RE: UKNM: viral marketing

[Piers Beckley]

> Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 10:58:35 +0100

>

From: Steve Bowbrick <steveuk [dot] another [dot] com>

> Subject: Re: UKNM: viral marketing

>

> At 5:09 pm +0100 16/9/99, Paul Douglas wrote:

> >Charles Linn wrote:

> >>

> >>  Does anyone on the list have any experience of 'viral marketing'


[snip]


> >90s term for word of mouth, isn't it?

>

> No. If it's to fit the definition of 'viral', it specifically

> excludes word-of-mouth.


nonono.


viral = using a host's resources to propagate itself (dunno who gave that

definition earlier, but it works very well indeed)


So word-of-mouth is indeed viral. As are jokes, and even reputations - it's

just that with the aid of the Internet it's much faster to propagate a joke

or other w-o-m by email/website than by telephone or in person.


> Presumably Hotmail got (and gets) lots of new users via word-of-mouth

> but the key device was (and is) the sig file which chugs away happily

> in the absence of word-of-mouth.


What you refer to here is a _more effective_ virus, as it forces its own

inclusion into communications.


Think of it as the equivalent of a virus that forces the host to sneeze

after infection - this will spread more effectively than viruses that don't

bring on sneezing or coughing, as it will distribute many more copies of

itself more effectively by sending them liberally into the atmosphere.


Of course with an idea virus, as with a cold, you want to ensure that the

distribution system isn't so offputting that the host stays away from others

- either by staying home in bed, or switching to another email provider that

doesn't include a marketing .sig


>  The reason this is more than just

> pedantic is that you'll want to model viral and other marketing

> methods (including w-o-m) separately in your P&L because their

> relative effectiveness will differ,


v. true for all marketing methods, viral or not.


phb



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