Advertising Strategies

After reading the articles about viral advertising, I was pretty shocked at how affective it actually is. However, it has always been said that the fastest and most effective way to spread news is through word of mouth, so in that case I shouldn't be so taken aback. Since word of mouth is the most effective way to spread news, it makes sense to use viral advertising to help promote a product; the more the product is talked about, the better the product does. I don't think there are only certain products that viral advertising will or will not work for, but rather it will be more effective for products with "attention grabbing" ads. If a product or company has an over-the-top commercial, a powerful message, or even an ad that leaves consumers feeling confused ;people are more likely to talk about it. If the ad campaign of the company or product is just a normal average Joe commercial, people are likely to ignore it and talk about the interesting ones with their friends, families, or coworkers. Great examples of successful viral advertising are Dove's Onslaught and Burger King's subservient chicken. After reading a blog on unitstep.net titled "Dove and Viral Marketing," a few good points are made on how viral advertising truly does benefit a company, whether the opinions on the ad are positive or negative. This blog argues that first, people are watching the Dove ad willingly on youtube.com, and because of this are more likely to share it with others whether they support it or not. Also, having the video on YouTube allowed others to make parodies of the video, which in turn produce extra, free publicity for Dove.

After watching both the subservient chicken and Dove's Onslaught, I definitely have a stronger opinion about both products. If i would not have known that Dove was owned by the same company as Axe, I would have thought that the ad was great, and probably would have even considered buying the products from the store to feel like I'm helping to support the cause. However, since I read the article about the connection between Dove and Axe, I am less likely. I will still use Dove products and support them, as the company is so large that the two separate divisions may not know or care what the other is doing. But either way, the as evoked an emotion in me, and I actually told many of my friends about it; proving that viral advertising works. As for the subservient chicken, I thought the website was dumb and unrelated to the specific food Burger King was trying to promote. But nonetheless, even though I was not a fan of the site, I told others about it, which is giving Burger King more publicity. Also, the ad does not make me want to buy Burger King more than before, but if I was at the restaurant I may remember the ad and think to order the chicken strips it was promoting. Overall I thought both ads helped the companies, as both good and bad opinions are talked about and shared, and give the companies publicity and attention either way.

My advice to advertising executives looking to reach the 18-24 marketing segment is definitely to use the Internet in one way or another. However, I believe that YouTube is probably the best way to reach this group as teens especially are watching and sharing numerous videos everyday. When looking online in general, whether I'm shopping or watching a TV show on Mtv.com, there is always a button below the video which you can click to share with a friend. This is smart idea as you may forget to tell a friend after watching the show, so this way the link can be sent right away. Overall I believe the Internet is a great way to use viral advertising and produce publicity for the product or company. Every friend of mine uses the Internet on a daily basis for a variety of things, making it the easiest way for young adults to and share ads with others.