The holy grail for many online social media marketers is creating a true viral campaign that sticks with consumers and (Deity-of-your-choice willing) resonates with the kids and inbeds itself into pop culture . Enter Amazon’s Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt product review by B. Govern, a hillarious customer review which has not only gone viral but changed the North American fashion landscape for better or for worse… Most defintely for worse!
Video – The Tool of Choice for Viral Campaigns
More often than not, online viral campaigns rely on free-to-air videos (read: YouTube) as they can communicate emotionality in one ‘super sweet’ multi-sensory medium. You’ve got the high impact visual – think Carlton’s Big Ad or Guiness’ Evolution… And you have sound; recall Bud’s Swear Jar Ad (don’t open this at work!) or Terry Tate Office Linebacker (really a blend of visual and sound, but I like it…) And best of all, video requires very little effort to take this viral goodness in – it’s a fantastic way to quickly reach a great mass of people.
Universal Search – Video, Forums, Reviews…
With Google Universal Search (a blending of video, reviews, forums, local business ads and traditional web content) increasingly creeping into Google’s interface, getting something to go viral around a top keyword could prove an SEO goldmine for marketers who know what they’re doing.
Imagine for example if your brand occupied the top positions on Google for a very lucrative keyword like heatlh insurance through a savvy blend of viral videos, relevant customer reviews or customer forums, local business outlets , etc…
Enter the Three Wolf Moon Shirt Review
Now imagine if you had a hideous piece of merchandise you needed to offload, say a whole warehouse’s worth of atrocious looking shirts with ‘artistically drawn’ wolves howling at a full moon – the type of shirt you’d see on sale at flea markets, strip malls and mega discount stores. How would you go about drumming up interest for this unique product?
Amazon's Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt
Clearly you’d have your hands full… And that’s where a clever viral marketing campaign can pay off.
I don’t know how many Wolf Shirts Amazon has cleared off the shelves, but seeing how many mankinis I saw post Borat (don’t ask me where or how…), it wouldn’t surprise me if Three Wolf Moon T-Shirts were sold in the thousands following this review.
The Power of Social Media – Sales $$$
And that’s the moral of this story. Clever viral social media can get you sales. Just look at how many follow up (and absolutely hillarious) comments followed this review to end all reviews…
Another lesson to be drawn: viral marketing needn’t be all about video or require you to shell out an arm and a leg in production costs. A simple review, well-worded and witty, can start a revolution and even influence the course of fashion among meth addicts!
Have you bought your Wolf Shirt yet? Don’t be the last one in your neighbourhood to flaunt the power of the Wolf!