Marketing
Recommendations are offered by a range of authors in terms of effective engagement in viral marketing. It has been stressed that “one of the major factors regarding viral adoption is that the consumers must be engaged in the message” (Beneke, 2010, p.195) According to Zarella (2010), utilisation of free products or services within viral marketing programs can enhance the efficiency of a marketing campaign through sparking additional interests from users. Specifically, Zarella (2010) recommends distributing for free inexpensive items such as mugs or t-shirts as an integral part of a viral marketing campaign. The quality of viral marketing content is specified as one of the decisive factors by Mueller (2010). This viewpoint is also shared by Beneke (2010), who argues that the content of a viral marketing campaign has to have an emotional appeal so that the campaign can be highly successful. Additional viewpoint proposed by Scott (2011) relates to exclusivity of viral marketing campaigns. Scott (2011) explains exclusivity in viral marketing as an invitation to join certain clubs, enjoying access to specific products or services prior to their official release dates etc. Addressing the same issue, Kirby (2012) warns that if such offers are introduced in great numbers the level of exclusivity may be compromised, at the same time compromising the effectiveness of the overall campaign. Letelier et al. (2002) propose a range of alternative viral strategies to be implemented by businesses depending on company’s chosen business strategy. Specifically, alternative strategies proposed by Letelier et al. (2002) include fostering allegiance, building excitement, increasing emulation, and creating dissemination. The following table illustrates details associated with each of these strategies: Brand as Authority Promoter as Authority We-Focus Foster Allegiance Strategy Organise: Grassroots,shared meetingsCommunication approach: Solicit authentic voices, publish members’ experience with community Reward for members: Public recognition with…
Major points of viral marketing criticism include lack of control over the impact of a viral marketing campaign, vulnerabilities to manipulation and spamming, and limited level of accesability. Lack of Control over the Impact One of the serious disadvantages associated with viral marketing relates to lack of control over the impact of viral marketing campaign. Unlike the majority of alternative marketing campaigns; in some cases it is not possible for businesses to stop a viral marketing campaign. The necessity to stop the marketing campaign may arise when the campaign is proving to be counter-productive, or the level of demand exceeds the company’s production capabilities. Vulnerability to Manipulation and Spamming Disadvantages of viral marketing might include vulnerability to manipulation and spamming. This is especially true in occasions where incentives are provided for the spread of viral message, and in individuals might become motivated to send the message to other individuals that do not wish to receive the message. In this way, there can be a risk for a viral marketing campaign to be a counter-productive. Limited Level of Accessibility Lilien and Grewall (2012) consider limited level of accessibility as a serious disadvantage of viral marketing. Specifically, Lilien and Grewall (2012) point to a wide range of media formats such as Flash Player, Firewall software etc. and argue that internet users need to be equipped with the relevant software in order to be impacted by a viral message. References Lilien, G.L. & Grewal, R. (2012) “Handbook of Business-to-Business Marketing” Edward Elgar Publishing
The definition of social media can be formulated as “websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking” (Oxford Dictionaries, online, 2012). Social Networking Sites (SNS), on the other hand, can be defined as “sites built around the needs of like-minded individuals, and are built by those individuals” (Wertime and Fenwick, 2012, p.12). Social media is perceived to be the primary platform for distribution of viral marketing messages. Increase in the numbers and types of social media can be interpreted as an indication of increasing significance of viral marketing in scope and depth. The following set of important features of social media can be specified: Firstly, users of social media add value to it by their participation. The numbers of users is considered to be one of the main indicators of popularity, and consequently the success of social media. Accordingly, engaging in viral marketing through the types of social media that has large numbers of participants can be considered as an effective approach to viral marketing. Secondly, social media reflects collective intelligence. According to its type and purpose, the database is regularly enriched by its members by the addition of texts, articles, video, pictures etc. Specific marketing messages are usually integrated with these elements with the intention for these messages to go viral. Thirdly, social media is associated with a high level of accessibility and usability. Increasing levels of accessibility and usability though mobile phones, tablets, and other devices have positive implications on the potentials of viral marketing on the platform of social media. Fourthly, social media is an effective platform for sharing information within a small niche. Each segment within various types of social media is usually built and maintained around the interest of specific group of individuals. This creates…
According to Reece et al. (2010), in order to be considered a viral marketing, marketing campaigns need to be associated with a value for sender and receiver, they need to be free and reproducible and marketing campaigns need to be spread exclusively via the internet. Zarella (2010) specifies the goals of viral marketing strategy as customer attraction, increasing the level of customer loyalty, and achieving a higher level of brand awareness. According to Waldow and Falls (2012) viral marketing is different from advertising in a way that it promotes products and services in an indirect manner. Carriers of viral marketing message have been specified by Middleton (2012) as satisfied customers, individuals that are aspiring to be customers, journalists, and experts in the field. These carriers can transmit the viral marketing message in active and passive ways. Active transmission of a viral marketing message involves carriers to be spreading the message in active ways, such as making direct recommendations via internet. Passive transmission of a viral marketing message, on the other hand, occurs in situations where a particular brand or product is promoted by carriers indirectly, such as through letting others know about the act of purchasing from a specific brand. Anjum (2011) divides the costs of engagement in viral marketing into three categories: free, indirect, and direct. Viral marketing can be automatically facilitated free of charge when the product is innovative or it offers competitive benefits that are appreciated by consumers. In such occasions innovative features of the product or its competitive benefits become a viral marketing message to be spread by internet users with no costs for the manufacturer. Wirtz (2012) mentions the promotion of Apple’s Iphone in online channels as a case study for free viral marketing. Indirect costs for viral marketing occur when marketing staff of a…
Sweeney (2006) divides viral marketing into three categories: a) word of mouth; b) ‘pass it on’ concept; and c) product or service based viral marketing. An alternative classification of viral marketing according to the degree of requiring the customer’s activity in forwarding the viral marketing message is offered by Clarke and Flaherty (2010). Specifically, the authors divide viral marketing strategies into two categories: low and high integration strategies. An example for a viral marketing strategy with low integration include ‘send this to friend’ icons that might be used for a wide range of products and services such as greeting card services, newsgroup readers, calendars etc. High integration viral marketing strategies, on the other hand, requires the participation of customers in an active manner. Such participation may include downloading new programs, and discussing the advantages of products and services in an active manner. Mueller (2010) specifies four main forms of viral marketing as e-mails, facilitated viral, incentive-based viral marketing, and web-linked viral marketing. E-mails are perceived to be a basic platform for viral marketing, where e-mail contents or message in attachments may encourage the receiver to pass the message. Facilitated viral, on the other hand, is explained by Mueller (2010) as a technique that involves companies to place ‘e-mail your friend’ link I their web-site, so that e-mail addresses of additional perspective customers can be obtained. Incentive-based viral marketing, as the name suggests, is associated with the provision of certain incentives, either tangible or intangible, for individuals to share viral marketing messages. Lastly, web-linked viral marketing involves sharing viral marketing links in online publications, internet chartrooms, and social networking websites. Mueller (2010) notes the increasing popularity of this last form of viral marketing compared to others. More comprehensive study on various forms of viral marketing messages is conducted by Beneke (2010).…
The evolution of viral marketing as a separate discipline in the field of marketing has been discussed by Thorne (2008). It has been stated that while a word of mouth marketing has been practiced for as long as several thousands years (Thorne, 2008), viral marketing is a new concept enabled by internet. Specifically, Thorne (2008) relates the evolution of viral marketing to a marketing move initially initiated by in internet company, Hotmail. According to Thorne (2008), viral marketing has been introduced in a way that an offer of opening a free Hotmail account had been placed within the footer area of e-mails sent from Hotmail accounts. In addition to the initial Hotmail viral marketing campaign, Linkoln (2009) states, the movie ‘The Blair Witch Project’ can also be credited for the development of viral marketing as an effective marketing strategy. The following the defining stages can be marked in development of viral marketing: Hotmail attracting 12 million users in 18 months in mid 1990’s with digital media coming into prominence. Although, after the introduction of social networking websites such as Facebook and Google+ these websites have been able to attract more numbers of users in less period of time, the fact that Hotmail enlisted 12 million users in 18 months in the mid 1990’s were considered to be a phenomenon at that stage of the development of internet. The recognition of marketing potential through dot.com mainly starting from 2000’s. The dot.com boom that has started at the beginning of the 21st century can be specified as a new era in the development of viral marketing, as rapidly increasing level of interest on internet at that period of time has had a positive correlation with the level of interest on viral marketing. Online advertising entering a new stage from the…
The most noted advantages of viral marketing include cost advantages, its non-interruptive manner, high level of scope, potential of reaching large numbers of customers, effective customer targeting, and high and rapid response rate. Cost Advantages The majority of authors addressing the topic of viral marketing praise the cost advantage benefits of viral marketing campaigns. It has been stressed that “a viral marketing campaign has a relatively low cost for development, depending on its sophistication, and is within budgetary constraints of many city marketing organisations” (Wober, 2002, p.294). Authors mention specific case studies where viral marketing campaigns with modest budgets were able to significantly contribute to the levels of brand recognition and brand loyalty. Specific viral marketing campaigns initiated by Mazda, Nike, Virgin Blue, and Old Spice can be mentioned to illustrate this point. Non-interruptive Marketing Absence or lack of intrusion and interruption has been noted in the literature as an additional substantial advantage of viral marketing. It has been noted that viral marketing campaigns “tend to be non-interruptive, so they enable consumers to choose to interact proactively with a communication, or not, rather than be passively dictated to” (Kirby, 2012, p.97). Lincoln (2009) specifies this aspect of viral marketing to be the major factor contributing to its success, and advises marketers to integrate elements of fun within viral marketing campaigns. High Level of Scope A high level of scope of the impact of viral marketing implies its potential to reach large numbers of customers in a global scale during a short period of time. This specific advantage of viral marketing has been stressed by Thorne (2008), Donovan and Henley (2010) and others. Due to the fact that it is facilitated through internet, viral marketing recognises no geographic boundaries and time restrictions in terms of reaching the target customer…
One of the most popular definitions of marketing defines the term as “the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer requirements profitably” (Shaw, 2007, p.1). This is to say that the businesses should identify the needs and wants of the customers before they offer any product and service to the customers. AMA, on the other hand defines marketing as “an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to the customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders” (Ferrel and Hartline, 2010). According to Proctor (2000, p.102), the position and marketing strategy of the company in the market can be evaluated on the basis of product mix, as well as its components such as width, length, depth and consistency. References Proctor, T, 2000, Strategic Marketing: An Introduction, London: Routledge Shaw, S. (2007) “Airline Marketing and Management” Ashgate Publishing
Marketing tactics of the business need to be developed according to the overall strategic positioning of the brand. This point can be effectively explained with the use of 4P’s of marketing, also known as marketing mix that stand for product, price, promotion, and place. In other words, the use of marketing tactics in general and individual elements of marketing mix in particular should correspond to the strategic positioning of the company. Conversely, in occasions where there is no link between strategic positioning and marketing tactics within an organisation the substantial proportion of financial resources committed to the implementation of the marketing tactics is going to be wasted. In case of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), for example there is a clear link between strategic positioning of the brand and marketing tactics utilised in a way that the latter supports the former. To put it simply, the manner in which product, price, promotion, and place marketing mix elements are dealt with by GSK is fully in line with strategic positioning of the brand. Specifically, GSK strategic positioning relates to achieving market leadership in terms of size and product range, and accordingly, marketing tactics selected by GSK such as emphasizing R&D scope of the company are closely linked to this positioning. The merits of relationship marketing for GSK marketing strategy are immense. Effective utilisation of relationship marketing allows GSK to increase the levels of customer attraction and retention, possibility of charging customers for intangible aspects of customer relationships, and the possibility of obtaining valuable feedback from customers.
Regardless of its industry, size or other variables, firm’s marketing strategy needs to be aligned with the overall corporate strategy in order for the firm to be able to grow in long-term perspective. To put it simply, rather than being independent of corporate strategy, strategic marketing needs to be able to contribute to the achievement of strategic objective an en efficient manner. It has been stated that “because the link between marketing strategy and shareholder value has not been made, boards have tended to look at two other more transparent strategies. One has been cost reduction – sometimes disguised by more appealing names such as reengineering, downsizing or right sizing. …The other common remedy has been acquisition” (Doyle, 2008, p.19). References Doyle, P.(2008) “Value-Based Marketing” 2nd edition, John Wiley