It often sounds like a lot of hot air and hype. But when content is spread virally it can boost brand awareness, fill your database and turn people into internet superstars, sometimes overnight.

Viral marketing has the potential to reach more people than multimillion pound branding campaigns. It’s not easy to do though.

Being able to intentionally create content that people happily share with their friends and colleagues is a challenge, particularly if you’re a marketing agency.

Word-of-mouse marketing

Viral is the evolution of word-of-mouth for the digital age, bigger and better than before.

Whereas in simpler times you’d be happy if your customers told their friends and family about how helpful your customer service is, now you want them to share it with their entire online network.

The ability to easily share content on the web, with a lot of people in a short space of time, means messages can spread rapidly and exponentially. Word-of-mouth buzz, however, tends to fizzle out, going in one ear and out the other without leaving a lasting impression.

Creating a virus people want to spread

Viral content can take a range of forms: free eBooks, software, video clips, Flash games, images or text messages.

What they all have in common is that people think the benefit they’ll gain from sharing the content is greater than the effort required to pass it along.

So to create content with a likelihood of going viral, you need to offer humour, entertainment or information that’s so valuable people feel compelled to tell everyone how great it is.

Many software developers create demand for their products by giving away limited versions for free, whilst more authors are starting to give away free chapters and excerpts to generate buzz for their new books.

Unpleasant symptoms you’ll want to avoid

Whatever its format, if you’re intentionally creating content to spread virally then there are a number of unspoken rules to obey:

Don’t advertise – web users resent all attempts of blatantly being sold to. So keep logo shots to a minimum, and don’t even think about pushing your brand message. Viral is about offering valuable content in exchange for engaging people’s time, not trying to ambush their attention.

Be authentic – everyone knows that you can’t be cool if you’re trying to be, so leave the hip hop soundtrack for MTV. Even worse is to pretend a mock user generated video featuring your product is nothing to do with you. People hate to think they’ve been deceived or manipulated into watching a branding exercise. So be authentic, and when in doubt give full disclosure.

Treat it as an experiment – creating a viral message that spreads amongst hundreds, let alone millions, of people is difficult. Very difficult. So treat viral as an experiment, rather than pinning your hopes on it getting you onto the national news. If you hit the jackpot, allow yourselves to bask in your creative genius. But don’t tear your hair out if your cheeky video clip fails to get any votes. Learn from each experiment and adjust your formula for the next attempt.

Virals that infected millions

So let’s be clear: incubating a viral message potent enough to infect millions of monitors is very difficult to do.

However, if you’re able to create content people value so highly that they fall over themselves to email, blog and Facebook about it then it can potentially gain more exposure than any other strategy.

Here are a few exceptionally contagious cases of viral content:

Threshers 40% off voucher – this gift to suppliers ‘leaked’ onto the web just before Xmas two years ago. The offer to stock up on cheap booze spread like wildfire. 800,000 downloads later and Threshers rang in the New Year with a bumper 60% extra in their tills.

Cadburys’ drumming gorilla – part of £6.2 million campaign covering TV, print and billboards, the 90 second commercial found its way onto YouTube, receiving 500,000 views in the first week. The TV ad was only broadcast in the UK, but the clip spread onto other video sharing sites generating 6 million views and national news coverage throughout the globe. The idea of using a drumming gorilla to sell chocolate bars helped turn around the brand’s slide and pushed sales up nearly 10%.

Hotmail –when Hotmail was launched in 1996 the internet was still only crawling its way into people’s homes. Spotting an opportunity to let their users do the legwork, Hotmail’s founders added a small advert to the footer of every message inviting the reader to signup for their free service. Within a year Hotmail had 8.5 million registered users, earning a $400 million cheque from Microsoft in the process.

Nike’s Ronaldinho clip - this ‘shaky’ video of the Brazilian casually hitting the crossbar four times from outside the box provoked a flurry of debate on whether it was real or fake. 26 million views later and we’re still none the wiser. But the clip generated more internet buzz than you’d get from a conventional corporate vanity ad, and costing several million less to create as well.

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog - real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.

A month out from 25 December, and we’re putting the finishing touches on our Christmas communications to clients and contacts, which should hit their letter boxes and inboxes around 10 December. Incorporating a Christmas card personalised to each recipient, an emailer and an online ‘game’, it’s an opportunity for us to connect with - and amuse - the broader ‘tribe bda‘.

But I’m the New Business Person. So it would be somewhat disingenuous for me to deny that Christmas, apart from being fun and Christmasy and smelling of plum pudding, also provides businesses with a fantastic opportunity to touch base with prospects in a way which won’t be perceived as stalking. A bit like in our personal lives, where Christmas cards are a fantastic way to say: “I know I’ve been completely crap at staying in touch, I forgot your birthday and we still haven’t had you over for lunch, but: MERRY CHRISTMAS!”.

Internet marketing used to be simple: you’d dump your brochure online and pray a small percentage of visitors would click buy. Well, this approach is generally flawed, because it’s like having a shop window display to attract customers and then not talking to them when they arrive.

The internet might be a cold, robotic medium, but people still have human needs and behave in a similar way to how they do in the real world, something smart marketers are starting to capitalise on.

Whether it’s teenagers arguing about bands on MySpace, internet marketers sharing advice on E-consultancy or any of the thousands of forums sprouting on every topic under the sun, people are grouping together based on shared passions and interests.

In essence, people are displaying the same behavioural instincts we’re had since cavemen times, and forming digital tribes with those we feel a connection to.

Consequently, smart marketers are realising that if they can build the same sense of kinship around their products and services they can tap into other positive tribal mannerisms, such as dedication, loyalty and the desire to invite friends and family to join the tribe as well.

Rather than just building static websites, marketers are creating web presences, with blogs, video, social media and other tools, to develop a sense of engagement and tribal loyalty to their brand.

Here are two examples of businesses thriving from using their websites to create a tribe, rather than merely as a shop window display:

Pampers.co.uk

Procter & Gamble have always been a leading innovator when it comes to engaging with consumers in deeper ways than conventional advertising. Now they’re applying the same philosophy they used in soap operas to the internet: offering valuable content to foster a closer affinity to their brand.

The Pampers website doesn’t have an obvious sales pitch or shopping cart in sight. Instead what you have is a website packed with information for expectant and young mothers, offering help rather than trying to sell them nappies.

There are many ways in which visitors can engage with the website, such as register for their popular newsletter (customised with relevant information for their child’s age) check a map for family friendly restaurants and start their own blog.

And due to the positive associations they feel from the experience, mothers are more likely to pledge their allegiance to the Pampers tribe and pay tribute the next time they’re in the supermarket.

The Pampers website demonstrates how major brands are leading the way in tribal web marketing and developing a closer affinity with their products through the provision of valuable content, rather than static sales pitches.

Whilst you might not have P & G’s marketing budget, there’s no reason why any business can’t adopt the same tribal tactics due to the relative low cost of using the web to engage with prospects, as demonstrated in this next rubbish case study:

Topskips.co.uk

A husband and wife team launched Topskips.co.uk in 2003 with a mere £5000 budget. As the internet’s first skip hire website they were able to quickly corner the market, growing by nearly 700% within two years.

They attribute their continuing success to their website and marketing strategy. Rather than mere brochureware, their website is a treasure trove of information. They provide a blog, free eBook, newsletter and videos with advice on topics such as hiring the right skip size spliced with refuse related humour.

Since Topskips.co.uk was launched the search listings have become flooded with rival skip hire firms hoping to take away some of their business.

However, the level of engagement Topskips.co.uk offers, compared to the static brochures of their competitors, means visitors will feel a closer connection and sense of loyalty to their brand.

Topskips.co.uk is an example of how to use the web’s tools for closer engagement with customers and how to create a tribe Stig of the Dump would be proud of.

Tribal marketing is also about cooperation

Selling products and services is a complex psychological process, and taping into the nature of human behaviour is certainly the way to go.

Regular readers will know we’re big fans of marketing superbrain Seth Godin, and Seth has recently preached on the power of tapping into the principles of groups and leadership in his new book ‘Tribes’, which is certain to be on most marketers’ reading lists.

Here at BDA we’re in the process of developing tribes of our own, in which we connect together our clients, partners, suppliers and other contacts to share ideas and make business connections. Because we believe cooperation is the business model of the future, and another of the central binding principles of every great tribe.

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog - real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.

A little bit early for Christmas, but a fun game anyway.

Whether it’s a golden arch, a half eaten apple or pink jagged numbers, a logo is the visual embodiment of a brand’s identity. It has the power to inspire trust, admiration or even disdain, so you need to think carefully about how it’s designed.

Creating a logo isn’t simply a case of doodling for a few hours and picking out your favourite sketch. You have to find the magic combination of shapes, images and colours that will reflect your brand’s ethos and appeal to your target market.

Designing a logo which also remains relevant for years to come is far from simple, but here are a few tips to get you started:

Logo design rules

At a basic level, your logo should achieve the following:

• Describable so people can easily interpret what it represents
• Memorable so people will recognise it and associate it with your business
• Effective without colour in case it’s printed in black and white
• Scalable so it’s legible even when small enough to fit on a business card
• It shouldn’t be too complex otherwise it will ‘gum up’ and appear messy when shrunk
• Have fairly equal dimensions. People prefer logos which are square or circular, rather than tall and thin or short and fat

Logo design types

Logos generally fall into three main types:

• An illustrative representation of what a company does e.g. the WWF’s panda
• An abstract iconic image e.g. Apple, any sportswear brand or car manufacturer
• Font based with a unique typeface e.g. Harley Davidson, Google or Coca Cola

The logo type used should reflect the nature of a business’ industry and appeal to its target audience. An obvious example is the WWF’s panda, which is far more effective at conveying animal conservation than if they’d chosen the sort of dynamic, abstract logos favoured by sportswear brands.

Whichever type of logo you choose, it’s sensible to keep graphic and text elements (e.g. your company name or slogan) separate. Designing these elements independently gives you more scope and flexibility in how they’re used in the future.

For example, when your company becomes rich and famous you might want to drop the company slogan altogether, and let your logo spell out your brand message on its own.

2012 Olympics logo - disaster or genius?

Despite a national outbreak of disappointment, a petition to get it replaced and claims it causes epileptic fits, a series of brightly coloured, jagged numbers are what will be used to promote the London 2012 Olympics. The fact that the logo cost taxpayers £400,000 to design probably didn’t soften the blow.

When launched, the Olympics council hailed it as ‘the vision at the very heart of our brand’ and an effort to reach out to the nation’s youth. The nation’s marketers, however, are less enamoured. In a recent survey, three out of five said they thought it was ineffective and didn’t quite give the impression of the UK being a world leader in entertainment, culture and sport as everyone had hoped.

However, 2012 is still four years away, and the logo is designed to be used in a variety of animated guises yet to be unveiled (and possibly still to be invented for that matter). And as people get on with supporting their country, they yet might find themselves warming to it, particularly if it starts being associated with yet another Team GB triumph.

The Nike Swoosh - pure genius

Ordinarily, designing a logo is a complicated process, requiring weeks or even months of research, sketching, conceptualisation and reflection. However, occasionally stokes (or one stroke to be precise) of genius can occur.

Perhaps the greatest example of how a brand’s logo can grow into a globally admired symbol is the Nike ‘Swoosh’, a simple yet effective representation of the wing of Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory.

Created by a graphic design student in 1971 for a mere $35, the Swoosh was partnered with the ‘Just Do It’ slogan to brilliantly symbolise a lifestyle choice for millions of athletes and casual sports fans worldwide.

People are seduced into buying sportswear and equipment decorated with the Nike Swoosh because of how it makes them feel, the holy grail of brand marketing.

A logo should be for life

It takes time to build awareness of your logo and what it represents. So deciding that it doesn’t promote your brand message adequately and changing it a few years down the line can be expensive and counterproductive, which is why you need to get your logo design right first time.

So, whether you spend £400,000 or $35, designing your logo will require obeying the rules (whilst also daring to be different), hours of perspiration and a few strokes of genius.

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog - real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.

[This is the second half of a two part post. You can read part one here.]

Consumers are never happy unless you give them what they really want

In another recent post, Seth Godin commented on how consumers are never happy, but are constantly demanding freebies, updates and product improvements from businesses.

Seth suggests you can continue feeding the demands of unhappy customers, as though trying to buy a spoilt child’s affection, or you can give them what they really want: a sense of connection, to feel appreciated and loved.

Generic mass marketing cannot make people feel special or loved. Email blasting the same message to every customer is like sending a bulk message to your entire address book at Christmas, when what they really want is a personal message in an individually addressed card.

Luckily, the technology is now available for marketers to satisfy the desire for greater relevancy and connection. The ability to track and record an endless supply of data on customers means you can deliver one-to-one marketing personalised to match the interests and preferences of each individual.

Here are a few more marketing tips for making customers feel special and loved:

• Offer valuable insight or information (e.g. in a blog, newsletter or eBook) on solving a problem which can’t be easily found elsewhere
• Listen to your customers’ interests and preferences using personalised URLs
• Deliver timely messages and offers e.g. a congratulatory message and discount on their birthday
• Follow up sales with an email, even if it’s just to say thanks
• Tell your audience a captivating story about the history of your business which they can invest in emotionally and feel a part of

If you make them feel unhappy, remember to tell them they’re special afterwards

People aren’t interested in businesses or their products. They’re interested in how a product makes them feel and the promise of what it can do to improve their lives. Marketing’s aim isn’t to sell features, but the emotional benefits people will gain from them, or as lipstick maker Charles Revson once put it, “In the factory we make cosmetics. In the store we sell hope.”

So when looking to acquire customers, marketing’s aim isn’t to deliberately make them feel unhappy or inadequate, but to appeal to their inherent aspiration to better themselves, improve their lifestyle and enhance their standing with others.

Just make sure that once you’ve persuaded people to become customers you then switch your focus to making them feel special and appreciated. Because otherwise your customers might look elsewhere for connection and attention, which your competitors will be only too happy to provide.

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog - real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.

In a culture jaded from decades of interruption style advertising, people praise their digibox, for enabling them to skip the ‘annoying’ ad break, and ruthlessly bin emails which have the merest whiff of spam. Some think that advertisers and marketers are out to trick them, to make them feel unhappy or inadequate so they can then sell them products to heal their pain.

When you add the credit crisis to the equation, it’s unsurprising why some believe/hope we’re on the verge of a cultural shift away from consumerism and towards (supposedly) a bright new utopia in which people find meaning in other ways than the pursuit of ‘things’.

Well, there are plenty who’d disagree, such as the developers of the new monolithic cathedral to retail therapy that is the Westgate complex. At a cost of £1.9 billion and home to 265 shops, Westgate and its retailers are defiantly placing their faith in the power of materialism to weather the economic storm.

But when bank accounts are dwindling, should marketers be changing the stories they tell? Should they be making consumers feel unhappy, thinking they’re missing something critical in their lives, or coax out their credit cards by making them feel special?

A human behaviour as old as Adam and the apple

We might like to think that in the 21^st century we’re more socially developed and astute than our forefathers. However, the human race is driven by the same motivations that formed tribes, conquered nations and spread empires. Because once our human needs for survival are satisfied, we’re biologically programmed to pursue other aspirations in life.

Whilst some might be happy to share possessions in a hippy commune, most people are motivated by the desire to gain the things that will improve their lifestyle, enhance their image and make them feel superior to others.

It’s this biological drive which marketers harness to sell products: the human desire for the things which we think will make our lives more comfortable, even if it makes some people feel inadequate in the process. Or as the wise marketing sage Seth Godin put it, “What people have doesn’t make you unhappy. What you want does.”

Luxury means exclusivity

Along with the aspiration to improve our lifestyle and feel better about ourselves, people are culturally motivated by the desire to feel superior to others and to align ourselves with the ’tribe’ which matches our social standing.

Luxury brands appeal to this desire by promoting themselves as the exclusive, superior alternative to the labels worn by the riff raff on the high street. Owning a luxury brand is portrayed as like buying your way into an exclusive club, reserved for those who deserve membership and can afford to join.

Luxury brands make people feel special and appreciated, which is why people buy them to reflect their social standing and as a badge to show which tribe they’re aligned to.

However, being able to make people feel special isn’t an emotional trigger reserved for the De Beers, Hennessy Cognac and Louis Vuittons of this world. Any brand can benefit from making their customers feel special and loved. You just need the right approach to your marketing.

Part two next week.

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog - real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.

Whether reading books, watching films or sitting in the pub, we love stories and have been telling them since cavemen times. Stories spark our imagination and connect with us on an emotional level, which is why they’re so powerful and why every brand needs one.

Stories sell

Stories shouldn’t just be kept in reserve for entertaining guests at product launches, but be an integral part of your marketing strategy, because your story can be the clincher in people’s minds between picking between your product or someone else’s.

People’s buying decisions are based on two triggers: their logical and emotional reasoning. Logical decisions are influenced by cold hard facts, such as the price, specifications and features, whereas emotional responses are driven by the intangible benefits of how a product makes them feel.

Unless you’re happy slashing prices, emotion is the trigger your marketing needs to focus its energy on, because stories are so powerful at influencing how people feel.

You need to weave a story which appeals to your audience’s attitudes and lures their sense of desire. A compelling story can humanise your brand, increase its value in the eyes of consumers and seduce them into wanting a relationship with your logo.

Creating your story

Your business’ story should tell people about where you came from, the purpose of what you do and your vision for the future. It should be entwined into your brand’s message and be reflected in everything you do, such as how your product’s created, the wording on your label and how you answer the phone.

Your story should also reflect the worldview and attitudes of your target audience. It should be a story they want to believe in, be proud to be associated with and happily share with others.

Perhaps most importantly, your story needs to be authentic and genuine. In a world of social media, online chatter and amateur investigators, if you’re found to be spreading myths to further your own gain then your real past will come back to haunt you.

So before you sit down to pen your history and dreams for the future, here are a few examples of businesses that have thrived from the art of storytelling:

Innocent fruit drinks

Adored by the marketing world and customers alike, Innocent is a business phenomenon because of how it has used its story and brand message to drive its rapid rise to domination.

Innocent’s story is the classic tale of three plucky upstarts abandoning being cogs in the city to pursue what they’re passionate about, and winning.

Their story unfolds a decade ago when they sold fruit juices at a music festival and placed bins marked ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for customers to vote on whether the trio should ditch their suits and pulp fruit fulltime. Within hours the ‘yes’ bin was full to the brim, whilst the other lay empty. The people had spoken, and Innocent was born.

Innocent’s success comes from the way its story is reflected in everything it does. Whether it’s the design of its packaging, the paintwork of its vans or throwing music festivals, everything Innocent does reflects its sense of fun, optimism and satisfaction at giving a bloody nose to the big boys.

Innocent now occupies 71% of the UK smoothie market and sells two million shakes a week. Not bad when you also consider its price tag.

Reggae Reggae Sauce

From the humble beginnings of a family recipe cooked at home and sold at Nottinghill Carnival to finding fame on BBC2 Dragons’ Den, the success of Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Sauce is a master class in the art of storytelling.

When people buy his spicy jerk chicken sauce they’re also buying Levi. His authentic tagline of ‘putting music into food’, passion for his product and charitable connections has pushed a niche product into the shopping baskets of people who’ve probably never tried Jamaican food before.

People buy Levi’s sauce because they like him, his story and consequently they’re preconditioned to like his sauce as well.

Sainsbury’s expected to sell 50,000 bottles in a year; they currently sell that many in a week.

[You can listen to Levi telling the story of his rise to fame and fortune on this inspirational SmallBiz podcast]

Howies clothing

Howies is the creation of a husband and wife team who abandoned the city life to design and manufacture eco-friendly clothes for the masses. From starting with a few boxes of organic T-shirts, they now run their empire from a converted canteen in Cardigan Bay, Wales, and distribute their eco-friendly outdoor clothing and sportswear worldwide.

Howies’ popularity was given a boost thanks to threats by Levi Strauss to sue it for featuring a name tab on its jeans. The story of David standing up to Goliath helped distance itself from the cold corporate world and pushed its popularity from the extreme sports fraternity into the mainstream.

Howies also donate 1% of their profits to environmental causes, reflecting its story of a genuine love for the outdoors and being run on passion rather than balance sheets.

Stories enable emotion to override reason

As these examples illustrate, your brand’s story is integral to how people feel and respond to you. Your story needs to reflect your history, your beliefs and appeal to the worldview of your audience.

Emotion can often override reason, and people are attracted to brands that appeal to their attitudes and make them feel good about having a relationship with them. Feelings which telling them a great story can arouse.

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog - real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.