'Viral Loop' by Adam L. Penenberg - The Power Of Pass-It-On

At the Adtech London conference I presented my model of 'the Destination and the Conversation' and spoke about how everything now works together.

Traditionally it was (primarily) about pushing people to a Destination (a website, a microsite etc) through broadcasting a message along the lines of 'go here now!' However, the prolification of social platforms on the web has now added a second element to marketing, 'the Conversation.' The Conversation is where people discuss, share and interact in online social spaces - from blogs to Facebook to YouTube etc.

The Destination and The Conversation from my presentation to Adtech
(click for larger / higher res image)

Brands are now able to directly participate in and leverage this Conversation. This delivers traffic to the Destination, but in a more subtle and potentially engaging way than traditional broadcast messaging.

The real value though comes from a kind of built in, self-fulfilling loop. The more people who go to the Destination, the more prominently it features in the Conversation and thus the more people go to the Destination and so on (all the time improving Search Engine visibility and further enhancing 'discoverability.')

I go into more depth on how these mechanics work on a previous post about The Destination and The Conversation here.

This idea of a continuous loop is also a key component of a new book by Adam L Penenberg - 'Viral Loop: The Power of Pass-it-on.'



Viral Loop says 'the potential of pass-it-on lay unrealised until forward-thinking Web companies got hold of it and created their own, mightily efficient, money-spinning model known as Viral Loop - the ability to grow a company exponentially because the customers themselves spread it.'

Viral Loop is an interesting read, featuring a multitude of examples and first hand accounts as well as occassional theories on virality measures. The text covers examples of early viral loop businesses such as Ponzi schemes and Tupperware, before arriving at the current day with discussions of social networks and the like.

In some ways Viral Loop also acts as a history of Web 2.0, analysing some of the online success stories from recent years. Penenberg goes into depth on sites like Hot Or Not, looks at the origins of Hotmail (and how the Hotmail mesage footer spread the service), looks at Ebay and Paypal, how Birthday Alarm evolved into Bebo, browser wars and Marc Andreesen (charting his progress from Mosaic designer to Ning founder) before moving on to more recent developments such as Friendster, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

The book is also peppered with examples of how different people have harnessed the Viral Loop to gain attention for their products and creations. For example how independent film makers harnessed the Loop to gain attention for films like 'Four Eyed Monsters' and 'Open Water' or highlighting activity such as the Mentos / Diet Coke YouTube experiments - all set against the context of the Loop.

Furthermore, in its promotional campaign Viral Loop tries to practice what it preaches. The book has beenserialised in Wired UK, has seen guest posts penned for sites like Techcrunch and Viral Loop has a trailer on YouTube here:

Popout
Viral Loop is also represented through specially created social applications. The Social Networking Application 'How Much Are You Worth to Facebook and MySpace?' can be accessed at viralloop.com/social and a Viral Loop Predictions App for iPhone can be downloaded through iTunes or from viralloop.com/prediction - with everything highlighted by the author on his @Penenberg Twitter account.

I recommend Viral Loop to anyone working in or around online / social marketing. The book provides a wealth of examples showing how the Loop has been used, as well as outlining some frameworks for planning / analysing viral distribution (viral co-efficients etc.)

Related posts

My presentation to Adtech London - 'The Destination and The Conversation'

GEMAS effie MENA Awards 2009 shortlist

Non-Food FMCG Sensodyne Pronamel (GSK): Mumpowerment Sunsilk (Unilever): Sunsilk Day Clorox: Green Works Pond's (Unilever): The launch of Pond's in GCC Nivea (Beiersdorf): Beauty is Nivea Pronamel for Children (GSK): Consumer Testimonials Carefree (Johnson & Johnson): Carefree ME launch Corega (GSK): Consumer Testimonials Pantene (P&G): Credentialing Marketing Campaign Clorox: Clorox Health & Wellness Campaign Development Parachute (Marico): Effective Differentiation Band Aid (Johnson & Johnson): Cover the ones you love Food & Beverages FMCG Doritos (SSFL): Guess the Mystery Flavour Coca-Cola: African Cup of Nations Kraft Cheddar Cheese (Kraft Foods): Winning the battle of the sexes Oasis (NFPC Oasis): Water for Africa Special K (Kellogg's): Drop of Jeans Size Galaxy (Mars Inc): Fall in Love Again Special K (Kellogg's): Red Dress Competition Galaxy (Mars Inc): New Shape Maxwell House Trio (Kraft Foods): Maxwell Trio Time Office Party Masafi: Fruitherapy Best New Product Launch Gillette Vector Plus (P&G): Airforce Academy Pond's (Unilever): The launch of Pond's in GCC Illume energy efficient bulbs (Ecobility): Make the Switch Zee Aflam: Zee Aflam launch Persil (Henkel): creating a new laundry category Doritos (SSFL): Guess the mystery flavour Sensodyne (GSK): Mumpowerment Le Mall (Acres Devt Holding): Le Mall launch Emirates NBD: 0% Installment Plan Best Use of CSR Oasis (NFPC Oasis): Water for Africa Masafi: Corporate Recycling Initiative P&G: Create Heroes Project Launch GM: Buckle up Child Seat Safety Illume energy efficient bulbs (Ecobility): Make the Switch MAF Properties: Make a Difference this Ramadan Banking/Finance RAK Bank: RAKMAN Mashreq Bank: Mashreq Corporate Insurance Federation of Egypt: Awareness campaign Noor Islamic Bank: launch campaign Mashreq Bank: Get the Message Mashreq Bank: Etisalat Mashreq Credit Card Best Youth Marketing Campaign Aveo (GM): Totally Street MBC: Movies in Motion Mars Ice Cream (Mars Inc): Funk up Your Price Doritos (SSFL): Guess the Mystery Flavour Clean N Clear (Johnson & Johnson): Touch 10 KitKat (Nestle): The Kit Kat Chunky Boys Microsoft Gulf: Imagine Cup Automotive  Alhamrani United Co.: Alhamrani After Sales ACDelco (GM): The YES Campaign Ford Fiesta (Ford Motor Co): Ford Fiesta Launch Cadillac (GM): Cadillac CTS Aveo (GM):  Totally Street Volkswagen: Integrated Campaign for Launch Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Bahrain City Centre (MAF Properties): A Groundbreaking Mall Experience WOMAD Abu Dhabi (ADACH): Bringing the people of Abu Dhabi together Emirates T3 (Emirates Airline): A Destination in Itself Etihad: Etihad Marries India to the world Al Qasba (Al Qasba Devt Authority): Welcome Back Visitors Media/Internet/Content Provider The Economist: Join the Global Conversation - UAE Noor Islamic Bank: Launch Campaign Zee Aflam: Zee Aflam channel launch Telecommunications Saudi Telecom Co: New Day, New Dawn Real Estate ETA Star Property Developers: Developer of the Year Bahrain City Centre (MAF Properties): A Groundbreaking Mall Experience Electronics/Computers HP: HP Dr. Printer

Cannes Lions speaks out…finally

Statement From Cannes Lions On 'Scam' Entries

14 October 2009

Following detailed consultation and discussion with industry leaders, the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival wishes to make clear its policy on entries into its Festivals which breach the rules.

There are many definitions of “scam”, and the issue is rarely black and white. As such, we want to develop a policy that is not only workable but also enforceable.

The role of Cannes Lions and its associated Festivals (Eurobest, Dubai Lynx and Spikes Asia) is to set the benchmark for creativity in communications, to celebrate creativity and to reward the industry for outstanding creative work.

Our role is not to come between the client and the agency; it is not to have a negative material effect on agency business; and it is not to penalise individuals from an agency who have not had any association with the work in question. 

Our key rules in this regard are simple: “Entries cannot be made without the prior permission of the advertiser/owner of the rights of the advertisement. All entries must have been made within the context of a normal paying contract with a client. That client must have paid for all, or the majority of, the media costs.”

It is our policy that when a piece of work comes into question, we request clarification or further information according to the complaint raised. If it is not forthcoming or not adequate, we withdraw the award. 

In future we will continue to withdraw awards that do not meet our entry criteria and announce that we have done so. 

Our entry criteria include: 

- Submitting full client details (including name, position and full contact details)
- A senior officer (CD, CEO or Chairman) from the entrant company must authorise the entry 

Our checks include: 

- That the client is legitimate and that the product corresponds with their portfolio
- Judges are offered the opportunity to raise queries with the organisers and information is gathered accordingly throughout the judging (media schedules, client authorisation, etc.) 

We believe that banning agencies from entering on a wholesale basis is unfair on blameless individuals. There are many people who work in agencies who may not be involved with an erroneous entry and therefore should not be penalised. Our policy will be to ban the individuals named on the credit list if a scam is discovered. 

The length and nature of the ban will be decided based on the seriousness of the case involved. We take the view that not all issues are the same and each case should be dealt with on its own merits. 

In summary, the key issues which will guide us through this process are: 

1) Was the work approved and paid for by the client and was it run using media space paid for by the client? 
2) If an entry fails to meet this or other entry criteria, we will withdraw the award and make an appropriate announcement. 
3) If we deem it is required, we will ban the individuals involved from entering our awards for a specific period of time which will be decided at that time. 

- Ends -

For further information, please contact:
Amanda Benfell, PR & Press Manager 
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
Greater London House, Hampstead Road, London NW1 7EJ, United Kingdom
Tel: +44-20-7728 4040; Fax: +44-20-7728 4044; 
E-mail: amandab@canneslions.com

Axe| Gravity

Cellphones banking

Cellphone overtakes PC for banking

JOHANNESBURG:- The number of people banking from their cellphones has exceeded that of people banking from their PCs in South Africa, with more than a quarter of bank customers turning to their cellphones for services ranging from informational transaction types such as balance enquiries to financial transaction types which include account payments.

This was one of the key findings from the consumer phase of the Mobility 2009 research project, released today by leading market research organisation World Wide Worx. The study was backed by First National Bank (FNB), leaders in cellphone banking in Africa, and Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry solution.

“It is encouraging to see that not only in FNB, but across the country, cellphone banking is now part of people’s lives,” says Len Pienaar, CEO, FNB mCommerce.

The Mobility 2009 study is being conducted in four phases, with the first three looking at the use of mobile technologies by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Consumers and Corporations, and the final phase exploring the Mobile Internet. In the second phase, announced at a press conference today, it was revealed that, while 16% of banking customers in South Africa use the internet for banking, 28% use their cellphones. A total of 34% of banking customers use one or both of these channels. Outside of the branch and ATMs, only 6% relying exclusively on the internet, while 18% rely only on cellphone banking.

“The fact that services like cellphone banking are taking off so strongly shows that consumers no longer see their cellphones only as voice and text messaging devices, but use them stay in touch with everything that matters in their business and personal lives,” says Deon Liebenberg,Regional Director for Sub Sahara Africa at RIM. “With a device like a BlackBerry smartphone, you have immediate access to financial information, your accounts and banking services while you are on the go, wherever you are.”

The study revealed that the main services driving cellphone banking were balance enquiries and notifications of transactions, with three quarters of cellphone bankers using these features. Just under half view statements on their cellphones, 35% transfer between accounts, and 28% pay accounts on their cellphones. In contrast, only 8% add beneficiaries via the cellphone, indicating both security concerns and set-up issues.

“Our research shows that South Africans are becoming comfortable with cellphone banking, but precisely half of general banking customers are still nervous of it, citing trust as their major concern,” says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx. “However, this concern must be seen in the light of 34% also saying the issue is not knowing how to use the service.”

“Although we have made great inroads, two-thirds of banked people still don’t use electronic channels, other than an ATM,” says Pienaar.

At the same time, two thirds of cellphone banking users were satisfied with the security of the channel. This suggests that, once customers start using cellphone banking, they grow increasingly confident in both security and usability aspects.

“We have seen this rapid adoption driven by our USSD menu service, although I believe that WAP will start to play a more important role in future,” says Pienaar.

Liebenberg adds: “The success of cellphone banking shows that there is a strong demand in South Africa for powerful and easy to use mobile data services and applications that help people to save time and stay in control of their lives at all times. With mobile penetration at more than 114% in South Africa, we can expect to see the adoption of mobile banking and other personal services and applications ramp up quickly.”

The study also shows purchasing via the cellphone beginning to take off, with 24% of cellphone banking customers purchasing prepaid electricity and 21% making general purchases like movie tickets and flowers. Purchase of airtime still leads the way here, accounting for 61% of cellphone banking users.

Mobility 2009 included research among 1,000 consumers in metropolitan areas, 1,000 SMEs and 240 large enterprises in South Africa. - 3 November 2009

In a nutshell:

Services driving cellphone banking:

• Balance enquiry: 74%
• Notifications: 73%
• Buying airtime: 61%
• Statement/mini-statement: 48%
• Notification of account limit: 47%
• Transfer funds between accounts: 35%
• Pay accounts: 28%
• Buy pre-paid electricity: 24%
• Make a purchase: 21%

Campaign Vs.Conversation

This graph clearly and neatly map the differences between the two approaches and  this RGA film talkes about the importance of long term brand platforms.

Campaigns versus conversations Infographic by Kenneth J Weiss

The danger, however, is that the believe that we can simply shine a spotlight on the conversation, abandon the campaign and leave consumers to it. It’s dangerous for a number of reasons:

1. They may not be saying very much at all. Writing about launching “Brands in Public” Seth Godin observes “If your brand has any traction at all people are talking about you”. That’s partially true of course, but only partially. If you’re say a bread brand, a detergent brand or a toilet paper brand they may not be saying a lot.  As Oscar Wilde so memorably put it “The only thing worse than been talked about is not being talked about”.Or is it…
2. In the absence of something positive to respond to, the conversation may be dominated by customer service issues or by mischief making. The Skittles experiment is a case in point where without a conversation starter from the brand the conversation is effectively high-jacked. Indeed many brand owners’ reaction to the Brands in Public initiative seems to indicate that simply letting the conversation run without interesting brand stimulus and curation is problematic for any number of brands.
3. Our brands become the guy with no opinion-the one who responds to every question with “I don’t know, what do you think?”

Skittles' Twitter Homepage Experiment

It’s very easy to see the campaign as the poster child for everything that is wrong with communications today-monolithic, monomaniacal and myopic. But do any of us really want to talk to a brand with nothing to say for itself? The people I want to talk to are the ones who tell me interesting stories, make me laugh or show me something beautiful. The brands people participate with most are arguably the ones generating the most interesting material of their own. So perhaps we need to re-frame the way we think about campaigns, seeing them not as egomaniacal, one-way rants but as conversation starters and stimulators-the jokes, stories and provocations that start a conversation, keep it going, keep it interesting.

Benjamin Palmer of the Barbarian Group in an excellent-and provocative-post on the subject of brands and conversations emphasises this need to do something worth talking about:

“I can’t help but feel that while we’re in a phase where our industry is looking at social media as a new marketing platform, what we should be thinking is that it’s just the newest place our audience goes to to talk about us when we do something worth talking about”

Smart and nuanced stuff, though I’m not sure I agree 100%. There’s no question that the age of the monologue is over. The conversations between brands and their consumers happen in the open today and we either embrace that or lose all control of the dialogue. Likewise, as media platforms fragment we need to create our own platforms; brand destinations delivering ongoing utility and entertainment. As consumers become ever more empowered and expressive we will want to embrace that expressive-ness and co-create with them.

Clearly, any smart social media thinkers will find ways of managing and directing the conversation. They will understand the role of content in giving shape to conversations, they will know how to associate brands with the subjects consumers do want to talk about, they will build in simple and scaleable ways of joining a conversation. They will find ways of aggregating the conversation into something bigger and more beautiful than the sum of its parts.

But we believe campaigns also have a pivotal role to play if we want our brands to be involved in the right kinds of conversations:

• Campaigns start conversations: Campaigns are the jokes, the chat-up lines, the anecdotes that get conversations started. Done right, they make our brands look interesting, sexy and funny-the kind of brand you want to talk back to. Campaigns bring people to platforms.
• Campaigns refresh and expand conversations: So you’ve started a conversation. People are talking about the brand, passing around branded content, buzzing about the campaign. You’ve used that buzz to draw some people into a deeper conversation, perhaps engaging with a long-term brand platform or utility. Now you want 1. to give those people something new to talk about and 2. to draw more people into that deeper relationship.
• Campaigns amplify conversations: You may have a hard core of loyal users who talk to you all the time. They’re fascinating individuals, they make excellent comments, they co-create some fantastic content with the brand. But they’re maybe 1% of your target audience. Campaigns can give these users and their content a much broader stage to play on.

The role of campaigns in conversation thinking

Of course, to do all this we need to be designing the right kind of campaign. Campaigns that provoke, entertain and inspire, campaigns that invite participation, campaigns that are designed to move consumers from buzzing about brand content towards a richer, longer term dialogue. We need to design in social features from the outset and incentivise social spread. We need to make a Campaign’s ability to drive participation a key metric, to try more things more quickly and see what catches fire. Campaigns have long been designed to be talked about, it’s time to start designing them to be talked to.

If we think of conversations as the fire and campaigns as the fuel for those conversations, it’s pretty clear we need both. There’s no fire without a spark. There’s not much heat without fuel.