$100 Contest Winner!

Yep, I am a little late on the draw here. WE do have a winner. Gorilla says the announcement delay was caused by a malfunctioning tube sock sensor on the dilithium capacitor, I think that it was something else. But what do I know, I don't know a lot about electronics so I guess he could be right.

Each and every entry was given a number, the total of which was 1831. Each of us then went to random.org and generated a random number. We then calculated the average of those numbers and came up with 875. The owner of this number is Rina, the author of AzrinaAznan.com and so she is our winner. She wrote a blog post about the contest, landing her 25 easy contest entries (entries 852-876).

The February and March contests are sponsored by...

• JoeTech.com
• Link Bait
• Gorilla Sushi
• CK Marketing
• The Big Bald Blog
• How 2 Blogger
• Jason Boom

Make sure you get entered in the most recent contest that is running right now. Thanks for playing and good luck this month.

 

And The Winner Is...

The January $100 giveaway winner has been announced. It is Mark from 45n5.com.

Last month and every month this year, an illustrious group of bloggers (including The Big Bald Blog) is giving away $100.00. The participants include:

1. Mixed Market Arts
2. JoeTech.com
3. Link Bait
4. Gorilla Sushi
5. CK Marketing
6. The Big Bald Blog
7. How 2 Blogger

This month the $100.00 contest is running again so make sure you get entered. Special thanks to all the people that participated last month. We had a total of 2045 entries this last time around.

Congrats Mark!

 

Viral Marketing Part 3

I "Stumbled Upon" this image somewhere out in cyberspace. How funny is this?

My recent posts Viral Marketing-Part 1 and Viral Marketing-Part 2 talk about the impact that this type of marketing has on the way information is spread. Then a report came out from Jupiter Research saying how viral marketing is not working anymore. So miserable were the reported results of targeted viral campaigns that "only 15% of viral campaigns in the past year achieved the goal of prompting consumers to promote the marketer's message."

The report laid out the demographics most likely to spread messages, the impact of social media, and a host of other factors that contribute to viral marketing and why it isn't working.

HOLD ON A MINUTE HERE!

This isn't what viral marketing is all about. Viral marketing happens all on it's own. You can't force it. Like Seth Godin says: "True viral marketing happens not when the marketer plans for it or targets bloggers or skateboarders or pirates with goatees, but when the item/service/event is worth talking about." AND, it's going to happen whether you want it to or not. South Carolina's Miss Teen contestant is a prime example with over 14 million views during the past several weeks. Given that kind of exposure, I'm sure she's wanting a "do-over." There was no marketing, no strategic planning, it just happened and people spread the message.

But these are the consequences of something that goes "viral." Those who know the story behind the "Star Wars Kid" understand what I am talking about.

Don't try and take shortcuts in marketing. Market to people that are listening and are fans of your product or service. Make you message extraordinary and people will listen. Identify what you do and your unique selling point and you will do more good than trying to force people to talk about you.

 

How important is creative?

Creative is what drives the most memorable campaigns. Why do you rember the Bud Light commercials? Because they are creative. It doesn't get noticed unless you can remember the message but more importantly consumers need to remember the company that is delivering the message.

One commercial that I keep going back to is the "Terry Tate Office Linebacker" commercials from Reebok. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6238953685626218421 This link is the long form version of the spot that aired in 2004. I mean seriously, they are hilarious. "You kill the Joe, you make some mo" is one of the best lines in the spot. However, they didn't even mention the name of the company until the very end and it was easily missed in a URL for a website that you had to visit. Make me laugh, make me think, but dont make me go looking for who you are unless there is something really good for me at the end.