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For many brands, the substance that’s all the rage with tweens is a recipe for revenue, with the likes of Michaels, Elmer’s and McCormick & Co. all benefiting from the trend.It started quietly last summer, when social media watchers began buzzing about it. Tweens had struck on a recipe for a mucilaginous, stomach-turning substance and were posting videos of themselves playing with it. The slime trend had hit.In fact, slime’s now bigger than ever. Devotees of the glutinous gunk—easy to make by combining glue, water and borax—have posted some 2.8 million images and videos of the stuff on Instagram. Search “slime” on YouTube, and you’ll get 11.9 million results. Which is (mostly) good fun for kids who, to many parents’ delight, have actually found something analog to do. But slime’s biggest impact isn’t on kids at all: It’s on the bottom lines of brands that sell or make the ingredients for it....
Toronto's Spin Master has done it again. The toy company that brought kids to a fervour over Zoomer robotic pets has created the hottest toy of 2016: Hatchimals. But they're already sold out everywhere, leaving parents in a panic.
WTF is a Hatchimal? Good question.
Imagine a large, speckled egg that hatches as a result of touch and sound. Inside, your child will find a bright, fuzzy robotic creature. It could be a Draggle, Penguala, Owlicorn, Burtle or Bearakeet (don't worry if you can't tell the difference, they look pretty similar.) That's when the fun starts. Kids then teach it to walk, talk and play using specific phrases.
"Hatchimals incorporate the very best elements of nurturing play with the interactivity of robotics in a truly innovative and entertaining way," Ben Varadi, Spin Master's chief creative officer, said in a press release. "This is one of the most unique products Spin Master has ever launched and we're confident that the consumer response will be strong."
Well, that's putting it mildly. The toy retails between $60 and $90 and it has sold out online everywhere. Sears, Toys R Us, Mastermind, Chapters... no one has it....
We all know that in the past decade digital has been the big story in the marketing world, with traditional techniques either being side-lined or used alongside new technologies, such as social media.
To an extent, some of the more traditional marketing practices have transferred onto online platforms – for example, email newsletters instead of paper ones, and advertising on websites instead of magazines.
One area which seems to work better online than offline is reviewing. Whilst previously reviews could be seen in dedicated magazines or marketing literature, thanks to sites such as Trip Advisor and Amazon, reviews can now be written and published instantly for the world to see....
Are you curious about which type of social content gets the most shares?
Are social shares part of how you measure social marketing return on investment (ROI)?
Do you wonder which social channels’ users share most frequently?
In this article you’ll discover the most recent findings about what types of content get shared most, which channels seem to have the most users who share and what posting times result in the most shares....
... Instead of the usual advertising song and dance, Chevy decides to do something special that will garner more attention and create great PR. At game 7 of the World Series in Kansas City, MO the Kansas City zone manager, Rikk Wilde, presented the MVP winner Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants with his very own Chevy Colorado truck.And how does Wilde do?
He totally messes up! He stumbles right through, he looks like he’s going to have a nervous breakdown or a heart attack. The people on screen with him look nervous for him (with the exception of the guy fixing his hair). It’s a right mess. While trying to explain the virtues of the 2015 Chevy Colorado, he ditches his script and explains live on television at the championships of the World Series that this truck has “technology and stuff” such as wifi, etc.
Technlogy and stuff, huh? How exciting! #TechnologyNStuff And yet, Chevy takes it on and turns it around! The same night #TechnologyNStuff starts trending, they own it with this beautiful tweet...
We’ve all heard the term, “it went viral” when referring to heavily viewed YouTube videos, comedic memes and social media games. Businesses are now using this free technique to promote their products and services.We have compiled 5 examples of social media marketing campaigns that went viral to prove just how powerful it can be....
Go big or go home, right? Brands everywhere are going over the top to impress consumers and grab their attention. To do this, they’re coupling pranks with video advertising strategies to create compelling content that goes viral. While some marvel at the creativity, others argue that prankvertising goes too far. Regardless, the power of the latest trend in video advertising is undeniable. Here are some of our favorite prankvertisements.
There's a lot of buzz about viral marketing, and sometimes it stems from unexpected places.
...I've already mentioned that I wanted my idea to focus on the news events surrounding the demise of Google Reader as well as the potential demise of Google's Feedburner product. I think it was much better for me to pick one of these rather than try to get the message across about both.
You couldn't save Google Reader after it was announced to be shut down, but Feedburner still has some legs (for now) and that's the one I care about the most....
Creating viral marketing campaigns isn't easy, but seeing others that have succeeded helps. These are some of the best viral ads from small businesses.
Many small businesses who have enjoyed the excitement of a viral marketing campaign will actually tell you that, although they wish they had been clever enough to plan it, it was an accident. There are certainly things you can do to try and create viral marketing campaigns, but these methods never offer any guarantees.
As a small business owner trying to create the next big thing, it’s important to look at examples of successful viral marketing campaigns to see what you can learn. Then give it a try yourself, see what happens – and then try, try again if necessary....
As you plan your campaigns, think of social media services and sites in terms of the behavior they\'re likely to provoke, and match your content accordingly....
According to a study of 18-45-year-olds conducted by The Associated Press, the average human attention span in 2012 was eight seconds. The average attention span of a goldfish is nine.As sensational as this may sound, it shouldn't really come as a surprise. One need only spend a few minutes online to see this phenomenon first-hand.
Consumers crave short-form content - it's one of the reasons that social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have done so well. We tweet within our 140-character limit, we post pithy comments to our walls, and if we're adding text commentary to Pinterest and Tumblr posts at all, it's typically very brief.
It may be Millennials and digital natives who are saddled with a reputation for seeking instant gratification, yet it seems that all of us are increasingly drawn to visuals and short videos that can be consumed in seconds flat. Social video marketing company Unruly reports that Twitter users are now sharing nine Vine videos per second, a figure that has nearly doubled since April. With a six-second limit on length, branded Vines are four times more likely to be shared than traditional video ads...
Memes can be used as a tool for digital marketing and creating a more loyal customer on various social networks. ...Now how does this kid, or a cat that taught itself to write help you in luring that elusive client into buying your product? Simple, you use memes to connect with them. Memes are easy to consume, they’re shareable, familiar and funny. They really make a person feel like they are “in” on something, and that can be used by a digital marketer. From a B2B standpoint, an industry joke can grab a reader’s attention, and create a positive image of your brand. So here are five simple tips that will help you use these social phenomenons to their full marketing potential....
The Harlem Shake viral video trend, which has sparked over 100,000 imitations and garnered nearly a billion views, has been going a month. It's been unique in the speed of its spread. On 2 February, the Harlem Shake video meme was born. By 11 Feb, YouTube claimed there were 4,000 videos being uploaded a day. Over 700 million people have viewed the videos, YouTube says. More than 100 versions have at least a million views. The most has nearly 40 million. The format is simple. The soundtrack to every video is New York DJ Baauer's song Harlem Shake. Each video lasts about 30 seconds. For the first 15 seconds, one person - often masked or in a helmet - dances in front of apparently oblivious or uninterested people....
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Do you ever wonder why certain content and ideas become very popular while others fail to gain traction? Derek Thompson’s new book ‘Hit Makers: How Things Become Popular‘ takes an in-depth look at what makes a viral or popular product. The book doesn’t provide a secret formula for virality, however, Thompson provides a lot of detailed research on the key factors that cause content and products to become popular. Here is my take on the content marketing lessons from the book.
Since James Surowiecki published his book “The Wisdom of Crowds,” the common wisdom is that we are commonly wise. In other words, if we average the knowledge of many people, we’ll be smarter than any of us would be individually. And that is true -- to an extent. But new research suggests that there are group decision dynamics at play where bigger (crowds) may not always be better.
A study by Iain Couzin and Albert Kao at Princeton suggests that in real-world situations, where information is more complex and spotty, the benefits of crowd wisdom peak in groups of 5 to 20 participants, and then decrease after that. The difference comes in how the group processes the information available to them.
In Surowiecki’s book, he uses the famous example of Sir Francis Galton’s 1907 observation of a contest where villagers were asked to guess the weight of an ox. While no individual correctly guessed the weight, the average of all the guesses came in just one pound short of the correct number....
What matters most about WoM is the social system, the people involved and their desire to interact about something. Clearly endogenous or self-generating WoM is much more powerful than superficial marketing generated WoM that organisations initiate. This reflects the deep seated human characteristic of talking to each other about a topic which nourishes the interactions with other people.
People are highly motivated to share their passions and obsessions with others. We are drawn to identify with a cause. People will chat whatever you do, and sometimes it will be about you, but more often it won’t be. The real reason for WoM is the social interactions around the topic. The subject of discussion provides the oxygen to sustain interactions rather than the purpose of our conversations....
One in five consumers say reflecting their identity—who they are—is the most important reason they share content online, according to a recent report from Fractl.Overall, identity ranked as the third-most important reason for sharing content, after wanting to entertain (44% of respondents) and wanting to educate (25%)....
No, we're not talking about Apple or Amazon or Big Data or the Marketing Cloud or Programmatic Buying.
Chevy’s Rikk Wilde “looked down at his notes often, spoke haltingly and explained to the pitcher that he'd like the Colorado” —Marketing Daily’s Karl Greenberg has the skinny today on its new “inner truck guy” conventional campaign — “because it has ‘class-winning and leading, you know, technology and stuff,’” James R. Healey reports in USA Today.
“The nervous Wilde was assured this morning he still has a job,” Greg Gardner and Alisa Priddle reported in the Detroit Free Press last evening. “And in fact he appears to have garnered millions in free publicity for the Chevrolet brand, which has received at least $2.4 million in media exposure from the unconventional presentation, according to Front Row Analytics. Bloomberg reports that is six times more than the $392,000 it would have brought in with a more polished performance.
”It did not take long for #technologyandstuff to pop up on Twitter with GM president North America Mark Reuss (@GMdudeinNA posting, “It's what I've been saying for years.....#technologyandstuff,” Gardner and Priddle report....
There are dozens of techniques that can increase search traffic on a website, but only a few methods result in content reaching unseen levels of popularity. Sure, a merely informative or interesting piece can get a couple hundred social engagements, but viral isn’t just informative: It’s an emotional experience.
At Fractl, we’ve established some factors that can help a campaign idea morph into an online phenomenon, but knowing how to create great content is the foundation of any viral campaign. By educating yourself in a few theories of psychology, you can make the most of nuances that most content marketers don't know....
In defining viral marketing, many creative descriptions have been put forward.
At its core, viral marketing is simply the “spread of an idea” that helps market your business or cause. It’s putting material out there that by its very nature attracts attention and discussion.
Perhaps the most objective way to look at the practice of viral marketing is to examine the research of some highly intelligent folks who have dedicated years to deciphering the common elements of viral content.
Below, I’ll dissect some of my favorite research from an associate professor at the Wharton School of Business, as well as examine some classic viral marketing examples to see what lessons can be had from campaigns that managed to spread far and wide....
...In the ad coffee shop customers witness a Carrie-style freak out (spoiler: it’s an ad for Carrie) in which a young actress “moves” books, chairs and a stuntman with her mind. Since being published Monday, it has racked up 19 million views.
The ad is the latest in a long line of marketing stunt videos. Popular recent hits include Pepsi getting NASCAR's Jeff Gordon to torment a car salesman and an unsuspecting beer drinker undergoing a terrible job interview that turns out to be a Heineken-crafted prank. In Canada, VMG Cinematic helped make a stunt-style video of a seemingly supernatural catch by pro baseball player Evan Longoria that turned out to be – surprise – an ad for Gillette.The reason each spread so successfully on social media is the element of surprise. Something unexpected or unbelievable happened, delightfully surprising the viewer before the reveal came that the video is an ad....
Andrew Spence discusses meme marketing or memevertising and how using this can build your brand, get more traffic and make more sales.... Effective memes associated with a product or service, generate images, words and feelings in the brain that create a desire, meet a need or inspire action. Marketing is all about creating thoughts in people and memes have the capacity to do that most effectively.Look at this Nike meme: This meme is hard to forget and leaves a lasting impression – that’s what memes are meant to do.
...We don't need to go back hundreds of years to see examples of content marketing when the term itself didn't exist however. We - and many other agencies and in-house teams - have created videos, games, related images and other marketing material for clients since launching 7 years ago, way before somebody in skinny jeans and unnecessary spectacles felt the need to put a collective name on it other than 'PR' or 'marketing'.
Big fat greasy chip on my shoulder about the name firmly established - it's taken three paragraphs to get it all out - I wanted to explore just why even the best 'content' still needs to be 'marketed'. Let's take this 'Our Blades Are F***ing Great' video by Dollar Shave Club, for instance....
Have you seen what’s been dubbed “the greatest car commercial ever?” If you haven’t, don’t bother looking for it on TV. It’s online . . . and it’s racking up millions of viewers. Audi’s latest spot pits the “Old Spock” (Leonard Nimoy) vs. the “New Spock” (Zachary Quinto) in a promotion for the new Audi S7. (Watch the video below.) It’s engaging. It’s persuasive. It’s relevant. And it’s a great example of the impact and reach of video marketing. Marketers recognize videos like these play an increasingly important role in the marketing mix, yet many of us have questions about producing effective video campaigns –regardless of whether we have Audi-sized budgets or not. How can you squeeze every ounce of value from your investment, and use video not only to inform and entertain, but also to capture leads and drive revenue?...
Perhaps nothing is as effective and efficient in spreading your message as a viral marketing campaign. The idea behind viral marketing is to inspire people to spread your message for you. It’s been estimated that a successful viral campaign can have 500-1000 times more impact than a non-viral campaign. Crafting a successful viral marketing campaign is more difficult than it looks. It requires careful planning and research. Use this cheat sheet to get started....
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Slime! No, we're not talking DC politics. We're talking something kids can't resist and did I mention 2.8 million slime images and 11.9 million slime searches on YouTube? Slime is in!