Mapping the Viral

The process of viral marketing works then when the models of business-to-consumers (b2c) and of consumers-to-consumers (c2c) belong to the same (and simultaneous) online network. Consumers participate in the corporate practice of online advertising through mediated networks. When a company encourages its customers to spread the word by the grace of the assumption of the existence of an active, creative audience that interacts - one way or another - with the ad and each other, networks ^[44] are formed of and for people who share similar interests - either positive or negative. This may vary from, often interwoven, pure entertainment (e.g., BMWfilms.com, playing the online game Mercedes-Benz World Racing, MTV's Christmas 'goodgift'), to critique (e.g., whatisvictoriassecret.com, unbrandamerica.org), to artisanship (e.g., Budweiser spoofs ^[45] , mods). Blurring boundaries between production and distribution are therefore both an advantage and disadvantage for marketing purposes, which will be supported by several examples of highly visible viral campaigns .

What's Not in the Button: Value Proposition of 'Coolness'

Coca-Cola launched CokeMusic.com in June 2002. It is an online meeting place for teens who are really into music. Although the site has an 'invite a friend' button, it has turned out that new users find out about the site by word-of-mouth and private e-mail; the site has over a million views a day, the number of new visitors increases monthly with 200,000, and people spend about 25 minutes on the site ^[46] . The site has two main components that make it 'cool' and make teens want to spread the word about CokeMusic.com. First, there is the 'launching pad' ^[47] which, each month, features music, videos and bios of eight upcoming artists. The site is supposed to be a reliable place to get to know the latest emergent artists who may become the ' next big thing.' Second, the site hosts 'coke studios ' which is a virtual hang out place where registered users can create 'their own music mixes and customized avatars, called V-egos. Each visitor's V-ego allows the person to extend his or her personality into the Web sphere.' ^[48] This means that users can chat, post messages, and listen to each other's music mixes with other V-egos. It pays off to be a good music mixer, which is contextualized within the community by a contest where a user can win 'decibels.' These are a virtual currency and can be used to buy furniture and the like to decorate one's private room. All kinds of games can be played and new games (e.g., 'uncover the music'), skins, and music among others are frequently added to attract and retain users. For instance, around Christmas Santa hats could be worn. In September 2002 Coke promoted American Idol by selling Coca-Cola bottles that had coded caps that could be collected and exchanged for decibels with which one could win prizes from American Idol.

Viral campaigns can also become monstrous, such as happened for Puma. In March 2003 Puma's ads were parodied and distributed widely online. The most popular 'fake ad' was sexually explicit. The ad appeared on Gawker ^[49] , Felix Salmon ^[50] , and MemeFirst among others, and gained over 10,000 hits. The first week Puma did not respond to the spoofs, but then an official statement was made among others on ad-rag.com and blogs .salon.com ^[51] :

It has been brought to our attention that several unauthorized, sexually suggestive advertisements portraying the PUMA brand have been released over the Internet. We are appalled that images like these would be created and distributed under the PUMA name . As a brand, we seek to take a unique perspective toward our advertising in an effort to challenge the boundaries of our industry; however we would never consider using these tactics. We are in the process of researching the circumstances and reserve any legal steps available.

Subsequently Puma started to contact people from the Web sites that had put these ads up. According to Puma these spoofs constituted trademark infringement, defamation, and possibly libel, so they started to threaten legal action if the ads were not taken down. At the same time it was buzzed that these spoofs were an act of sub-viral marketing by Puma itself. Other companies that suffered these kinds of spoofs include Nokia, MasterCard, and Levi's. Some spoofs tend to be more critical than others. For instance the site whatisvictoriassecret.com portrays all lingerie models as bulemics.

Upon entering the site the following statement about Victoria's Secret is made:

We are a group of artists working collaboratively to create projects that use art as a form of social commentary . We created this site to address the ways in which the female body is represented and the concept of beauty is constructed in our society. This isn't about Victora's Secret products, but their choice of advertisements [] that provide the constant onslaught of idealized images of the female body.

Social engagement through 'adbusting' and spreading these ads among peers on the Internet may make viral marketing turn against you.

^[44] Selling through advertising means then creating conditions for contact and experiences on the basis of the advertisement; the relationship between brand and consumer and the relationship between consumer and consumer through the brand. The brand as experience, network, or ˜netbrand' (Geursen, 1994).

^[45] See http://www.completelydifferent.co.uk/collections/wassup/

^[46] See http://www.turboads.comcase_studies/2003features/c20030514.shtml

^[47] It is based on a partnership with AOL Music.

^[48] See http://www.turboads.comcase_studies/2003features/c20030514.shtml

^[49] See http://www.gawker.com/03/03/004875.html

^[50] See http://www.felixsalmon.com/000150.php

^[51] No statement was made on puma.com.