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There are two very good reasons why viral marketing can work well for businesses of any size.

Firstly, people are less trusting of ads than they are of  their family, friends or members of on-line communities. And secondly, viral marketing is cheap since the cost is in the idea, not the promotion.

The key to viral marketing success lies fundamentally in the idea so the end product must therefore be something really worth talking about in order for your brand or products to be endorsed optimally.

Use the following as a guide to establishing a concept for your campaigns and for getting your message out.

1. You’ve got to laugh! Use humour in your campaigns as it has universal appeal, spreads very quickly and leaves a positive association.
2. Know your onions! Demonstrate your knowledge by being a resource that educates and informs.
3. Start a debate! Offer a friendly challenge. Done well, this can help gain respect for your brand, services or products.
4. The best things in life! Offer free things. Use caution here by only attracting ‘key influencers’ as this may impact your budget.
5. Fish where the fish are! Find out where your target market hangs out such as social networking sites, discussion forums and blogs.
6. Shout from the rooftops! Getting the word out (seeding) can be done initially by e-mailing family, friends and colleagues or by finding websites, forums and blogs related to your topic.
7. Tools for the job! Get ad space without buying an ad. For example, insert widgets on your blog or web pages that link to your videos on YouTube or your pictures on Flickr.

And finally. Remember that ideas spread because they are important to the spreader, not the originator.

Need some inspiration? See some top quality, big brand viral marketing videos.

In less than ten years, Google has grown into one of the world’s best known brands and according to a survey by research firm, Superbrands, they have been rated the number one brand in the UK (based on the views of 1,500 professionals).

The list is intended to reflect the brands that have “established the finest reputations in their fields and make the most impact on the UK business sector”.

1. Google
2. Microsoft
3. BP
4. BBC
5. GlaxoSmithKline
6. Rolls-Royce group
7. Financial Times
8. BA
9. Fedex Express
10. Hertz

Ref. BBC.

Sorry. I know a lot of businesses think that their customers care about them but I can assure you that they probably don’t. Not unless there is something seriously in it for the customer, or you have truly engaged them on a personality level.

Some companies manage it. Two spring to mind immediately, Google and Apple:
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I had a really good chat with Ian today about The Escape brand, passing over my own views on where we’ve been, who we are and where we are going. It was a kind of hand over meeting for him to pick up the mantle of our brand development as Creative Director.

The funny thing is I work with this stuff pretty much every day, advising clients how to best approach their own brand development - it’s second nature. But, closer to home, it seems a little bit harder.

By being SO involved it’s very easy to keep digging, trying to understand every nuance of a business - delving to find the ‘essence’ of The Escape and evolve the brand.
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Steve Jobs yesterday unveiled the world’s thinnest laptop computer at the Macworld Expo. The Macbook Air is aimed at the wireless generation, foregoing a DVD or CD drive, hence the thin-ness.

I doubt I will ever own one, as much as an Apple fan I am. I struggle not to break my MacBook Pro’s (I’m on my third).

What amazes me about Apple though, in terms of marketing, is the amount of hype they can generate, which is no mean feat. A week after the world’s largest tech show, CES, Apple seem to be dominating the Blogs and the mainstream news channels (Terry Wogan even mentioned the Macbook Air on Radio 2 this morning).

When you can get people talking about your stuff, anticipating the next era of products you are bringing out, and your name becomes synonymous with ‘cool’ electronics, you know that your marketing and advertising is going to be that much easier.

And, it’s not born from the marketing in the first place, it’s born from great products. Your product (or service) can be your best marketing tool.

We all have aspirations for our businesses and some of them are actually unrealistic.

For instance, many people ask me to create a website for them that gives “The Amazon Experience”, all for under £1,000. Sorry, but it can’t be done.

Also, in terms of branding, these companies aren’t Amazon and logistically they can’t offer the Amazon experience anyway - so why kid themselves? They wouldn’t live up to their ‘brand’ promises.

A Large Glass Of Realism

How a small business owner sees their company and how their customers and the market in general does, is often way off. The owner thinks he’s Armani, his customer think he’s Primark.

Pitching a brand appropriately often feels like lowering standards, but, more often than not, it’s actually a case of reigning in the perception with the realism. You could also argue that there is often more money to be made at the lower end of many markets anyway.

A good example of this was a conversation I had recently with an owner of a chain of Hairdressers in Basingstoke. On one hand he wanted to take his salons upmarket, but would it really work in Basingstoke? Probably not. London maybe, but not Basingstoke.

He would be in danger of alienating his customers by moving out of touch with the local market.

Brand Basingstoke

A town like Basingstoke has the very same problem. It wants to be cool and ‘happening’ but:

1. It’s not big enough to carry it off
2. It’s too close to London

Taking a step back, it’s simply about creating the appropriate brand that people can buy into. It may be lowering some sort of [unrealistic] standard, but like Cuprinol, at least it “does what it says on the tin”.

I am beginning to understand, more and more, how powerful words can be in marketing and have noticed recently that tone of voice and great copywriting are rightly taking more of the credit for really engaging customers of successful brands.

Now, imagine if you will, the advantages to your business with a more engaged customer base. It’s quite exciting, isn’t it? When someone becomes so engaged with your brand and your company that they have to tell someone else about you. (more…)

With all the talk of web 2.0 and everything that goes with it, I keep dragging myself into the whole “2″ argument: What does it mean? To me, it is more a way of thinking: Social interaction, rather than features on a website. Here I find myself using the same analogy to describe a brand that I truly admire. (more…)