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.

9 Ways Social Media Can Hurt a Brand

*Note, this article was originally only a very brief bullet point summary of the full article, which was posted earlier this week on Court's Internet Marketing School. But social media can damage a brand that is slacking in their responsibilities to the customer, and I didn't feel the bullet points did the article justice, and it was getting under my skin! The article now posted here (which is slightly different than the original) can also be seen on Gooruze , my favorite online marketing network (any time I can give it a plug I will!)

I have a beef with Kia, the automotive company. My experience with them and my Sedona minivan leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But why should you care? Because, with social media, I now have so many more interesting ways to have my voice heard -- if not by a company that doesn't seem to want to listen, than by a community of consumers who rely more and more on peer reviews and recommendations. And I'd like to share these ways with you, in case you've got a beef of your own.

A couple of years ago, I would have gone through the following motions to log my complaint.

• Talk with a company representative
• Write a complaint e-mail to whatever contact is listed on the corporate website
• Do a little research and write a complaint letter cc:ing various managers and executives
• Contact a consumer hot line and maybe the better business bureau

After a bit of brainstorming, below are a list of ways a person could leverage social media channels to broadcast their displeasure with a company.

Write an Article and Pay Attention to SEO Copywriting Best Practices
Post it on your blog or be a guest blogger. You don't need to be a professional to do some SEO best practices, like pay attention to page titles and picking keywords to use throughout the article (plus combinations and variations of them).

Make a Web Page While in a Spiteful Mood
If your not in the mood to do it from scratch, set up a webpage the quick and painless (and free) way using Google Pages. Buy a domain name and point it to your page if you want it to seem a little more official. You could also make a Squidoo Lens for some attention from the Squidoo community. And if your feeling particularly spiteful, post positive reviews of the competitors products to your pages.

Put a Video on YouTube
In the case of Kia, I think potential Kia minivan owners would be interested to watch me try to put three toddlers into the carseats of our Sedona, in the middle of winter, with both sliding side doors frozen shut (not to mention all the windows, so no drive-thru coffee on a cold winter's day. Boo-hoo.)

Exploit Your Social Networks
Join social networking groups that could sympathize with your cause. Unfortunately, the people in these groups are already in your camp, and it is more a place to let off steam. If your comfortable with being obnoxious, join groups that love the company in question and air your woes on their message boards. You could also download an widget application that lets you post reviews of your stuff, like "IGot" for Facebook. Don't forget to tweet your network on Twitter with quick quips about the company.

Troll the Company's Corporate Blog, Seek out Sympathetic Blogs, Pitch Your Woes, Comment Your Complaints
Leave a message (or two) on the company's corporate blog to get your voice heard. Also, find blogs that might be sympathetic to your cause and might help you get some traction to your web page or video.

Submit to Social News and Social Bookmarking Sites
With any luck, readers might submit your article to places like Mixx, Digg, StumbleUpon, Sphinn...pick your flavor. And bookmarking to places like Del.icio.us or Furl will help gain some added exposure.

Don't Forget the Complements
There are so many complement community sites that, if one was willing to put forth the energy, they could spread their message of displeasure all over the web. For instance, complementary sites to my Kia concerns might be places for parents to talk to each other, like IVillage or ParentsConnect -- communities with message boards and forums discussing children and everything associated with them, including recommendations for minivans.

Leave Ratings and Reviews on Relevant Websites
This is probably the most obvious complaint route with the least time investment required. Just copy and paste your reviews anywhere than will let you.

Finally, Encourage a Vicious Cycle and Go for a Chain Reaction
As a last and final step, shoot your family and close friends an email (or a tweet or IM), including your web page URL and your YouTube link. If you're passionate enough about a poor customer experience to spam your loved ones with your troubles, you're bound to get some sympathy, and maybe a forward or two along to their friends and family.

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The tactics above may not be a good fit for every person who is angry with a company and wants to be heard. For instance, I realize I'm a bit passive aggressive -- I made a web page about Kia, but would never leave comments on their blog. But social media gives the average consumer new places to vent, to rant, to share, to provoke, and to discover a community of like-minded souls. The list above is a launching pad for some of the most obvious places to reach others with your thoughts and experiences -- both positive and negative. What are some other ways we can get our points across?

Beware: Proceed Only if Your Customer Loves You

When I applied to grad school, I needed three references. These reference letters were to be sealed and signed on the back flap to indicate that they hadn’t been opened (or revised and re-sealed, presumably by me).

That led me to think about references in the context of marketing and sales in a business environment. It’s common to include a reference list in an RFQ or when specifically requested by a potential client. But in what other ways could a reference person be leveraged?

Frederick Reichheld's well-known research indicates that the number one way to grow a business is via referrals. In the client satisfaction or customer experience world, the referring people are known as promoters (in opposition to detractors). These are the folks who would recommend you, your business, your work, to someone else. What if we could more proactively encourage our strongest relationships to spread the word? And with businesses relationships getting more personal and co-dependent, this tactic might not be so unthinkable.

Consider this scenario: An architecture firm, let’s call them AF Design, has a meeting coming up with a potential client (PC Firm) for a very large, significant, exciting, (enter your grand adjective here), project. PC Firm is interviewing several other companies to see who is the best fit to work with. The president of AF Design calls up John, the senior leader of one of AF's current clients. John and his well known an successful company, love AF Design and have worked with them for years. AF’s president asks John if he wouldn’t mind calling up the PC Firm and putting in a good word before AF’s meeting with them. John calls PC Firm, says a few kind words about AF, and leaves his number in case PC Firms wants to talk more after their meeting with AF.

Sure, I know this is not as simple as it sounds. I think there are some obvious things to consider:

Client relationship is special
First and foremost, the relationship of the business (AF) and the client they would like to make a referral (John)must be very close. In this example, AF must be doing outstanding work for this client, meeting all their needs and then some. Their relationship must be strong, deep and have many points of contact. It goes without saying, also, that John, in this instance, must be both personable and knowledgeable about the relationship between his firm and AF Design.

Timing is everything
Asking a current client to do this type of referral is very unusual. This is not a request one would make of a client on any type of regular basis. Also, being successful at this request would be made easier if AF had just completed a project in some exceptional way - for instance, 6 weeks ahead of schedule - or had done something out of scope without charging for it.

Furthermore, not every potential client is worthy getting this type of referral. It should be done on special occasions, when the potential project is critical to business objectives.*However, having never done this before, I would highly recommend doing this for a smaller potential account and test the waters to see how receptive a potential company is to this type of marketing.*

Give Guidance
When I asked the president of my company to write a reference letter for me, he said "no problem, but what do you want me to say?" Sometimes, people need a little direction. If your client is willing to do this type of referral, you might want to pass along a couple of points you would like mentioned. Some examples for AF Design are ways they helped grow John’s business, streamlined operations, cut costs off a specific design, etc - points that would be pertinent to the potential client. But make sure the referrer doesn’t feel pressured or that they have a job to do. The “coaching” call should be casual and brief, as should theirfollowing phone call to the potential client.

Know your audience (if you can)
The potential client receiving the referral – an unsolicited, out-of-the-blue referral, at that – should be the senior executive who will be at the meeting who will be making the final decicion. Also, if possible, AF should contact people within their own network to get a feel for what this person is like, to better sense if they would receptive to this type of referral marketing. I’d like to say that any information is better than no information, but wrong information is definitely not better than no information. So this is kind of tricky.

Non competing industry
It is absolutley, 100% critical that the potential client and the referring client are not competing for the same business. Asking McDonald's to recommend your company to Burger King is ludicrous. But asking them to recommend you to Home Depot is more acceptable.

There are probably more guidelines to this type of referral marketing, but I took a stab at at least starting the conversation. I’d like to know if there is anyone doing this already, how they approached it, and what the response has been. Every company is different. This is where a marketer’s intuition and gut play a big part.