#35 The Fun Theory

Volkswagen believes that the easiest way to change people's behavior for the better is by making it fun to do. They call it The Fun Theory.

W6M: Volkswagen tried something different and almost 2 Million people watched it in 6 days. Impressive. Even more impressive is the fact that they were able to change people's behavior, choosing stairs over escalators. How do you plan to change your audiences' behavior?

#30 Why tribes, not money or factories, will change the world

Seth Godin argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so.

W6M: If we convince one person with a loyal following to support you, that Center of Influence will convince his tribe to follow you.

• Mass Marketing has been replaced by targeted marketing. -nternet allows you to target silos of similar interests.
• Take a close look at changing behavior and connecting with Center’s of Influence.
• Find people who care and believe in your idea and they will spread your message.
• Tell a story > Connect a Tribe > Lead a Movement > Make a Change

#9 Guerrilla Marketing Defined

The term guerrilla marketing was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing as an unconventional system of promotions on a very low budget, by relying on time, energy and imagination instead of big marketing budgets. The term has since entered the popular vocabulary to also describe aggressive, unconventional marketing methods generically.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: 2007 Boston Mooninite Scare is probably the most famous example. On 31 January 2007, several guerrilla-marketing magnetic light displays in and around the city of Boston, Massachusetts, were mistaken for possible explosive devices. Several subway stations, bridges, and a portion of Interstate 93 were closed as police examined, removed, and in some cases, destroyed the devices. The suspicious objects were revealed to be ads depicting the Mooninites, Ignignokt and Err, characters from the Cartoon Network's latenight Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

W6M: I hesitated to include the Aqua Teen example because bomb scares are typically frowned upon, but thought I would include it as a warning to be careful when you try something. This promotion obviously did a great job of Market Disruption, but you really have to be careful. My personal definition of guerrilla marketing is doing something that is not the standard print, radio and TV and cuts through the clutter. And when I present guerrilla concepts I ask myself:

1. Can I track results? How?
   If you are only concerended with branding, results can be quantified by keeping track of video views, media impressions, blogs you appear on and traffic to your site. When you are promoting a specific product and you appear in print, radio and TV at the same time, tracking gets a little trickier. For one promotion that we did, we gave people extra incentive to bring in flyers from the guerilla campaign when signing up for our offer.


2. Is the concept legal?
   I am sure the Aqua Teen marketers had no clue people would think the toys were bombs, but try to consider any negative repercussions that might result from your promotion.


3. Can I physically pull it off? Do I have enough time and money?
   If you pitch an idea and the cleint likes it, are you going to be able to deliver. Also, guerrilla ideas are suppose to be cheaper ideas that get big bang for your buck. You don't always have to spend big to get results, but you do have to be creative.


4. Does the promotion reach my targeted audience?
   A good campaign will reach a highly target audience. Spill over into mass audience is a bonus.


5. Will it disrupt the market?
   Again, the point is to get attention and have people tell their friends about your product. Disrupting the market can also have negative backlash that you may not want your brand associated with.

#7 The 2008 Presidential Election Goes Viral

The election has come and gone. The results are in and Obama crushed the web. From the Obama Sneaker to the Obama Girl he was every where. One of the founders of Facebook teamed up with Obama to help spread the word online. I am guessing that like me, about 100 of your Facebook friends posted this on their profile status:

W6M is the 1,357,978th person to donate their status to get out the vote for Barack Obama today. Donate yours: causes.com/election.

Whoever was in charge of online for McCain, was a little less successful. I did not see one McCain comment on anyone's Facebook page. However, I did see some great SNL skits and a few great photoshopped images of Palin.

W6M: Try to take advantage of all mediums. Print and TV advertising is great mass marketing, but niche marketing on Facebook, YouTube, blogs and other areas is a great opportunity to reach a highly targeted audience.

If there are any politicians reading this, feel free to steal this idea. Start A Blog. People don't really know what you do all day and what types of decisions you have to make. Tell me what decisions you are making and why. Even you have to make a decision on my behalf just tell me you voted this way because and I will vote for you the next time. Politics has too many smoke and mirrors, how about some transparency and honesty?

#1 Carmelo Anthony Etch A Sketch Video wins 2008 ABA Best in Show Award

The 2008 ABA Overall Award Winner was developed by Adcom for KeyBank: a brand awareness campaign to introduce viewers to KeyBank's KeyClub . The video featured Etch-A-Sketch artist George Vlosich who created a customized portrait of NBA star Carmelo Anthony. A time-lapse video showed the Etch-A-Sketch portrait as it was being drawn. The video, then uploaded on several Internet sites including MySpace, went viral. To date, the video has been seen by a million viewers and after being picked up on hundreds of blogs, websites, and major search engines. A PR and communications program supported this innovative campaign.

W6M: The Carmelo video was the second video created by this artist. The first video featured LeBron and recieved over 2 million views. We took a chance that lighting would strike twice and it paid off. Often times coming up with a viral idea is difficult, but you should try to take a look at partnering with someone that has proven success.