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What actually IS "Viral Marketing"?

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number9robotic (Experienced Trainee)
#1: Aug 16th 2024 at 8:33:19 PM

Colloquially, I have a rough idea for what Viral Marketing is supposed to be — basically "non-traditional" marketing that usually makes use of social media — but right now the trope description is pretty vague on specifics and the entries seem like a weird soup of examples that don't reflect on there being a rigid definition. The examples on the trope page alone come in a few different varieties:

  • Fictional websites, videos or similar online media made in the style of the work it's based on.
  • Normal ads released online that just happened to go "viral" (read, got popular) for being effective and memorable ads.
  • Anonymous social media posts that people presume/allege were part of a marketing campaign (most such entries written without proof).
  • Non-internet non-traditional marketing, from placing cryptic posters everywhere to in-person activities like scavenger hunts or ARGs.
  • Traditional marketing trying to push Forced Memes such as hashtags or taglines and catchphrases.

Both the main description for the page and the laconic definitions do a poor job establishing what Viral Marketing actually is, saying it's "Marketing that goes through word of mouth like wildfire," which to me sounds extremely vague — isn't spreading through word of mouth the goal of all marketing campaigns? Why would it being successful and popular be a Trivia trope?

I don't think this needs TRS work because I think there is some more defined understanding of what Viral Marketing actually is — the other wiki's article emphasizes that "Viral Marketing" is more defined by use of social media — but that definition doesn't quite gel with some of the entry types that are very much not based on social media/the internet but are in some capacity "non-traditional" (such as the The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari example, where around its 1920 release, posters saying simply "Du mußt Caligari werden!"/"You must become Caligari!" were placed all over German cities with no context explanation whatever).

I definitely think entries of speculative examples merely accusing viral marketing (like anonymous 4chan posts) should be removed, as well as "normal ad that got popular" entries since that's not what this concept is about, but I'm wondering if there should be some rewriting of the description done to narrow down more concisely what the concept we're trying to go for here, because there are a bunch of different entries that could be potentially valid and interesting as non-traditional/grassroots-style marketing but lack unifying direction.

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number9robotic (Experienced Trainee)
EmeraldSource Since: Jan, 2021
#3: Aug 18th 2024 at 10:55:19 AM

It says right in the description that Viral Marketing is not supposed to feel like traditional marketing. So what is traditional marketing?

  • Commercials saying "Now in Theaters."
  • Posters on billboards and bus stops.
  • Trailers that give a snippet of the story and tone.
  • Actors giving interviews in the press circuit.
  • Product tie-ins.

And so forth. Viral Marketing has always been in reference to indirect ways of catching people's attention, historically that was word of mouth but there was sometimes promotional stunts or Kayfabe that was meant to blur the line of reality. But the internet has given more opportunities:

  • Interactive Websites
  • Alternate Reality Games
  • Nonsensical Attention-Grabbing Memes
  • Found Footage promotional material

And so forth.

Comics are just words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures.
Reymma RJ Savoy from Edinburgh Since: Feb, 2015 Relationship Status: Wanna dance with somebody
RJ Savoy
#4: Aug 19th 2024 at 7:58:24 AM

There's a tendency to use the term to mean fake viral marketing, which should be termed Astroturfing instead.

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Khoshekh6 Since: May, 2022
#5: Aug 19th 2024 at 1:38:17 PM

Astroturfing is specifically fake grassroots campaigns, not all fake viral marketing would fall under that umbrella

Alot of fake viral ads take the form of what is seemingly a run of the mill viral video, but is actually staged and has some product or something sneakily included

Like that tape measure trickshot video that was an ad for windows

EmeraldSource Since: Jan, 2021
#6: Aug 19th 2024 at 2:17:32 PM

Yeah, Astro Turfing is corporate sponsored "concerned citizens" campaigns.

Real Trailer, Fake Movie may be more in line with Fake Viral Marketing, but the trope itself is ALSO one form of Viral Marketing via Show Within a Show.

Comics are just words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures.
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