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I found this OK Go (a music group by the way) video online about a week ago.  I forget how I learned about the video.  It was interesting and I showed it before of of my classes (at almost four minutes it was too long for me to want to show during class — so I let it run while I handed out some papers).  Anyway, I never noticed that it was actually sponsored by State Farm until I read this BusinessWeek article, “Inside the OK Go / State Farm Deal” (March 3, 2010).  Is this a good marketing strategy?  Personally, I don’t think so. I believe that efforts at viral video should have some fit with the brand — I don’t really get the State Farm connection.  I guess the objective could be to raise awareness — but does State Farm need more awareness.  Besides, the first time I watched the video I did not even notice the State Farm sponsorship.

You can decide if you want to show it in class — might be a nice break in the middle of a long lecture.  It is fun to watch and you could ask students after if it makes them feel different about State Farm.

FedEx is targeting small businesses with a series of web parodies.  One commentator in the Wired article “TV Ad Powerhouse FedEx Woos Small Biz with Web Parodies” (FEbruary 26, 2010) wonders how well this will work.  I watched a couple of the 3 minute videos — they are kind of funny and educate customers on FedEx services at the same time (not an easy task).  They are modest budget productions and the media costs are zero.   The videos I saw had anywhere from 20,000 to more than 400,000 views.   At this point, the payback from the use of YouTube and other social media is hard to predict, but one good way to find out is through experimentation.

The video is a versatile example of many marketing concepts.   It is always nice to have clear, understandable B2B examples.  The video shows how FedEx tailors its strategy for the small business target market and could fit with chapter 2’s discussion of strategy planning and chapter 4’s coverage of segmentation and targeting.   The video might also be shown with a lecture on organizational buying, where we talk about service businesses.  Finally, it also fits with integrated marketing communications and advertising on the web.

…and I was not impressed. But somehow, it shot up to #1 (with more than 1.6 million views last week) on Visible Measures Top 10 Viral Video chart — knocking the Evian roller skating babies out. What do you think?

By next week we will have plenty of Super Bowl television commercials to “edu-tain” our students.  Over at Marketing Profs they have their own top 10 list viral campaigns (with links to each) – see “Decade’s Top 10 Viral Campaigns.”  [Note:  sorry this link used to work, but apparently was only temporarily publicly available.]  The list goes back to the John West “Bear” (see below) one of the earliest viral videos from back in 200 when we had to send videos as e-mail attachments.  The list also has classics like Eepybird’s “Mentos and Diet Coke” and yes the “Subservient Chicken” still works — as well as some campaigns I had not heard of before.  I always try to link an ad or video with the class content for the day.  Obviously it is easy to tie viral campaigns to discussions of IMC, advertising, and publicity.  Sometimes I wonder if the video actually has a promotion objective — and you can ask the class that.  You might also ask what market research could be done to test the effectiveness of a viral campaign.  How else have you made viral videos like these relevant to your classes?

One of the objectives of this blog is to bridge the gap between editions of our text books. Some of the social media platforms being used today were not widely known just a couple of years ago. And marketing managers are still trying to figure out how to use social media like Facebook and Twitter. So this blog provides some examples you can bring into the classroom. Ford has done a nice job, and Grant McCracken describes their success with last year’s launch of the Fiesta Movement campaign in “How Ford Got Social Marketing Right,” BusinessWeek, January 8, 2010.

This is creative — and a lot of fun.  Check out the video.  Coca-Cola and its interactive marketing agency, Definition 6 put this “special” vending machine on a college campus. The unsuspecting students got a lot more than just a bottle of Coke. The promotion fits well with Coke’s recent positioning around happiness and directly targets an important target market of college students. Of course students are more likely than most consumers to check out YouTube and pass along a viral video.  My bet is that this will climb into the viral video top 10 in no time.  In class it could also be shown when talking about Place, if you are looking for a fun example of vending machines.  Enjoy.

Method has been a very successful brand — showing that a small firm can compete with the P&G and Unilever’s of the world.  Brandweek interviews Method’s founder, Eric Ryan about Method’s controversial viral video and a new laundry detergent.   See “Method Co-Founder Offers Spin on Viral Video, Laundry,” Brandweek, January 9, 2010.  If you decide to show and talk about the controversial video – perhaps from a social responsibility or ethics perspective — this article will give you a bit more perspective.

Check out our previous post on the controversial Shiny Suds video being pulled — you can find the video there as well.

This viral video rated number 3  in Visible Measures top 10 viral videos this week — debuting with almost 600,000 views in the past week.  The video features Olympic gold medalists Apolo Ohno (speed skating) and Shawn Johnson (gymnastics).  Shawn back flips (or does she really?) over an oncoming bobsled.  Well done viral videos will be passed around — but do they sell more chocolate bars?  Perhaps some good discussion questions for class.  What Promotion objectives can be addressed well with viral videos?  How?

This viral video features the popular socialite Kim Kardashian.  It has jumped into the Visible Measures top 10 viral videos this week — debuting at #2 with more than 600,000 views in the past week.  This video could be offensive to at least some of Carl’s Jr.’s customers, but running the ad as a viral video appears to avoid some of that because the customers most likely to be offended probably would not watch it online.  On the other hand, the ad would seem to appeal most to younger (maybe even older) men — but promotes a Carl’s Jr. salad, not exactly the meal this target market is likely to buy.   Smart idea?  What do you think?

I like to show my students that B2B firms can be clever with their marketing as well.   So I was intrigued by this example of a successful viral campaign put together by a pipe company.  The viral video is shown below and you can link to an article with more information “Charlotte Pipe Goes to the Dogs,” (BtoB, September 14, 2009).

The campaign, created by Eric Mower & Associates, Syracuse, N.Y., includes print and online. It is aimed at engineers and building contractors that use cast iron pipes in drain, waste and ventilation systems. “Charlotte Pipe and Foundry is a conservative company. We have been in business for 108 years, and it is safe to say that the company has never produced an ad that even comes close to the concept behind “Rosco’,” said Brad Muller, VP-marketing at the Charlotte, N.C.-based manufacturer.