New Research Warns Of Backfiring Viral Campaigns
Advertisers need to proceed with extreme caution when employing word of mouth and viral marketing campaigns as the results can be potentially catastrophic, according to new research from independent market analyst Datamonitor.
The study suggests that negative experiences, where consumers spread negative or incorrect messages about a brand, can elicit twice as many referrals to friends and family as positive impressions of a company or product, making word of mouth marketing a tricky medium to employ successfully.
The report, entitled by Cutting through the clutter is Viral and Word of Mouth Marketing the answer?, was created by Daniel Bone, consumer markets analyst at Datamonitor, who describes the perils and pitfalls of word of mouth promotion.
He said: “It is worth remembering that bad news often travels much quicker than good news. What’s more, with both viral and word of mouth communication material it is predominately the users and not the advertisers who are in control.”
Bone added: “Recent viral campaigns by Carlsberg and Mastercard have been sabotaged by consumers, leading to a distorted and negative representation of the respective brands among the message recipients.”
Earlier this year ROAR, the collaborative research group run by the Guardian, Channel 4, Emap Advertising and OMD UK, released a study highlighting the advantages of word of mouth marketing to young opinion forming groups, marking the demographic out as a prime target for viral advertisers (see ROAR Talks Up Word Of Mouth Youth Advertising).
However, Datamonitor recommends that marketers use a combination of promotional techniques to minimise the effect of any unsuccessful or sabotaged viral campaigns. The company states that “both V and WOM work best when integrated into the overall marketing mix, and their benefits must be analysed on a brand-by-brand basis because it is potentially a high risk approach.”.
Datamonitor: 0207 675 7202 www.datamonitor.com
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