You have heard it before - “We gotta get this to go viral!”
The first question a marketer should ask themselves, or their social media crazed comrade, is “who cares?” Not in a flippant, sarcastic way but in a very serious way. You don’t need to try to have the online community buzzing about your product, if they don’t have a reason to care. And frankly you will be wasting your time to try and build the hype for your product if you cannot determine its relevance to the your business goals.
Hype, or buzz, or viral online marketing is a useful tool, but there needs to be a compelling reason for people to pay attention and - most importantly - share. If you sell an athlete’s foot remedy and decide to run a highly controversial, viral campaign you may fall flat on your face. Hype and buzz boil down to your target audience. If only middle age, white, overweight, technically illiterate men buy your product then Twitter may not be the right way to get the word out; in three years it may, due to the rising adoption rate among older people. But not now. If you can’t answer the question as to who buys your product/services then you are in trouble, I would find out fast.
Simply put, hype is the end result of a well targeted, well executed campaign that generates enthusiasm from your audience to do the engage in a conversation. And remember visibility is good but if the people you’ve attracted aren’t the target profile of your customer then you’ve just wasted your time, and worse, money. You’ve only hyped for hype’s sake.
This morning, the Elevation Brand team is announcing the launch of a new consumer marketing campaign. Created for the State of Georgia (Department of Community Affairs), the campaign’s goal is to change consumer perceptions, and ultimately behavior, of recycling statewide. The Elevation Brand team, working as the creative services and marketing arm to our partner Hill & Knowlton Tampa/DC, was responsible for the conceptual development and visual execution of this campaign.
The YouGottaBeKidding.org campaign is unlike anything that has come before within the recycling industry. Our research showed that Georgia residents have misperceptions of what it means to be a committed recycler. In developing this campaign we chose to not rely on the status quo of recycling marketing, which is to try and educate residents about the global benefits of recycling. Instead, we have taken those misperceptions head on. See for yourself by viewing the full creative on the new set we’ve created in our Flickr gallery. One of the major findings of our research efforts was the most influential voice to change perceptions and behaviors were peer oriented. With that in mind our team used the campaign and its foundation in traditional media to extend the conversation about recycling to social media circles. Using a variety of well established consumer tools, including blogging, Facebook, Flickr and soon YouTube, we have provided a way for Georgia residents to not only experience our campaign but also participate in it.
This campaign brings to life a number of the messages on good marketing/advertising that we have been talking about for some time. We have stepped outside the traditional comfort zone of recycling marketing and achieved a campaign that is memorable and allows consumers to participate in the discussion. We have used all the tools at our disposal - including traditional print, online and social media. And lastly, we have developed a campaign that has a unique voice and speaks directly to our target audience.
We encourage you to check out our Flickr gallery and also share your thoughts and insights.
Thou shalt not “got _____ ?” or use “yes you can” under any circumstance.
Today’s commandment, number two, in our Ten Commandments of Successful marketing is all about individuality. If you would like to go back and catch up on the 1st commandment, click here. We extensively covered how to Protect Your Brand From Boredom in an earlier post, but it bears repeating - if you’re best option is to utilize someone else’s marketing, what compelling reason do you leave your customer to purchase your product. What you’re really telling them is, “Do you remember that other, better know product? You should buy that instead.” Do this and your brand is instantly boring.
This is what happened with the insanity spawned by the “Got Milk?” campaign which launched in ‘93. Every single one of us has seen the Got Milk campaign - it was creative and fun, then it got ripped off and extensively copied. A more recent example can be taken from political life. Have you seen the “Yes, You Can” show up in anything other than campaign ads recently? Perhaps just every cheesy billboard lining the streets? It has become the snowclone of the late 2000’s.
The prevailing emotion has always been that plagiarism is the most sincere form of flattery. However, for today’s advertisers that is no longer the case. Plagiarism has ceased being flattery and instead can become the most sincere form of mediocrity. The flaw in this thinking for many companies is that by sounding like a bigger competitor they can garner the credibility of the market leader for their own products and services. Unfortunately, what it says to evaluating prospects is, “There is no discernible value between these two companies, why take a risk on a company you don’t know.” That is the best case scenario. At worst, it says, “We are one of those companies operating on smoke and mirrors, hoping our customers don’t realize our lack of compelling value.”
There is hope. You’ve worked this hard to get your company to the size and scale it is today. There is value which is unique to your company alone and an asset that can fuel sustained growth. It starts with uncovering that value and communicating it clearly and consistently to your customers and prospects. Click here to read a post from earlier this month about how to avoid being a “me too” company.
Then get out there and start doing it. Yes you can!
