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HOW VIRAL ADVERTISING CAN IMPROVE THE MARKETING EFFORTS OF INNOVATIVE APPS?
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
THEORYTHE VIRAL INDUSTRYADVANTAGESPHILOSOPHY (Biology of memes) VIRAL ELEMENTSHUMORSEEDINGMETHODOLOGY (Cracking the code)Q&A
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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LOOK AT IT AS A PROJECT Work Process – Art & Science
CREATIVE – Is the meme strong enough? (R&D)
PRODUCTION – Is the meme well executed? (Programming)
POST-PRODUCTION – (Debugging, patching)
SEEDING – Does the seeding plan cover all bases? (Marketing)
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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CAN “MEMES” BE ENGINEERED?
YES Creative agencies which repeatedly crack memes quickly move to the big league. Working with them can better ensure success, but it costs a pretty penny!
NOWhat goes viral is always a fluke. Just look at “Charlie Bit Me” or “Harlem Shake” if you don’t believe.
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THEORYTHEORY
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Definitions
Advertising – Defined: Paid non-personal communications from an identified sponsor using mass media to persuade or influence an audience.
Viral Advertising – Defined: Unpaid peer-to-peer communication of provocative content originating from an identified sponsor using the Internet to persuade or influence the audience to pass along the content to others.
In reality, the paid-for views generate unpaid views. These unpaid views are known as earned media.
Source: Wells, Moriarty and Burnett
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ADVERTISINGPush vs. Pull
Conventional ads are PUSHED
We are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages each day. Billboards, print, radio, TV, banners, pop-ups, etc.
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Viral ads are PULLED
Creativity of the ad propels exposure (Web enabled)
Something worth watching, but also worth forwarding or sharing.
VIRAL ADVERTISINGPush vs. Pull
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VIRAL ADVERTISINGThe Goal & Focus
GOAL To use consumer-to-consumer as opposed to company-to-consumer communications - to disseminate information about a product.
FOCUSTo create an environment in which consumers voluntarily market to one another, thereby voluntarily acting as brand ambassadors.
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NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED
Word-of-mouseeWOM
Word-of-mouthWOM
Viral Marketing is a technique that can CAUSE a word-of-mouse EFFECT.
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KEY VIRAL ELEMENTS
A viral campaign should be:
Humor/Funny
Sexy
Artistic
Original
Surprising
Optimistic
Emotional
Provocative
Thought-provoking
Punchy (twist)
Hermetic / To the point
High emotional thresholdHigh emotional thresholdסף רגוש גבוהה
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METHODOLOGY (1)Example: Scuba Accident
Host MemesScuba accidents, funny bald guys, fear of baldness,
bald jokes, word play…
Humor Contradiction - A guy about to die should not be thinking
about his hair loss. Self-deprecation, word play…
Viral Elements Funny
Surprising
Original – 1st time connecting h/air in underwater situation
Provocative – Disguised as a scuba accident
Hermetic – No flaws in the logic. It really could happen.
Social Context Is now the time? קרקע פוריה
Over 3M organic views
Since R>1, more paid seeding will generate more viewsBy Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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ADVANTAGESADVANTAGES
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VIRAL ADVERTISINGAdvantages
• Media-free (in theory)• Measurable• Voluntary• Peer-to-peer endorsement• No geographical boundaries
• Self-targeted • Lives forever• Immediate call-for-action• Less regulated / Uncensored • Individual appeal
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VIRAL CREATIVE IS DIFFERENT
NEW MEDIAIndividual Appeal
Active Viewing
OLD MEDIASocial Group Appeal
Passive Viewing
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VIRAL ADVERTISINGObjectives & Benefits
Different Objectives lead to different Creatives
Video Video Search Search
OptimizationOptimization
Video Video Search Search
OptimizationOptimization
TargetedTargeted TrafficTraffic
TargetedTargeted TrafficTraffic
Buzz/Buzz/WOMWOM
AwarenesAwarenesss
Buzz/Buzz/WOMWOM
AwarenesAwarenesss
BrandingBranding//PositioninPositionin
gg
BrandingBranding//PositioninPositionin
gg
Call-for-Call-for-actionaction
Call-for-Call-for-actionaction
Viral Campaign
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
Examples: Fiat Panda, mysupermarket, Support Your People, Make Love Not Terror, etoro, JamesAllen, Snapily. Holyland, etc.10 powerful memes generated well over 300 million views.
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THE INDUSTRYTHE INDUSTRY
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HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2002 2007 2012 2017
Creative Production Seeding
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VIRAL ADVERTISING INDUSTRYHow it all started
Late 90’s April 2001ViralFactory “Headrush”
First industry viral ever made!
From email forwarding of viral video commercials,to “sharing” and “liking”.
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2002
TheViralFactory.comLondon, U.K
VIRAL ADVERTISING INDUSTRYFrom then to now
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VIRAL ADVERTISING INDUSTRYWhere’s the app?
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PHILOSOPHYPHILOSOPHY
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PHILOSOPHYWhat’s a “meme”?
A “meme” is a contagious idea (joke, smart saying, new theory…) that when unleashed into a population of people, exhibits a similar growth pattern to that of a viral epidemic.
– Richard Dawkins, “Selfish Gene”, 1976
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PhilosophyMore on memes
A meme is like a gene, only it’s a unit of culture. The same principles of evolution should apply to it:
Has a Host Transfers Information Competes for Survival Success drives it (It doesn’t care for the truth) Replicates (When jumping from mind to mind) Mutates Evolves
A meme is the mutating replicator in human cultural evolution.– Richard Dawkins
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PhilosophyThe science of Memetics
Based on Universal Darwinism, Memetics can be simply understood as a method for scientific analysis of cultural evolution.
It’s not yet officially recognized as an academic science.
Competing FieldsSociobiology – Social behavior has resulted from evolution.
Evolutionary Psychology – Human behavior is a result of psychological adaptations that evolved to solve problems in our environment. Examines traits (memory, perception, language) from evolutionary perspective.
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MEGA MEMES
GOD
Capitalism
Communism
Evolution
Democracy
MarriageLove
Sex
EugenicsSocial
Darwinism
Multi-culturalism
Creationism
Islam
Survivalof fittest
NaturalSelectionFreud
Christianity
Resurrection
VirginMary
Judaism
HolyLand
Food
Liberty
Zionism
DNA
FreedomOf
Speech שוויוןבנטל
OpenSource
Atheism
Adaptations
Politics
Technology
Secularism
Inventions
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HUMORHUMOR
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HUMOR IS VIRAL
Studies show that funny content is shared more than sexuality, animals, violence, children…
Think of jokes…
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SCIENCE OF HUMORMirth עליצות
No emotional attachment to the object (Accidents/pain, Religious fanatics)
Object must be personified to be funny (Ex. clouds, landscapes)
Relates to aggression (sarcasm) and fight or flight response (Ex. Lion Cat)
Relates to love & sex (Oxytocin), play (tickling), fear (death), creativity
Helps us fall in love, overcome fear (death), forms our identity (theory of superiority), fights depression (optimism), lowers stress (comic relief)
Theory of Surprise – Plato
Theory of Incongruity – A result of contradictions Real vs. Ideal (Differing world views, perceptions, interpretations, expectations, beliefs…)
Evolutionary reward system for creative problem solving
Source: INSIDE JOKES, Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind – Hurley, Dennett, Adams (2011)
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COMPUTATIONAL HUMORComputer-generated joke:
What kind of murderer has a moral fiber?
A cereal killer
The survey also found that men preferred more aggressive
jokes, as well as sexual innuendo, while women preferred
word play.
Men like women who laugh from their jokes.
Women like men who make them laugh.
Example: World’s funniest joke - 2 hunter joke
Source: Laugh Lab, Richard Wiseman, The World’s Funniest JokeBy Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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METHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGY
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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METHODOLOGY (2)Example: Backgammon
Host MemesBackgammon, music (Flamenco), dance, relationships, sex,
tricks, gambling, chance, show-off…
Humor Contradiction - A girl doesn’t behave that way. Our
expectation is contradicted with what “really” happened,
causing us to be surprised. Self-deprecation.
Viral Elements Funny
Sexy
Fantastic – World of fantasy, surreal
Surprising – Twist
Original – 1st time for this trick
Provocative – Bizarre enough
Hermetic – No flaws in the logic. Use of Product & Slogan.
Social Context Is now the time? אליפות העולם בשש בש
Over 10M views
Over 50 user-generated uploads…By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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METHODOLOGY (2)Example: Orange Video
Host MemesDogs, talking dogs, action, technology…
Humor Contradiction – Dogs don’t talk and if they did, they
wouldn’t talk like a mafia boss.
Viral Elements Funny
Fantastic – World of fantasy
Surprising
Original – 1st time connecting dog in mobile video call
Provocative – A little bit considering it’s Orange
Hermetic – It “really” could happen. Use of service. Slogan.
Social Context Is now the time? הייפ על דור שלישי...הבורר
300K views in Israel
Divergence from Orange’s Brand DNABy Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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SEEDINGSEEDING
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SEEDING THEORY
1,00010,000
0.10
0.50
0.90
0.95
0.99
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
1,000,000
Additional viewers
R
R - Reproductive Rate
0.100.500.900.950.99
1,0001,1112,00010,00020,000100,000
10,00011,11120,000100,000200,0001,000,000
SeedBase
R – Reproductive Rate
N ÷ (1-R)
When R>1, it’s an epidemic becauseon average each person forwards tomore than one person.
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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SEEDING THEORYGladwell vs. Watts
Malcolm Gladwell – Influencers start trendsTwo-step Flow Personal Influence (Katz & Lazarsfeld 1955)Law of the Few Spread of memes made simple
Duncan Watts – Influencers can’t start trends Need people with high connectivity and low resistance Accidental Influentials (Ex. Wild fire)Re-did Milgram’s experiment – 6 degrees of separation – 64,000 sample – Superconnectors exist but only account for 5%.
Something doesn’t add up…
Sources: “Viral Marketing for the Real World” & “Accidental Influentials” Harvard Business Review 2007, Duncan Watts & Jonah Piretti“Is the Tipping Point Toast?”, Fast Company
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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SEEDING THEORYDuncan Watts
Global cascades (epidemics) don’t require few influentials, but a critical mass of easily influenced connected people.
In simulations, most trends started with the average Joe, but when influencers started them, they spread further!
Don’t try to engineer success through Influentials.
Susceptibility is crucial for trend starting (Ex. Hush Puppies)
Whether everyone is easily persuaded is more important than how persuasive the early adopters are.
Sources: “Viral Marketing for the Real World” & “Accidental Influentials” Harvard Business Review 2007, Duncan Watts & Jonah Piretti
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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SEEDING THEORYDuncan Watts
Big-seed Marketing combines viral marketing tools with old-fashioned mass media to yield more predictable results than “purely” viral approached.
Sources: “Viral Marketing for the Real World” & “Accidental Influentials” Harvard Business Review 2007, Duncan Watts & Jonah Piretti
“Reliably designing messages to exhibit viral properties is extremely difficult, as is predicting which particular individuals will be responsible for spreading them”
Companies are NOT like epidemics, they can create enormous seeds.
Big-seed Marketing
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SEEDING TECHNIQUES
Good seeding is lot of hard work that can’t be fully automated.
Reach out to Bloggers, FB administrators, Journalists, etc. with relevant content that gives their readers enough entertainment value.
BE CREATIVE! THINK TACTICALLY!
REACH CRITICAL MASS!
(Example: Pot Noodle – Youtube: Tipping Pot (Guinness Spoof)
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SUMMING IT UPSUMMING IT UP
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SEEDING THEORY?"אז מה זה "ויראלי
Returns the investment (ROI)
Reproductive Rate (R) > 0.90
Posted on at least 1 blog organically
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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HOW MUCH CAN A GOOD MEME SAVE?
0
20
40
60
80
100
Weak Meme StrongMeme
Mega Meme
Production Cost Paid Media Earned Media
Cost of productionheld constant
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WHAT’S YOUR MEME?Building the umbrella concept
VTAGO Post your special moments and tag with friendsSpecial moments? Embarrassing situations.
Frimper Speed video datingDating? Show the exaggerated misery of blind dates
Pixplit Collaborative split photosINHERENTLY VIRAL APP & FORMULA FOR HUMOR!!! Hilarious split personality situation?Split screen video - Spit screen photo series with quotes
SmileCaster Fund Your Cause & Receive VideosSmile is a huge meme to play with
EatWith Dine in homes around the worldFood?
Pick one point and exaggerate the heck out of it!!!
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie
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GUARANTEEING VIRAL SUCCESSCheck List & Shortcuts
Never compromise on the creative meme. Jokes are public domains. Use Internet celebs that have followers (seed base). Product Placement (existing popular content). Synergize photos with relevant quotes (LOL cats).
By Gil LavieAbout.me/gil.lavie