Viral Marketing

Do viruses have sensibility (or branding rules)?

The debate over what makes a campaign interesting often ends up on those topics that restrict its spreading, not those that might accelerate it. For a campaign to sustain momentum the number of people reached in each succeeding generation must exceed the number who drop out.

In consumer packaged goods we might be concerned about repeat rate where successful products often have 'only' 40-50% of year-one buyers repeating the second year. Significant marketing effort is spent to both prime the pump with new buyers as well as limit the decay function.

Viruses kill their hosts. As a marketer I'm more interesting in keeping my customers alive and giving them the ability to leverage the message.

PowerPoints:
1. Marketing campaigns must be seen as beneficial by the host.
2. The message must reflect the host's point of view and reinforce their image among friends.
3. Control is a four letter word.