The Viral Series II: The importance of branding in viral marketing

Here are some of the most popular viral services:

MySpace - FaceBook - YouTube - Bebo - LinkedIn

Notice that these brands all share branding communalities:

1- Small names (1, 2 syllables), easy to remember
2- You can use them as verbs (i.e, “Vivian YouTubed her birthday party”; “I am Linked-In to Jack”, etc.)
3-When you think of their names, you can picture their logos in your head
4- These brands fulfill the promises in their names:

--> MySpace is a space I can customize because it is “mine” and as the name says, it is "my space"
--> YouTube grants you the ability to “tube” what you want, to “televise” , to “broadcast” and also to create your own “channels”
--> FaceBook was originally created for college kids
--> LinkedIn connects you to your professional network


So when you create your own service or app, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, research previous success and failure stories and adapt the lessons you have learned to your branding promises.

I always suggest also hiring a communications expert. There are excellent agencies out there that are specialized only on branding.

Global branding
Be aware that what may work in one side of the planet, may not in the other. Orkut is an excellent example: it reached critical mass in Brazil but it does not appeal to users in other countries. Therefore, when creating an international brand, keep in mind to hire an international communications professional as well.

How Globalization Strengthens Silicon Valley

There was an interesting article this weekend on the San Jose Mercury News. It said that in spite of the globalization and the rise of tech hubs in countries like Israel, China and India, there is no immediate threat to Silicon Valley’s economy and it remains strong as the heart of innovation and industry.

Various reasons: from Social Networks headquartered in the Bay Area that conquers audiences worldwide to companies such as HP and Cisco soaring from the expansion of global markets.

In a recent statement, HP highlighted how revenue from the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - had increased 37% percent compared with the same quarter in 2006. And Cisco reported 45% year-over-year growth in emerging markets.

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If on one hand businesses that are started in the valley expand throughout the world, on the other hand the valley also attracts the world to itself. Silicon Valley draws highly skilled professionals from different parts of the globe: according to the same article, 55% of its science and engineering professionals were born abroad.

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Still on foreign born executives, here’s a must read. It is called “They Made It”. It’s a compilation of interviews with some of the top Silicon Valley executives born in France, Israel and India (among many other countries) . You can pre-order you book here.

The Chinese Challenge

BRIC is an economical term used to refer to the combination of 4 emerging countries/ markets: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. By the year 2050 it is estimated that BRIC economies will most likely eclipse some of the wealthiest economies in the world. China is the world's fourth largest economy and one of the major and most interesting challenges they are currently facing is how to transition to capitalism and maintain the peasantry, a pillar in their economic growth.

One of the first tasks I was given as a consultant for a large company that wanted to establish a presence in China was to create a manual of idiosyncrasies for this country including the dos and don’ts. Same as a handshake in the US, in China, part of the business etiquette is exchanging business cards. When someone receives a business card, he must hold it with both hands and pay close attention while reading it.

However, when doing business internationally, common sense plays a very important role: if you are not acquainted with the local etiquette, just treat others with respect and think how you would like to be treated.