Wonderful Viral Marketing Example
I don’t know how many clients and potential clients I have talked to that have expressed interest in creating a “viral” video. What they don’t understand is that while we would certainly hope for it to go viral, it is a fool’s game to state upfront that we are going to create a video that will go viral. Those that do are few and far between and unexpected like Chocolate Rain, Susan Boyle or Numa Numa.
In addition to video, there are other elements of marketing campaigns that can go viral as well. The New York Times yesterday reported on the unexpected benefits that TripAdvisor is receiving from the promotion of a non-existent B&B, Shrute Farms.
For those of you who are not fans of The Office, Schrute Farms is a fictitious beet farm turned B&B owned by character Dwight Shrute from the NBC show and his cousin Mose. During one episode Schrute Farms was listed as “the lifeblood of argotourism” on TripAdvisor.com. Flash forward a couple of months and there are now almost 650 (a far cry from the millions of video views, but significantly more reviews than most major Manhattan hotels) reviews of this non-existent inn by real people who have claimed to have stayed there. Some reviews praise the hands-on activities and wonderful food such as beet pudding, while others chastise owner Dwight as an “overbearing survivalist who appears to have escaped from the local mental asylum.”
The resultant popularity has been a boon for TripAdvisor who has had to add a caveat to the page stating that the B&B was fictitious after a complaint from a user who was genuinely interested in visiting the farm.
While it is hard to predict viralness of efforts, key ingredients are engaged customers (viewers, users, employees etc.), ease of sharing and a bit of relevant quirkiness. Naturally, there are no guarantees but when these elements are present, customers may in fact start beeting a path to your door.
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