Viral Marketing and targeting the Youth Demographic

Anyone in the advertising world will know just how powerful something as simple as word of mouth can be, especially when it comes to engaging your consumer base and reinforcing brand loyalty. You just have to sit on a train and listen to a bunch of teenagers talk about their latest mobile phone purchase to know how valuable conversations like this are to a brand like Apple or Nokia. Not only are young people invariably aware and in touch with all the latest technological developments, but they are highly influential when it comes to affecting the brand awareness of their parents, who undoubtedly go out and spend a good deal of money on gifts to keep their techno savvy kids happy.

Anyone watch World Wrestling Entertainment? You might recall the viral marketing campaign that promoted the return of Chris Jericho to the ring in 2007. A series of 15 second videos were used containing cryptic messages and biblical links related to the wrestler . The campaign then spread virally through the internet and numerous websites.

Just a year later, the film The Dark Knight launched a marketing campaign that combined both online and real life elements into a virtual reality game – this included gathering masses of Joker fans, launching scavenger hunts around the world and the design of websites that allowed fans to vote for political offices in Gotham City, a Gotham news network, a Gotham travel agency and so on and so forth.

Another successful campaign has to be Will it Blend? Tom Dickson, founder of Blendtec is the star of Viral Video Classics on YouTube where he blends anything and everything, from an iPhone to a Bic lighter. Gaining over 3.5 million views, the series has developed a cult like following, inspired merchandise and even a tagline on popular discussion sites.

Last but not least, Burger King’s Whopper Sacrifice campaign on Facebook was notorious, even though it lasted just under a week. Users who added the application to their account were challenged to sacrifice ten friends and they would be sent a coupon for a free Whopper. While you aren’t usually made aware of being de-friended, the app sent an email letting the person know they had been sacrificed for a free burger. Facebook soon intervened, but not before over 200,000 friendships had been sacrificed and the legend of a marketing campaign founded on sacrificing friends was born.

Click here if you’re interested in learning more about how Youth Media can help launch a campaign in the heart of the student market.


(Information courtesy of Top One Report)