You’ve never heard of Ruder- Finn- but, you will.
Sooner or later- someone is going to e-mail you a Mr. Piccassohead- and then you will want to do one too.
What is a Mr. Piccassohead you ask? Well, it’s a Mr. Potato head in 2D online- with Picasso inspired parts to assemble. When you are done- you send it to someone- and they go to the site- and admire your work. While you are at Mr. Picassohead you see the Ruder-Finn logo- and you can click to their site- and read about how their creativity delivers- which it did- it delivered you to their site.
This is an example of viral marketing- where each person you contact, then contacts someone else- and it spreads- just like a virus. There have been other examples of viral marketing- subservientchicken.com for Burger King by Crispin Porter Bogusky helped up the sales of the new BK tender crisp chicken sandwich jump over 270%, Carl’s Jr. is scoring points with a naughty Paris Hilton video that is “too hot for TV” to hawk their latest belly buster. If CKE Restaurants had run the spot on TV it would have cost them millions, by producing a spot that was controversial, they got millions in free media exposure. This is what viral marketing/ PR ploy’s are all about.
The difference between Mr. Picassohead and Spicy Paris- is the difference between art and porn. But, considering the audience for fast food is hormonally charged young men- they are both effective.
Viral is here to stay. The original online viral campaign was for free e-mail, with a message on the bottom of every hotmail delivered e-mail asking you to sign up for hotmail. It’s come a long way since then. We’ve only just seen the beginning.
“I love you too, but…. (ode to Roy Lichtenstien)
a Mr. Picassohead drawing by Atalie Gagnet
What do you think?