THE (UGLY) TRUTH ABOUT VIRAL
MARKETING. LIKE, FOR REAL.

VIRUS noun 1. AN INFECTION
OR DISEASE CAUSED BY AN INFECTIVE AGENT THAT IS TOO SMALL TO BE SEEN BY LIGHT MICROSCOPE AND IS ABLE TO MULTIPLY ONLY WITHIN THE LIVING CELLS OF A HOST. 2. A HARMFUL OR CORRUPTING INFLUENCE. 3. A PIECE OF CODE THAT IS CAPABLE OF COPYING ITSELF AND TYPICALLY HAS A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT, SUCH AS CORRUPTING THE SYSTEM OR DESTROYING DATA. 2 2

3

4 PHOTO BY M*RTEN ON
FLICKR.COM

5 5 PHOTO BY CHIM
CHIM ON FLICKR.COM

x 6 6 PHOTO BY
BAHMAN ON FLICKR.COM

7 7 PHOTO BY SARIHUELLA
ON FLICKR.COM

PLEASE TELL ME YOU DON’T
WANT TO DO THIS TO YOUR CUSTOMERS. 8

WHAT YOU ACTUALLY WANT IS
FOR YOUR MARKETING TO SPREAD EXPONENTIALLY, LIKE A VIRUS. RIGHT? 9

CONSUMER-DRIVEN MARKETING noun A METHOD
OF PROMOTION THAT RELIES ON CUSTOMERS HELPING TO MARKET AN IDEA, PRODUCT, OR SERVICE BY CHOOSING TO SHARE SOMETHING WITH THEIR FRIENDS. 10

FOR EXAMPLE…
11

FLIP VIDEO CISCO’S LARGEST AD
CAMPAIGN TO DATE ASKED REGULAR FOLKS AS WELL AS CELEBRITIES LIKE STEPHEN COLBERT & USHER TO SUBMIT VIDEOS OF THEIR EVERYDAY & UNIQUE MOMENTS SHOT ON FLIP CAMERAS FOR USE IN UPCOMING TV ADS. NOT ONLY DID FLIP’S CONSUMER-DRIVEN MARKETING EFFORT HELP TO CREATE HOURS OF SHARE-WORTHY CONTENT, BUT IT ALSO LED FLIP TO THE TOP CAMCORDER SPOT BY THE END OF 2009, WITH A FIRM GRASP ON 36% OF THE U.S. MARKET. 12

MOUNTAIN DEW MOUNTAIN DEW KICKED
OFF THEIR DEWMOCRACY CAMPAIGN BY INVITING FANS TO DESIGN NEW DEW FLAVORS. THE LATEST INSTALLMENT OF DEW’S CONSUMER-DRIVEN MARKETING EFFORT HAS FANS SUBMITTING, VOTING ON, & ULTIMATELY SELECTING MOUNTAIN DEW’S NEW TV ADS. MORE THAN 1,000 VIDEOS WERE SUBMITTED, AND DEW'S FACEBOOK FRIENDS INCREASED 500% IN A MATTER OF WEEKS. 13 13

BURGER KING BURGER KING’S WHOPPER
SACRIFICE CAMPAIGN INVITED FANS TO DELETE FACEBOOK FRIENDS IN EXCHANGE FOR FREE WHOPPERS. WITHIN 10 DAYS OF THE CAMPAIGN’S DEBUT, THE WHOPPER SACRIFICE APP WAS INSTALLED 60,000 TIMES. TWO WEEKS LATER SOME 85,000 PEOPLE HAD DELETED OVER 230,000 FRIENDS, PROMPTING FACEBOOK TO SHUT THE APP DOWN—AND GARNERING BURGER KING A WHOPPER-SIZE PORTION OF FREE MEDIA COVERAGE. 14

PEPSI REFRESH PROJECT AFTER 23
YEARS OF BUYING HUGE ADS DURING THE SUPERBOWL, PEPSI PASSED ON THE MOST-WATCHED TELEVISION EVENT OF ALL TIME, & ALLOCATED 1/3 OF ITS 2010 MARKETING BUDGET TO THE REFRESH PROJECT, A SOCIAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN THAT REWARDS THOSE WITH BIG IDEAS FOR SOLUTIONS TO LOCAL & GLOBAL PROBLEMS. SINCE ITS LAUNCH ON JANUARY 13, 2010, THE PROGRAM HAS RECEIVED OVER 1 BILLION MEDIA IMPRESSIONS, INCLUDING 44 MILLION BLOG POSTS, 70 MILLION TWEETS, & AMASSING 300,000 NEW FACEBOOK FANS. 15

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY PARANORMAL ACTIVITY PUT
THE POWER OF MOVIE DISTRIBUTION INTO THE HANDS OF ITS FANS, THROUGH A CAMPAIGN THAT ENCOURAGED & ENABLED THEM TO “DEMAND” THE MOVIE BE BROUGHT TO THEIR CITY. AND IT WORKED. MORE THAN A MILLION DEMANDS LATER, PARANORMAL GARNERED A WORLDWIDE RELEASE & GROSSED NEARLY A BILLION DOLLARS. 16 16

BARACK OBAMA’S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN BARACK
OBAMA’S 2008 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN USED THE POWER OF SOCIAL & DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO ACTIVATE, CONNECT, & EMPOWER MILLIONS OF SUPPORTERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ISOLATED POCKETS OF GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM BECAME A TIDAL WAVE OF SUPPORT THAT TURNED A LITTLE-KNOWN AFRICAN AMERICAN SENATOR WITH A FUNNY-SOUNDING NAME INTO THE 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 17 PHOTO BY TONY THE MISFIT ON FLICKR.COM

VIRAL MARKETING VS. CONSUMER-DRIVEN MARKETING
• ASSUMES PEOPLE ARE PASSIVE • ASSUMES PEOPLE ARE ACTIVE “HOSTS” WHO HAVE NO CHOICE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROMOTION BUT TO PASS ON YOUR MARKETING PROCESS; MORE “FANS” THAN ONCE CONTAMINATED. CONSUMERS. • ASSUMES THE MARKETING ITSELF • ASSUMES CONTENT MUST NOT IS SELF-REPLICATING. ONLY SHARE-ABLE, BUT ALSO HIGHLY SHARE-WORTHY. • REQUIRES THE USE OF TALKING BABIES, CUTE BABY ANIMALS, • REQUIRES A DEEP UNDERSTANDING HALF-NAKED HOTTIES, &/OR OF HOW AND WHY PEOPLE SHARE MAGIC PIXIE DUST TO SUCCEED… STUFF (AND A WILLINGNESS TO PUT BUT MOSTLY MAGIC PIXIE DUST. THOSE MOTIVATIONS FRONT AND CENTER). 18

YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO
WAKE UP WITH YOUR HEAD SEWN TO THE CARPET THAN TO SEE YOUR NEXT MARKETING CAMPAIGN “GO VIRAL.” 19

UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU HAPPEN
TO HAVE A STASH OF MAGICAL PIXIE DUST. 20

CONSUMER-DRIVEN MARKETING RELIES ON PEOPLE
SHARING STUFF  ABOUT YOUR BRAND WITH THEIR FRIENDS. 21

CONSUMER-DRIVEN MARKETING RELIES ON PEOPLE
SHARING STUFF  ABOUT YOUR BRAND WITH THEIR FRIENDS. WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THEY DO THAT? 22

1 A DESIRE TO EXPRESS
THEMSELVES. 23

2 A DESIRE TO BELONG.
24

3 A DESIRE TO DO
GOOD. 25

4 A DESIRE TO BE
NAUGHTY. 26

5 A DESIRE TO BE
RECOGNIZED. 27

6 A DESIRE TO BUILD
RELATIONSHIPS. 28

THE DEGREE TO WHICH PEOPLE
SHARE YOUR STUFF BOILS DOWN TO ONE SIMPLE QUESTION: DOES THE BENEFIT OF SHARING OUTWEIGH THE RISK? 29

WELL, DOES IT?
30

IN SUMMARY, HERE’S OUR VERY
SIMPLE FORMULA FOR CONSUMER-DRIVEN MARKETING SUCCESS. 31

1 STOP TRYING TO SPREAD
VIRUSES. IN FACT, GO WASH YOUR HANDS RIGHT NOW. 32

2 CREATE STUFF THAT PEOPLE
WILL WANT TO SHARE. NOT BECAUSE YOU THINK IT’S SUPER CLEVER, BUT BECAUSE IT CATERS TO ONE OF THE SIX REASONS PEOPLE SHARE STUFF ONLINE. 33

3 THINK OF YOUR TARGET
AUDIENCE AS “FANS,” NOT “CONSUMERS.” TREAT THEM ACCORDINGLY. 34 PHOTO BY ANIRUDH KOUL ON FLICKR.COM

4 ENABLE, ENCOURAGE, & REWARD
SHARING. MAKE IT INSANELY EASY. MAKE IT ABSURDLY FUN. LET PEOPLE COLLABORATE, TINKER, EXPERIMENT, REMIX, REPURPOSE, RECYCLE, AND REINVENT. GIVE YOUR FANS (& FUTURE FANS) A WAY TO GET SOME SKIN IN THE GAME. 35 PHOTO BY JCBEHM ON FLICKR.COM

IF YOU CAN’T FIND ANY
MAGIC PIXIE DUST, GIVE US A CALL. Hi, we’re Espresso. Nice to meet you. In case we haven’t made it obvious, we’re a bunch that firmly believes it’s time to stop wasting precious marketing dollars creating ads that people ignore, and focus instead on creating experiences your customers (and prospects) will love. We’re super-committed to doing just that in the most cost-effective way possible—while never losing sight of our relentless pursuit of being Amazing at Life™. SAY HELLO, WHY DON’T YOU? TORONTO Jacquelyn Cyr Chief Executive Officer 416 620 6773 jacquelyn@brandinfiltration.com twitter.com/infiltrators BOSTON Marta Kagan Managing Director, US 617 477 5811 marta@brandinfiltration.com twitter.com/mzkagan brandinfiltration.com

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