenge, but he has no doubt the program will have a lasting impact on every marketer that takes part.

He stated that, "Our success may come with a little hair on it," he said. "Our batting average may not be perfect on this, and we may miss one or two. But even if that happens, we are going to show marketers that [word-of-mouth] works."

McDonalds + Music= Viral Success?

"Two all beef patties, special sauce..."

Do you remember those lines from the past Big Mac chant campaigns? Well, McDonalds is bringing the campaign back with a different, fresh twist. Personally, I think this campaign will be better than ever. The campaign is interactive and consumer-generated and allows customers to create their own songs and/or music videos to the McDonalds chant. The consumer-generated songs and videos can then be uploaded to Myspace. McDonalds partnered up with Myspace for the campaign's contest to find the most interesting song or video. I really like the idea of the consumer-generated campaign. It draws more attention to the product and helps to spread the campaign virally. It allows the consumers to truly interact with the brand and product. Also, it is definitely a brilliant idea because of the popularity of sites like Youtube. It is a smart move by McDonalds to capitalize on the video-sharing phenomenon. There are many people out there who love to create videos and music. So, why not use it to their advantage? The winner of the contest will have their video or song featured in a future McDonalds commercial. So, McDonalds great job on this campaign. I think it will be successful...I am totally "lovin' it."

Check out the campaign here: BIG MAC!

The Un-Intentional "Sexy" Wii Fit Viral Campaign

Nintendo denied it. But, could Nintendo have launched a viral campaign promoting their latest and popular game, Wii Fit? It's a possibility. The supposed campaign is the video, entitled "Why every guy should buy their girlfriend Wii Fit", which has been viewed more than 4 million times on popular video sharing site, Youtube. The couple in the video stated that despite the fact that they are both in the marketing industry, it's not a viral ad. Nintendo denied any connection with the video as well stating, "This has and is absolutely 100 percent nothing to do with Nintendo.Nintendo did not create it and were not aware of it until it was brought it to our attention." The couple claims it was filmed secretly and that the girlfriend who was filmed was initially angry.

In my opinion, I think the couple knew what they were doing. The couple wanted that internet fame. I think the couple was clearly bored and was looking to do something funny. I don't think Nintendo used the couple for a viral campaign. However, Nintendo should use the free publicity to their advantage. In the marketing industry, brand awareness is extremely important. The video makes the viewers aware of the product and its "special features" that come along with it. It has grabbed many people's attention and will possibly help increase some sales of Nintendo. So, Nintendo use this free publicity to your advantage and make even more people love your console and its products.

NBC's American Gladiators: Interactive and Viral Campaign

I recently fell into a viral campaign, which I feel is necessary to discuss here because it truly shows you how viral marketing works. Yesterday, I came across a friend's Myspace bulletin which contained a hilarious video relating to NBC's show, American Gladiators. After the video was viewed, the video linked you directly to their website. So, there are two positives in that because the video and website help to promote the show and allow viewers to become more aware of it. The link actually brought you to their games section of the website, which allowed people to interact with the brand in different ways such as creating the video. Hence, the show has used both viral and interactive marketing to further engage the viewer's attention. Both are positive ways to market the show. The video basically was a parody of the show and allowed you to put someone's face on someone else's body during the entire video. I thought it was a brilliant idea, which slightly reminded me of Office Max's viral campaign during the holiday season that allowed individuals to put their friends or family in elf costumes. I thought it was so hilarious that me and a fellow co-worker decided to try it out ourselves, so we placed our supervisor's headshot in the video. I must say the result was pretty funny and it gave us relevant experience on how a viral campaign starts. After posting the video on our company blog, the video started to spread virally. Now, it makes me wonder who else has tried putting someone else's face on these videos. Our experiment with the game gave us a great firsthand experience to see how viral campaigns can spread so quickly.

The Tasty Way To A Viral Campaign

Have you heard of the tasty new ways to launch a viral campaign? Well, Welch’s has come up with a different way to market their product. Some of their recent ads have featured a lickable insert that allows consumers to taste test the product before purchasing it. Good idea? I definitely think so! The campaign has garnered a lot of buzz and allowed the product and brand to get awareness. Welch’s worked with the company, First Flavor, to deliver the idea that would receive well-deserved attention. According to an article, “Everyone from Diane Sawyer to Al Roker was talking about it, making it seem like the latest fad.”

In my opinion, it deserves the attention it received because it is something different and fresh. I feel it could definitely be a new fad in the making. So, consumers beware…you may be seeing more taste strips in you future.

I was talking to a co-worker today about the idea and she thought it was absolutely brilliant. I mean, if you saw the ad would you tell the people you know? I would and I did. According to a study conducted by Starch Communications, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, the Peel 'n Taste flavor strips helped to raise awareness and increased purchase consideration with consumers, for those who are brave enough to try them.I think the best thing about this campaign is the viral aspect of it. Viral marketing helps to spread the word and can help produced result. A full 70% of people interviewed remembered seeing the ad. Of that group, 62% took some action, from mentioning it to others to actually purchasing the juice. Those results put the ad on par with an eight-page insert, as measured against Starch Adnorm figures. Those numbers are pretty incredible.

So, it makes me wonder what type of marketing is going to happen next? But, this is one of the most innovative things I’ve seen in awhile. Can you imagine seeing these taste strips in stores in the future? It could happen. I’m also looking forward to an upcoming campaign by the Anti-Smoking Florida Association, which will feature an advertisement with a taste strip that tastes like the bottom of an ashtray. The Anti-Smoking campaign is sure to get buzz and when it does, don’t forget that I told you so.

Disney's "Camp Rock": Viral Campaign Success?

Disney is at it, again! This time it isn’t High School Musical, but the up-and-coming movie, "Camp Rock". In my opinion, Disney has always done a great job with marketing their movies, but with the success of the "High School Musical" franchise they want to reach even more. Their new campaign for "Camp Rock" seems like it will be a very successful campaign that will spread virally. Through having younger siblings, I was able to see directly how word-of-mouth about a movie can spread among their demographic. I think the success of "High School Musical" had to do with the word-of-mouth catching everyone’s attention and curiosity. Everyone was like “What is High School Musical?” So, everyone was checking the movie out and seeing what the buzz was all about. I think "Camp Rock" has the potential to do the same. I am already hearing buzz about the movie from my younger siblings and others alike. The movie premiering June 20th on the Disney Channel stars the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato.



The marketing campaign for the movie includes a partnership with Target that will tie-in the movie with the retailer's latest "Hello, Good Buy" TV spots, featuring the Jonas Brothers singing the commercial’s song. Best Western and Ubisoft will pitch a "Camp Rock" sweepstakes. The Jonas Brothers will also have a customized issue of People magazine, hitting newsstands around the "Camp Rock" premiere. The magazine will also feature exclusive content about the movie. Promos will be aired in movie theaters via a new partnership with Screenvision, prior to movie trailers shown during family-friendly movies such as "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" and "Kung Fu Panda."

When the movie premieres, fans can also listen to an audio simulcast of the movie on Radio Disney's 42 stations and on RadioDisney.com. But rather than rerun the movie for the remainder of the weekend, "Camp Rock" will move to Disney's broadcast sibling ABC for an exclusive premiere during "The Wonderful World of Disney," hosted by the Jonas Brothers. The movie hops over to ABC Family on June 22, before it moves to Disney.com the following Monday for full-length, full-screen video streams.

Lastly, there will be ways to purchase your own “Camp Rock” souvenirs such as the "Camp Rock" soundtrack or the DVD, which will be released a few weeks after the TV premiere.

The movie being shown on many platforms will allow for different metrics helping Disney distinguish between all forms of movie viewing. Through these different methods of showing the movie, Disney can possibly capture different audiences and gain more viewers. "High School Musical 2" reached a record 17.1 million viewers during its August premiere on Disney Channel alone.



Disney has the ability to be innovative and find the next new star and franchise. What they’re trying to do with all the new media is to find the next way to interact with their viewers.

I feel these methods will be an effective way to market. Fans will spread the word to other people and they will have access to the movie during different times. I can already see the herd of smiling children in excitement of all this Disney goodness! Disney also hopes this move keeps parents excited as well! Only time will tell if Disney’s efforts will be successful, but I feel we have a possible TV movie phenomenon in the making.

The "Camp Rock" campaign is the largest for any Disney Channel original movie, stated Richard Loomis, Disney's senior VP-marketing and creative.

Donuts, Scarves and Rachael Ray: Viral Marketing Ploy?

Dunkin Donuts didn’t know. However, their new online campaign with Rachael Ray went viral. But, was it their intention or not? I think not! Their online campaign starring Rachael Ray as the spokeswoman for Dunkin Donuts’ iced coffee caused controversy among the conservative bloggers. The controversy had nothing to do with Dunkin Donut’s coffee, but simply over Rachael Ray’s attire. Last weekend, Dunkin' Donuts decided to pull the online ad after conservative bloggers suggested the scarf she wore in the ad looked like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men that some associate with jihad. Margie Meyers, senior VP-communications for Dunkin’ Brands stated in an article, "Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by the stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended."


Many people can argue that Dunkin Donuts intentionally used the scarf as a marketing ploy. These days advertisers and marketers are known for using more controversial ways to get their message across to audiences. However, I highly doubt that Dunkin Donuts’ intention was to cause uproar over Rachael Ray’s scarf. Was it successful? From a marketing standpoint, I think it was very successful because the controversy caused more people to visit the website and as a marketer, you want brand awareness for your product. So, Dunkin Donuts should be thankful to those conservatives who caused curious viewers to visit their website. I just find it funny how the conservative bloggers nitpicked a scarf’s design in a commercial. Seriously? Aren’t there more important things to worry about than a scarf?

What Makes A Viral Campaign Interesting?

I read an older article (2006) today on O’Reilly Radar about Web 2.0. If you’ve kept up with the online trends, then you know that this isn’t news, but there was an idea in particular that stood out and still seems to be key when it comes to using Web 2.0 for your company’s advantage. Consumers now not only want to get product or service information from a company’s website, but they also want to be able to discuss it among themselves, and get information from others who have experienced that product or service.

So, with all this said, the key to Web 2.0 success for companies is to get people talking about the product more than the company does. By starting forums, blogs, and social networking, companies can achieve that state of popularity or new age of advertising. For example, Audi recently engaged in an “alternate reality branding” campaign for its new A3 by staging a car theft scene from a dealership in New York. People were very intrigued by these events and started talking about it, blogging about it, posting videos, and other user-generated media. Turned out, that Audi managed to attract campaign zealous followers who would even show up at the dealership and post up flyers to help recover the stolen car and waited eagerly for updates on the thickening plot.

How do companies garner consumer interest in their campaign? Through relevancy. People are tired of irrelevant ads being bombarded at them from every direction; instead, now, with the availability of viral media, companies need to think of creative ways to position themselves in this new culture of online communities and retain interest while building communities. Check out Clickz.com, Suite101.com, and Goecart.com to get some ideas on how to keep a viral marketing campaign relevant and interesting.