What is Viral Marketing?

One of my favorite viral marketing campaigns is the "Will it Blend" series by Blentec a division of K-Tec. Had you ever heard of Blendtec blenders before they started blending everything from crowbars, golf balls, marbles and glow sticks? This is a brilliant example of how viral marketing works, generating millions of views by word of mouth promotion and accessing an individual's clusters, networks, friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances.

Brand recognition and recall is an integral part of Internet Marketing. Attention and awareness is gained by the off-beat, unusual or something different. Viewers flock to YouTube and views jump up to two million or more within a day or two. The cleverness of the Blendtec campaign comes from the hidden message that if Blendec blenders can blend all of these items, then surely it will blend our icy drinks or food. The "Will it Blend" series of videos have created strong and favorable associations to the brand. Through identification and differentiation, consumers can perceive that the product will meet their expectations.

A brand image is a subjective mental picture of a brand, shared by a group of consumers. The components of a brand include content, strength and favourability. Viral marketing and guerilla marketing are two excellent  techniques to use for new companies or, when marketing budgets cannot compete with well-established 50+ year brands such as, Coca-Cola or Proctor and Gamble. Generally the size of marketing budgets are set relative to competition in an industry or product category. Options for lower budget marketing are less expensive than the standard consumer advertising methods of print, broadcast, or outdoor. Below the line promotions have the following benefits for both online and off-line marketers:

• Creates store presence
  
• Use trade push promotions
• Create inducement for trial and purchase
• Used as a form of trade advertising
  
• Enhances the brand name and packaging
• Develops familiarity and awareness
• Creates image transfer

I'm an " iPhone" user and fan so we'll watch this video.