teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

The title of this article from Adweek says it all “The 10 Most Watched Ads of 2011 on YouTube” (December 21, 2011).  We featured several of these on Teach the 4 Ps. This might give you something entertaining to watch over break.  I am sure you will find something new and interesting to entertain your class next semester.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

I am careful about showing promotion examples from the alcohol industry in my classroom.  I definitely avoid those that promote excessive drinking.  But this viral video (1:39) by Danish beer Carlsberg, takes place at a movie theater in Belgium, is funny.  The ad provides a good example of viral promotion.  The viral video is part of a campaign “That calls for a Carlsberg” that includes scaling Mount Everest (to watch a soccer match — see the ad) and the first man landing on the moon.  See the ads at the Carlsberg website (you have to enter birth date and click through to commercials).

Marketing managers everywhere would love to have the next viral sensation — the Will it Blend, Old Spice, and Evian roller skating babies videos have generated hundreds of millions of views.

There is a lot of folk wisdom around on what makes videos go viral, so it is nice to see some good scientific research on the topic.  Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger is trying to creack the code.  The results of some of his research are featured in this article at the Wall Street Journal “Why You Just Shared That Baby Video?” (July 23, 2011 non-WSJ subscribers may need to click here).

Here is a nice case study you could show in class as an example of creative promotion. The Swedish Post wanted to increase awareness and educate its customers on one of its products — pre-stamped parcels that allowed them to send almost anything overnight with the green boxes. The clever campaign generated online buzz and awareness across Sweden.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

Air New Zealand’s creative agency, .99, put together a funny pre-flight video that took off as a viral video.  Within a few hours of posting the video it was the ninth most tweeted about video on Twitter.  It features Richard Simmons — many of our students may wonder who this guy is — so maybe it won’t work in class without a bit of a history lesson (click here for Simmons’ Wikipedia entry to learn or refresh your memory about the fitness guru.).  It could be fun to show in class.

I wondered if the quirky humor fits Air New Zealand’s personality.  I didn’t know much about the airline’s positioning, but one of the “Guiding Principles” at its website indicates:  “Our workplace will be fun, energising, and where everyone can make a difference.”  Their This suggests that the video may fit and reinforce their positioning.  Then I read about the airline’s risque and fun “Nothing to Hide” advertising campaign — featuring real employees in body painted uniforms.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

Now Guy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and a big name author in the tech community — I think this is his tenth book.  He already has an incredible network.  With the publication of his new book – Enchantment:  The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions, Kawasaki relied on low-cost forms of social media to get the word out and drive great initial sales. Read about it at Mashable “HOW TO:  Launch Any Product Using Social Media,” (March 31, 2011)

The book is already on the bestseller lists at the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.  In other words, it worked.  This is a great case study on how to use social media.  While the case study looks at the launch of a book by an already successful author, I think that with some in-class discussion, you can see how the ideas can be applied to other product launches.  It might make for an interesting exercise to ask students how these ideas could be adapted to launch a new dog food, hip hop band, or snow board.

This example could be used when talking about marketing strategy planning, promotion, publicity, or social media.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

The Jennifer Aniston Smartwater viral video — that spoofs other viral videos — rose to the top of the AdAge viral video chart last week.  Because of the spoof — it might lead to some discussion about what makes a video viral.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

Are you familiar with TED?  TED (an acronym for Technology, Entertainment and Design) dedicates itself to promoting and disseminating “ideas worth spreading.”  Click the TED logo to the left to connect to its website where you can learn more.  TED has a number of different conferences around the world where it invites some of the world’s most interesting speakers — across a broad range of topics — to give the 18-minute (or less) talk of their lives.  Many of these talks are posted at the TEDTalks website and later spread virally, where you may have seen one or more.

This past fall, TED moved on to our turf — advertising.  It invited anyone to nominate “ads worth spreading” — with the idea that these ads deserved to be seen.  TED wanted nominations in four categories:  1) social good, 2) infectiously compelling (viral), 3) industry impact (innovation), and 4) Talk – a format that follows the TEDTalks style.  After reviewing more than 1000 ads, a panel of 24 judges picked 10 winners (here is the site, sorry I cannot link it up right now for some reason but just enter this address into your browser to see all the ads www.ted.com/initiatives/aws).  We posted one of the winners, the Chase Film (for Intel’s new Core i5 Processor) about a month ago.

Perhaps the one I like best promotes an idea from the Nike Foundation “The Girl Effect – Clock is Ticking” I embedded this 3:05 video below.  Sometimes I like to show advertising that promotes an idea or a cause.

OK, we don’t intend to turn this into a Coca Cola blog.  But as I searched around for more information on the “Happiness Machine” (see previous post below), I came upon this great interview at Mashable, “How Coca-Cola Created Its “Happiness Machine” (July 21, 2010).  Meaghan Edelstein interviewed Coke execs and creative folks at Definition 6 the ad agency behind the original “Happiness Machine” on campus at St. John’s University.  The interview is great and filled with useful insights on how Coke and Definition 6:  1) came up with the idea, 2) executed on the idea, 3) put it all together, and 4) got the video to go viral.  What a great classroom exercise — show the video and discuss it in class.  Then give students this additional back story to show how creative ideas are brought to life.

A little more than a year ago, we first reported on Coca Cola’s efforts to creatively deliver happiness from a vending machine on a college campus.  I haven’t noticed any of these viral videos since this time — but apparently there have been about a dozen so far — do a search at YouTube to see more.  This time a truck delivers happiness on the streets of Rio de Janiero.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.