Viral Marketing...or So may it seem....

Did You realize that your Facebook, Orkut or Twitter accounts are attracting a lot of Advertising...?

I Couldn't help trying to understand why....

In quest for the same...I found certain things that I thought were Worth Sharing...

"I happened to read a Blog lately that speaks of a Strange Marketing Style..

This Blog was Published some time in 2007 but still attracts Comments...It says..."There’s some strange text on billboards around New York. I passed these four this weekend:

THE ALGORITHM CONSTANTLY FINDS JESUS
THE ALGORITHM KILLED JEEVES
THE ALGORITHM IS BANNED IN CHINA
THE ALGORITHM IS FROM JERSEY"

Now..There is "No" company name mentioned on the Billboard...

It seems like a Viral Marketing Campaign...Probably from Google...Many such Comments have also flown in connecting Google to These Lines...

In India too we have had similar campaigns of "Digen Verma"...That created a Buzz around...

But the times have changed now; From the period when "Digen Verma" was launched till today where we don't go to sleep if we have not logged into Facebook or Orkut...

Therefore a deeper Dwell into the subject matter suggests that Viral Marketing might work well with Social Networking sites...where people with similar interests exchange views, Criticize and appreciate stuff....Companies targeting a particular segment of Customers may use IT as an effective tool...

With Social Networking Sites like Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, PayPal, Hi5 etc. gaining ground in the Marketing arena..They are being viewed as effective advertising spaces..but..I have hardly come across any company using VM here...So this poses a good opportunity..

One may start with sending Texts, Quizzes, Applications etc that might attract good responses..It has Multiple Benefits:

1. A very large Outreach...

2. Minimal Costs..May be even NILL

3. Wealth of Ideas and Comments

4. Effortless Campaigningand Many More...

NOTE : Wiki says "There is debate on the origination and the popularization of the term Viral Marketing, though some of the earliest uses of the current term are attributed to Harvard Business School graduate, Tim Draper and Harvard Business School faculty member Jeffrey Rayport. The term was later popularized by Jeffrey Rayport in his 1996 Fast Company article 'The Virus of Marketing' , and Tim Draper and Steve Jurvetson of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson in 1997 to describe Hotmail's e-mail practice of appending advertising for itself in outgoing mail from their users".

Can You save yourself from this Virus....? "

...Understanding what they are..

Brands....

Interesting incidents that my professor Quotes in the Consumer Behaviour class made me venture into a writing a blog.

Brands-Brands everywhere, anywhere I look,

Is it correct to link every concept to a book?

I don’t know what the Kotler wrote, neither did it ever went down my throat...

But I must not refrain myself to quote,” Brands are the ones that everywhere Float”.

Now let’s see what brands mean:

B- Breach R- Robust A- And N-Natural D-Demographic S- Segments

Wow! So are all brands able to do that? Surprisingly and historically, most have succeeded in their attempts. Brands like Reid and Tailor, BMW, IBM, Microsoft, Intel are to name a few, who have created a space for themselves in the market.

Branding is a strategy that companies follow so as to differentiate their products in terms of brand Value. UMBRELLA branding is one such concept where products are branded under one parent brand name. An example could be the strategy that the car manufacturer Mazda follows.

There are others who are trying to move away from the umbrella to selling brands on unique names. For example, NOKIA, that is coming up with series like N, E etc.

Did you know that there is also A “NO BRAND” Strategy: A strategy where the company refrains from branding the product?

"No-Brand" strategies, examples include the Japanese company Muji, which means "No label" in English (from 無印良品 – "Mujirushi Ryohin" – literally, "No brand quality goods"). Although there is a distinct Muji brand, Muji products are not branded. This no-brand strategy means that little is spent on advertisement or classical marketing and Muji's success is attributed to the word-of-mouth, a simple shopping experience and the anti-brand movement {Source: WIKIPEDIA}

From the time we get up, till the time we go back to bed, we see thousands of brands, but why is it still that whenever we think of a product, only a particular brand comes to the mind. You think of cold drinks, Coke is the first thought. Think of washing powder, Surf is the word (confirm it from your Mom). What is it that this brand has done that the others could not?

1. Is it the name, which leaves the impression? Or

2. Is it the brand loyalty that has been created through the years? Or

3. Is it the First mover advantage thing? Or

4. Is it the frequency of ads that we come across daily of a brand? Or

5. Personal Experience with the brand.

Whatever it is, it surely is a complex thing. The one who breaks it, gets to conquer the Branding world.

Comments Invited!!