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.

Global Branding and Ries’ 22 Immutable Rules

I am often hired as a consultant to companies that need to create and implement global branding strategies to increase their presence as well as expand their market share. These are different challenges, but most of the times, they come together with a very similar set of questions. Most companies are looking for a cost effective formula to launch products and services and acquire a loyal user base that grows exponentially (virally).

Let’s face it: Branding is crucial. If you are looking for basic branding rules, I suggest reading Al Ries’ 22 immutable Laws of Branding. When working with global branding, remember to prioritize your demographics and adapt the rules regionally, without losing the brand identity.

Here is one excellent example: In order to expand to Israel, McDonald's needed respect the local culture and as a result modify some of its key characteristics (such as menu items) without losing its brand consistency. Besides changing its menu to offer 100% kosher beef and non-dairy products (including no cheeseburgers), they decided to also close on Saturdays and religious holidays. In addition to that, their commitment to give back to the local communities is kept as they donate hundreds of thousands of NIS to charities which benefit children such as The Shnider Hospital for Children; Make a Wish Association; The Fighting Cancer Association, and etc.

If you wish to learn more about global branding, please click here to read a previous post.

To share your opinion with me and International Communications’ readers, please click on the comments link.

Global Audiences II: Dove's Ads in Hong Kong

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is one of my favorite campaigns. By far one of the best I have seen in the last 5 years, for several reasons. It stands out for its honesty, the strong emotional appeal and the universal theme.

Actually the theme is so universal, that even the version made for the Hong Kong market remains basically the same. Here are the two ads and how they adapted the same message and format to the two different demographics:

More than Words for a Global Audience

I am a big advocate for using as many visual aids as you can in order to convey your message as clearly as possible. You will also find out that humor will be one the best allies you will ever have in order to ensure that your message comes across easily, especially in advertisement. Take this Chinese Menthos ad for example (no need to speak Chinese in order to understand it) :

I also wanted to thank Kare for a previous comment on this blog and bringing up the TBS Very Funny Ads.

If you are interested in watching other Very Funny TBS ads, go to: http://veryfunnyads.com/ads/25650.html

Comments? Suggestions? Other great ads? Do not hesitate sharing your ideas with us. Go ahead and click on the comment link.

Global PR: Sell your story, not your products

In terms of Dollars, a good PR campaign may be much more effective than plain advertising or other marketing tactics. When information comes from a reliable source like the press, whatever you sell gains instant credibility.

But how do you get your word out? How do you get the press to comment on your product or service? Do you just pick up the phone and pitch these writers?

Well, that's when a good PR professional is needed. I have worked on both sides of the counter, in a PR agency and leading in-house PR, and I created campaigns for very diverse markets such as numerous European countries, South American regions, segmented demographics here in the US, etc.

There is no list with what is absolutely necessary for you to do in PR, it all depends on a matrix of elements. However, I would suggest avoiding certain things when pitching the press. Yes, your campaign must be innovative and creative, but beware of creating futile and irrelevant buzz. What will draw the attention of the press is neither a full and precise product description nor artificial hooks.

What you need is a good story around your product. Put yourself in the shoes of a journalist. Wouldn’t you be bored to death to copy and paste a product description from a press release into your column? And how would you feel if you had a chance of writing a really juicy story?

If you would like to comment on global PR campaigns, stories, ads, etc, please feel free to. I am eager to hear you opinion.