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If it’s Viral, it’s successful. So how to go Viral!

Source: Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zeeVEKaDLM

In 2017 Vicks India’s advert #TouchOfCare went viral. It was viewed 9 million times on Youtube and became talking point across the country.

It captured a true story of a transgender, Gauri Sawant, who has been fighting for her basic rights and has broken stereotype by adopting a girl.

It was labelled 

‘REVOLUTIONARY’

‘HEARTWARMING’

‘GROUND BREAKING’

‘BREAKING SOCIETAL PREJUDICE’

‘THOUGHT PROVOKING’

‘INSPIRING’

Social media went abuzz. Both celebrities and common people shared the video and the sentiment of equality and inclusion.

Source: twitter

Even the news media couldn’t restrain from covering it.

Source: Colouribus https://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/online-casestudy/vicks-touch-of-care-22792615/

So what made this video ‘shared’ and ‘liked’ by thousands of Indians? Why did it go Viral in India?

Because it told an honest story which touched several hearts. A story that had never been told before. It reasserted the importance of care, a word that Vicks has associated with, by challenging stereotypes.

IT SYMBOLIZED THE TRUE ESSENCE OF VIRAL MARKETING...

Viral Marketing relies on provocative content to motivate unpaid peer-to-peer communication of persuasive messages from identified sponsors (Porter & Golan, 2006).

In other words, Vicks persuaded its consumers, with digital support and through their network of contacts, to become the vehicles through which the advertising campaign is conducted, some authors dub it as Word-of-Mouse (Xia & Bechwati, 2008).

Source: e marketing blog http://emarketingblog.nl/2014/11/a-good-viral-marketing-message-what-and-how/

Brands requires two components to go viral

CONTENT & CONSUMER 

To invoke the passion of the consumers viral marketing relies on the quality of content and the advert lived up to it.

IT GAVE A NEW MEANING TO THE WORD CARE

IT SPREAD A MESSAGE OF COMPASSION

IT SHOWED A DIFFERENT FACE OF A MOTHER

IT TOLD AN UNUSUAL STORY OF A DAUGHTER

IT CHALLENGED STEREOTYPES AND STARTED A NEW DISCOURSE

THERE WAS NO SELF-PROMOTION

ABOVE ALL, IT TOLD A TRUE STORY WITH HONESTY & DIGNITY

Publicis Singapore, the agency which produced the advert, says “intent was to promote the idea that, ‘Where there’s care, there’s family’ and the brand successfully positioned itself as a family member full of warmth.

The popularity inspired Vicks Philippines to launch a similar campaign and was equally successful.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vqqT9bjCgU

The video also went viral with over 3 million views in the country. Again the concept was similar; giving a new idea of care.

In both the instances brand relied on its consumers, who identified with the content and volunteered, to spread the message by sharing it with their online network. 

This is called e-word of mouth.

Source:  Idea Sandbox https://www.i-scoop.eu/understanding-word-mouth-social-media-age/

But why did people share the video? Why did it go viral?

CONSUMERS WERE EMOTIONALLY CONNECTED WITH MESSAGE

CONSUMERS FELT INSPIRED TOWARDS A SOCIAL CAUSE

CONSUMERS WANTED TO BE CRUSADERS OF CAMPAIGN FOR CHANGE

CONSUMERS GAVE APPROVAL TO CAMPAIGN BY SPREADING THE WORD

CONSUMERS WANTED TO BE IDENTIFIED WITH THE MESSAGE

       WHAT TRIGGERS CONSUMERS’ INSTINCT TO SHARE?

Source: Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2015/09/why-some-videos-go-viral

Timing was another crucial factor which supported the brand. Advert was launched at a time when campaign for LGBT rights was at its crescendo ahead of the Supreme Court ruling. 

Without endorsing Vicks as a brand that cares the advert conveyed the idea and motivated the audience to believe in it and share it. This not only boosted the brand image of Vicks but also won Bronze at Cannes.

So how can a brand follow these examples and design viral content?

Study conducted by Jonah Berger and Katherine Milkman (2010) claims there is a strong relationship between emotion and virility. Factors such as uniqueness, usefulness, storytelling, interactivity and engaging cues have been identified as important content-related drivers of consumers' online brand engagement. Content that provokes anger or invokes happiness will be shared more than negative content.

Source: Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2015/09/why-some-videos-go-viral

Hence brand must pick a concept which will connect its personality to its target market and is relevant to them. The emotional component should bring the brand closer to the customer to give it a competitive advantage.

Understanding of the target market is very crucial while designing the content, as people only accept and share an idea that is identified with their belief. If the idea contradicts their point of view it may create a social media firestorm for the brand. Apart from this transparency and honesty in delivering the message is crucial for brand reputation.

Study by Carmen Camarero and Rebeca San José (2011) explains the societal attitude of consumers. It claims individuals’ social capital in the email network as an antecedent of viral dynamics so those with the best connections are ideally placed forward messages. Thus, target public in viral campaigns should be those who are well connected with their environment or who are more integrated in communities or social groups.t

Conclusively, unique quality content that delights target consumer and drives him to take pride in it publicly will make the video go viral

References

Berger, J., and K. Milkman. 2010. Social transmission, emotion, and the virality of online content. Wharton Research Paper. Available at: http://opim.wharton.upenn.edu/»kmilkman/Virality.pdf

Camarero, C. San José, R 2011 Social and attitudinal determinants of viral marketing dynamics. Computers in Human Behavior, 2011, Vol.27(6), pp.2292-2300 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

Cesnakaite 2017 A good viral marketing message: what and how? e marketing blog. Available at:  http://emarketingblog.nl/2014/11/a-good-viral-marketing-message-what-and-how/

Colouribus  2017 Vicks Digital, Case study Touch Of Care by Publicis Singapore Available: https://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/online-casestudy/vicks-touch-of-care-22792615/

Harvard Business Review 2015. Why some videos go viral https://hbr.org/2015/09/why-some-videos-go-viral

 Idea Sandbox Understanding word-of-mouth in the digital age. Available at: https://www.i-scoop.eu/understanding-word-mouth-social-media-age/

Porter, L., & Golan, G. J. (2006). From subservient chickens to brawny men: A comparison of viral advertising to television advertising. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 6(2), 30–38.

Youtube 2017 Vicks Generation of care #touchofcare Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zeeVEKaDLM

 Youtube 2017 Vicks Learning to love #touchofcare Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vqqT9bjCgU

Xia, L., & Bechwati, N. N. (2008). Word of mouse: The role of cognitive personalization in online consumer reviews. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 9(1), 1–10. http://www.jiad.org/article105

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Content Marketing tips for Universities

Brands’ communication with its target customers has seen a drastic change over the years.

This is how Colgate drove people to buy its product earlier..

Source: Vintage Ad Browser http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/shaving-ads

And this is how it does it now...

Source: Brand Channel http://brandchannel.com/2011/07/06/colgate-puts-teeth-into-social-marketing/

Something has changed? 

Yes, the style of promoting the brand and forging a relationship with the customer.

Earlier it was direct sales pitch and now the advert empowers the target customer to make the buying decision with an intent that he/she will pick them. 

According to Marketo:

1.  Average buyer guides themselves through 60% to 90% of the traditional sales funnel 

2.  81% of shoppers research online before setting foot in a store

This buyer driven environment is a result of a new style of advertising called content marketing. 

It is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action. (Content Marketing Institute)

Source: Marketo https://www.marketo.com/content-marketing/

Let’s take the examples of how Cardiff University is using content marketing to build the brand in eyes of current and prospective students. 

As social media is the most famous popular content marketing tactic we consider how the university is using the platform. As these days it is most widely used among 18 to 25 age group youngsters who are prospective target market for the university.

Source: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cardiffuni/

and compare it to other universities.

Source: instagram https://www.instagram.com/harvard/

Source: instagram https://www.instagram.com/oxford_uni/

The first difference that I notice is, while others are focusing on student stories Cardiff university instagram page only features good pictures from around Cardiff and does not provide either good engaging content about the university or information that students may be interested in.

Let’s first understand the main aim of content marketing.

2015 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends - North America by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs

Source: https://www.i-scoop.eu/content-marketing/marketing-goals-connected-role-content-marketing/

2015 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends - North America by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs 

Source: https://www.i-scoop.eu/content-marketing/marketing-goals-connected-role-content-marketing/

But is Cardiff University achieving it through its social media platform?

Source: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cardiffuni/

It does not seem so, as the content produced is neither engaging nor brand building.

It does not give the readers information about how the campus life is.

How are the students who study here.

What is the kind of research the school has engaged in

How meritorious are the professors

What are the events that keeps the campus abuzz

How is Cardiff as a city to live in

Content marketing is all about telling a compelling story and a bid to position oneself as the perfect solution.

Source: illumination consulting http://illuminationconsulting.com/facts-content-marketing/why-you-need-content-marketing5/

According to the target market in mind the university must produce content so that it can answer relevant questions which students and parents may be looking to answer before they select a university.

So here’s what the university marketing team can do with out of the box thinking, for prospective students:

-        Give a glimpse of student life at the university, through videos or images of events at the university.

-        Let students share their experiences at the university through interviews

-        Through infographics university can promote its rich legacy and its achievements

-        Tips on how to prepare for university life

Here are few ideas of content for present students, so that they can share it on their social media and be brand advocates.

-        Fun videos on how to deal with exam stress

-        Celebrate special occasion relevant to international students so that they feel like an integral part of the university

-        Online surveys, quizzes and games to engage the students

References

Brand Channel Colgate puts teeth into social marketing. Available at: http://brandchannel.com/2011/07/06/colgate-puts-teeth-into-social-marketing/

Content Marketing Institute, Marketing Profs 2015 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends. Available at: https://www.i-scoop.eu/content-marketing/marketing-goals-connected-role-content-marketing/

Illumination Consulting 2015 benefits of content marketing. Available at: http://illuminationconsulting.com/facts-content-marketing/why-you-need-content-marketing5/

instagram 2018 cardiff university Available at: https://www.instagram.com/cardiffuni/

instagram 2018 university of Oxford Available at: https://www.instagram.com/oxford_uni/

instagram 2018 harvard university. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/harvard/

Marketo what is content marketing Available at:  https://www.marketo.com/content-marketing/

Vintage Ad Browser1910 vintage ad browser. Available at: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/shaving-ads

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#venice #travel #europe #beauty #wanderlust #exotic #travelphotography #photography

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Native Advertising: Ethical or not?

Native advertising has emerged as a new buzz word in digital marketing world.  It has taken advertorials closer to editorial content. Buzz Feed has pioneered the art of native advertising. The website relies on sponsored content to boost its revenues, which gets subtly delivered along with its editorial content. Here are 3 Buzzfeed stories with hidden advertising message.

Source: Buzz Feed

BuzzFeed’s Rebecca Scott, Vice President of Brand Strategy says, ‘When we think of native at BuzzFeed, we really just think of it as how can we make something that fits in naturally and authentically to wherever someone is consuming content. It’s really additive and fits right into whatever platform they’re already consuming content (Krizelman, 2017)’

It is not just Buzz Feed, several media entities like New York Times, Quartz, Hearst and Atlantic have embraced the concept to garner extra revenues. For brands it is a novel concept to get noticed by readers. It is found everywhere, from Google and Facebook feeds to Youtube and news website content. The graph below shows how companies have increased their spending on native advertising in 17 countries in the last 3 years and is poised to expand by 156% between 2015 and 2020 (Harms et al 2017).

Native advertising spending in selected countries worldwide in 2015 and 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)

The idea of native advertising is to merge the editorial content of a media entity with sponsored content and blur the line between journalism and advertising. Brands describe native advertising as a spectrum of new online advertising forms that share a focus on minimizing disruption to a consumer's online experience by appearing in-stream (Campbell, Marks 2015). For brands it is a seamless flow from editorial content, to advertising message which gets a better exposure and more credibility if placed along with the editorial content. Brand experience is conceptualised as subjective consumer response that is evoked by specific brand related experimental attributes (Brakus et al 2009). These responses can be attained at every point consumer interacts with the brands, mainly through advertising and conclude their decision to either buy the brand or reject it. If an advert is not appealing to the target consumer or irritates his online experience he would prefer not using it, whereas if an advert makes the online experience more fun then it leaves a good impression on the mind of the consumer, this may ultimately drive him to invest in the brand. Apart from this companies can control the exposure of native advertising according to its target market characteristics and can form a brand personality based on the content it is being associated with.

The concept has attracted severe criticism, many view it as masking source attribution and deceiving consumers (Joel, 2013; Vega, 2013; Wasserman, 2013) and the critics have a valid argument. Readers who are ignorant to the concept can easily be carried by the hidden propaganda of brands trying to sell them their products. A reader subscribes to a news entity only due to trust and credibility that the content is true without any bias but if media organisations endorse brands and ideas under the garb of native advertising it is not just unethical but also betrayal. Secrecy and lack of distinction adds to the murky business.

A big ethical hazard in native advertising is non-disclosure. Several brands fail to disclose the source of the content and brand it as ‘sponsored’ only with a hope to make it look genuine and credible. For a short term this helps creating a brand image but on a long term brings disrepute to the brand with charges of dishonesty. A study by Contently (Lazauskas, 2014) found that 59% of respondents view news sites with sponsored content as less credible and 67% of respondents have felt deceived after discovering an article was sponsored by a brand. This shows even consumers don’t have much respect for native advertising.

Source: The Richard Group

In conclusion, according to my view native advertising is unethically merged with editorial content of a news entity and passed on as similar. It not just decreases the value of the editorial content but also lowers the credibility of the brand. The only way native advertising can be successful by adopting a consumer-centric approach by absolute demarcation between editorial and sponsored content.

References

Brakus, J. Joško, Bernd H. Schmitt, and Lia Zarantonello (2009), ‘‘Brand Experience: What Is It? How Is It Measured? Does It Affect Loyalty?’’ Journal of Marketing, 73 (May), 52-68.

 Campbell, C. Marks, Lawrence J. Good native advertising isn’t a secret. Available at: https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0007681315000841/1-s2.0-S0007681315000841-main.pdf?_tid=0313c26b-23d3-4e81-a466-fd735e7d96f2&acdnat=1526283376_132901d2de5c0e8f698ec6f796ffa4d0

 E. Wasserman 2013 Advertising goes native, and deception runs free Huffington Post (2013, January 30)  Retrieved October 15, 2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-wasserman/native-advertising-atlantic-scientology_b_2575945.html

 Harms, B. Bijmolt, THA, Hoekstra, JC.  2017 Digital Native Advertising: Practitioner Perspectives and a Research Agenda, Journal of Interactive Advertising, 17:2, 80-91, DOI: 10.1080/15252019.2017.1357513

 J. Lazauskas 2014 Study: Sponsored content has a trust problem Contently (2014, July 9) Retrieved March 23, 2015, from http://contently.com/strategist/2014/07/09/study-sponsored-content-has-a-trust-problem-2/

  Krizelman, T., 2017  How buzzfeed, the new york times, hearst, the atlantic and quartz define native advertising. Available at:

https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2017/04/17/buzzfeed-new-york-times-hearst-atlantic-quartz-define-native-advertising/

M. Joel We need a better definition of “native advertising” HBR Blog Network (2013, February 13) Retrieved July 12, 2013, from http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/02/we-need-a-better-definition-of/

Statistica 2018 Native advertising spending in selected countries worldwide in 2015 and 2018. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/498709/native-ad-spend-country/

 T. Vega 2013 Ad-sponsored editorial content draws regulator's notice New York Times (2013, October 23) Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/business/media/ad-sponsored-editorial-content-draws-regulators-notice.html

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About Me

I would define myself as a liberal, secular, free thinking feminist, traveler and a journalist who lives life on her own terms.  I am a believer who feels the power of a positive mind, compassion and love can make world a better place and such personal inclinations are imperative for becoming a true journalist, who tries to understand a story without any partisan.

As a part of my artistic endeavours I launch a travel calendars every year and will be using the proceeds to take a group of underprivileged children for a daylong fun trip in their city.

I have been involved in social work as well, am closely involved with an NGO working with cancer patients.

I love to paint, photograph, write poetry and travel.

After an MBA degree I want to broaden my horizon and step into the field of digital-social entrepreneurship I am interested in enriching my skills pertaining content marketing, digital marketing, digital communication and data analytics.