Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Social Media - What is it good for?

Can the "viral" nature of social media really  produce breakthrough marketing campaigns?

I think the best answer is yes - but not often. I've been writing this blog for five years and I still haven't been featured on the cover of Time Magazine. (Though it did get me a few seconds on CBC Radio national news a few years back.)

Viral hits happen - like LOL Cats and the kid in the closet who loved Britney and the "Will it Blend" people. But they don't happen often, and almost never "on demand."

Except... the folks at Nestle set out to make a viral splash for their Kit-Kat bar in the Netherlands -- and darned if it didn't work out. Seems lightnng can be bottled, once in a while!

This is a fun video that explains the whole campaign. It's yet more mark-eting, of course. But that doesn't mean you can't learn something from it, about how to steal or subvert media conventions in order to win the attention of a heeldess, fickle public.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes, but don't forget the viral video that GreenPeace made at about the same time, where instead of seeing Jesus, seeing an Orangutan's finger. Timing is everything but one thing is for sure, KitKat/Nestle have gotten a lot of buzz lately - just check out their FB fan page.