Batman and Cross Industry Viral Techniques

I've been thinking about Batman lately. More specifically, I've been thinking of the way the entertainment industry leverages social media and viral marketing campaigns months (years) before the launch of a movie -- like Warner Bros has with the upcoming Batman movie -- and if this strategy could be used in other industries.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about Heath Ledger and how his death might affect the Batman viral advertising campaign, seeing as how Ledger plays the Joker, and it is largely centered around his character. This campaign, designed by 42 Entertainment, began last May at Ibelieveinharrydent.com, touting a Gotham City politician, and slowly blossomed into focus on the Joker.

The campaign is centered on user participation, encouraging fans to learn more about the movie by sending them on scavenger hunts and playing games. Popular film news sites were also supplied with updated viral information, and microsites devoted to different aspects of the movie were created. Participants in the Batman journey were rewarded with trailers, posters and photos.

Viral campaigns are designed to create word of mouth promotion in an under the radar sort of way. It is becoming the norm, especially with big-budget movies, to attempt to generate buzz early on hoping it will help recoup some of the enormous financial costs associated with movie production. TV shows leverage this kind of engagement with the audience also -- both Lost and The Office (two favorites of mine) make use of participation-based social applications to promote their shows.

But I'm wondering if viral advertising like this can be used for non-entertainment industries. It obviously appeals to a certain type of consumer -- one who has a vested (obsessive?) interest in a product/service and who is not only web savvy but is willing to sacrifice his or her disposable time to this activity.

The industry, too, must have a product/service that lends itself to the elaborate, complex, and extended-timeline qualities this type of viral marketing entails.

So, what about fashion? Trends in fashion are not easily predicted a year in advance, but a fashion obsessed consumer might feel privileged to get a sneak peak on the direction of next seasons colors or silhouettes.

Education? Universities may be able to build excitement for prospective students by targeting high school students (male athletes?) with snippets of messages or podcasts featuring prominent athletes and coaches, or encouraging participation in complex online games with rewards like sporting event tickets (I can't help it, I'm thinking of my alma mater, Ohio State University and the football team here -- Go Bucks!). Sporting organizations in general are comparable to the entertainment industry, and could certainly leverage viral campaigns, if they don't already.

Apple, Harley, Disney -- these are some companies where "elaborate, complex, and extended timeline" could fit into their marketing advertising strategies. I'm still fuzzy on how these qualities apply to other industries. CPG? Healthcare? But I just wanted to put my thoughts out there before I move on to my next random idea.

Is Elf Yourself a Success?

I admit that I don't completely understand the rationale of obscure viral marketing campaigns.

Case in point: You Got Elfed. Earlier this week I wrote an article about the disconnect of OfficeMax's elfyourself.com campaign. The dancing elves -- while admittedly highly amusing -- have nothing to do with OfficeMax, office products, the office, etc. In fact, I guessed that while many people would enjoy creating the emails, they wouldn't associate this campaign with OfficeMax. So where is the value to OfficeMax?

There are two reasons I think OfficeMax went with this campaign. Either a) they are thinking very, very long term about brand awareness and positioning, or, b) they realize the potential power of social media campaigns and wanted to play in this arena. Hopefully, it is a combination of both.

A quick summary of the previous article: This is the second year for the Elf Yourself viral campaign, and they have added Scrooge Yourself to the 2007 holiday season. OfficeMax's svp of marketing, Bob Thacker, said "[the Elf Yourself campaign] gives OfficeMax a heart and a personality." Presumably, sometime down the road, people will start thinking OfficeMax (no, they are not Office Depot) when deciding where to buy a stapler.

After I posted this viral marketing article on this blog over a week ago, I started getting more traffic to my site than I have since its inception, mostly by way of search. As I looked at the site stats, I marveled over the keywords that were bringing people to this article. I decided to whip together a spreadsheet and do some very crude analysis of the effectiveness of this strategy.

In the 10 days or so since the article was published, 48% of keyword traffic was simply combinations of "elf yourself," "elfed," "dancing elves," etc. No mention of a company.

If you strip away those visitors, we are left with those people who specified a company name along with "elf," "elf yourself," etc. The results:

• 43% of people named Office Max in their search criteria
• 34% named Staples
• 16% named Office Depot
• The rest were totally confused and thought the campaign was either Target's or Home Depot's.

As I look at these numbers, and considering this is year two for Elf Yourself, I wonder how OfficeMax interprets <50% brand awareness from this viral campaign. What do you think?

--

I posted this article first on Gooruze this Wednesday and got some interesting feedback. Some thought that the mere fact that marketers are talking about Elf Yourself gives the campaign buzz and is therefore worthwhile compared to it's relatively low cost. It's not a point that I had considered, and am not sure if I find it to be a truly compelling argument for the campaign's value because it almost feels less like a "why do this" strategy, and more like a "why not do this" whim.

However, I like getting different perspectives from the bright and engaged people who participate in this online marketing community, and wanted to spread the word.

You Got Elfed, and Other Viral Marketing Disconnects

[I just registered on gooruze.com, and in order to link to my blog, I have to write kathrynmilette.gooruze.com in the first few lines of my post. As Tanya Ferrell noted, this is a pretty slick marketing tactic.]

In the spirit of the holidays, I got elfed by my husband. In case you have no idea what I'm referring to, getting elfed means receiving an interactive dancing elf email, and in my case, with our family's heads superimposed on the elves.

And all in the name of promoting OfficeMax, the #3 North American office products retailer behind Staples and OfficeDepot.

Well, I didn't get elfed last holiday season, which is when OfficeMax first launched this viral campaign. This year, it was relaunched along with Scrooge Yourself.

But what the heck do these campaigns have to do with selling office supplies?

Before we get to that, I am reminded of other interactive viral campaigns. Namely Monk E-Mail by CareerBuilder, launched along with the office monkey ads during the 2006 Superbowl. And the Subservient Chicken campaign by Burger King, launched back in April of 2004, starting first online, then followed up with a television campaign.

But what value do these types of participation-based viral campaigns return to the host companies?

Increased Brand/Product Awareness
I'm on the fence with this one. I thought the Monk E-Mail was for Monster.com until I just looked it up. And I wasn't positive exactly which fast food restaurant the Subservient Chicken belonged to...Chick-Fil-A was my next guess. Maybe its just been too long. As for the dancing elves...what exactly have they got to do with OfficeMax?

In the case of the Subservient Chicken, Joseph Jaffe (a writer and blogger who's articles I very much enjoy) mentions that the wrong question to ask is "Did it sell chicken?" and presumably get more feet in the door. The right question to ask is, "Did you know BK sold chicken?" And now you do. That's a good point, and one I hadn't thought of.

However, let's try to apply that logic to OfficeMax's dancing elves. Did you know associates dance at OfficeMax? No, wait...Did you know it's the holidays and there are elf dolls you can buy at OfficeMax? No, that doesn't work either.

Obviously, I'm saying this tongue in cheek, but I don't understand why the meaning behind the campaigns is so obscure. In regards to the Subservient Chicken, Snopes.com had to verify the "myth" that it was a BK ad campaign? I mean, if users don't see the connection, where is the value?

Positioning Strategy
I think this is more in line with the marketing strategy. Office supplies are boring. Perhaps OfficeMax wanted to spice things up. Now they are the fun office supply store. Right? That's what Bob Thacker, OfficeMax's svp of marketing thinks. "It gives OfficeMax a heart and a personality."

And for Burger King? In 2004, Greg Brenneman was called in as CEO to get the #2 hamburger chain back on track. The quirky advertising was part of an overall marketing campaign to target BK "superfans" -- 18- to 34-year-old men. According to BK's financial statements, in the three years following the ad campaigns, Burger King's revenues steadily increased. Was this due to the marketing campaign? They also introduced the $1 value menu, and their operating margins improved. These factors may have influenced the improvement. Also, some of BK's franchisees have argued the campaign turned off women and family business suffered.

OfficeMax has also seen financial gains in their income statements in the form of improved operating margins (though decreased revenues). However, they are also experiencing a large restructuring effort, so it's difficult to gauge the ROI of the campaign.

Overall, I think this is a long term positioning strategy, to set the stage for future corporate initiatives. I think that to expect a sustainable increase in revenues simply as a result of these fun ads is a mistake, mainly because their connection to the company is forgettable.

Search For a Larger Audience
People are increasingly choosing to spend more of their time online. And they are communicating with each other in a way that radio and television cannot. Brands are finding that this interaction helps promote increased word of mouth recommendations -- you can blast 30 friends with an email (telling them about a great new site called elfyourself.com!) in a couple of seconds, but it would take a prohibitively longer amount of time to phone them all.

Also, these types of interactive, participation-based campaigns can help illustrate how considerate these companies are of the consumer's evolving lifestyle, and at the same time they help to keep the brand relevant and modern.

Furthermore, when brands are able to leverage social media and experiment online, they have the opportunity to discover how to create more meaningful ways to communicate to customers, and have a greater flexibility to adjust messages on a dime.

And simply from a cost perspective, brands can be in more places online than they can off. A one-page ad in the WSJ could eat up some companies entire annual marketing budget.

So What's My Takeaway
Having said all this, I continue to question the relevance of creating a great viral marketing campaign that has no clear, or even semi-clear, connection to your brand's function.

I think the Monk E-Mail stands out as the best viral marketing campaign of the three mentioned. Like the others, it is certainly entertaining and recommendation worthy. But it is about the office, which is about working, which helps the audience associate working to jobs, to searching for jobs, to using CareerBuilder to search for jobs. Even its URL let's us know it's part of the CareerBuilder site.

The other examples lose something in the translation. The connection isn't clear, and the value created is weakened. Maybe these brands see the obscurity as part of a long, long-term strategy, and I just can't see that far. But I will continue to laugh, and maybe elf someone later.

Tags: Viral Marketing, Social Media