Best Western IAKI chose to do viral marketing for branding purposes. Entertainment, content, quality and sharing the goals, we see the response of IAKI. Sandro Marchetti, IAKI CEO, tells us the strengths of the approach.
What is the viral marketing project?
Best Western’s need was to spread online a viral content capable, through spontaneous word of mouth, to convey its values in an indirect way and not overtly commercial, and support such a position which is one of the latest in the industry. The choice fell on a viral video that IAKI chose to make interactive, turning it into a generator of customized dedications to friends, choosing from five different themes conveyed through a microsite and a Facebook application.
A clear choice of communication, then.
Yes. The idea was to not rely solely on the creative appeal of the video, for its viralization, but to create the most fertile conditions around for its spread. That meant not only to do viral marketing, but to built around a real brand community through Facebook marketing as well. In the case of the mini-site, videos can be shared via email and social network; on Facebook, the possibilities grow even more through the notifications of the application (reaching not only the recipients of the video, but also the larger network of their contacts, creating a continuous buzz).
How is the video customized?
It ‘s very simple. The users enter their name, choose and edit a picture of a friend, select the theme for their dedication and forward the video (on Facebook we have also added two features that create synergy with the media: the ability to select the photos directly from those recipient of the video and a signaling function for friends close to their birthday, fir the theme of “Happy Birthday”). The recipient receives a video with a well-developed web design: an intriguing journey in first person, on a car, through a city where mysteriously, shot by shot, on a billboard, a newspaper, a wall, and so on, his face and some posts dedicated to him appear; until we find out in the end, surprisingly, that he himself was driving the car. In the middle of a world tailored on himself, even if only for two minutes: exactly how a Best Western customer should feel like. Naked and pure branding.
A project of viral marketing like this also needs some support from communication?
Let’s say that the results are immeasurably better and faster. We’ve done buzz marketing by spreading news about the project online, we’ve recruited bloggers to talk about the viral idea and IAKI digital team thoroughly managed a seeding activity. Regarding Facebook we then added a campaign to display adv rail and integrated into a broader strategy for social media marketing to a digital PR activity.
What’s the strong point of the project then?
There are two, in my opinion: one strategic and the other technological. Having chosen to spread a viral video through a Facebook application has been profitable for the brand from a viral marketing point of view (every single post, which is shared by hundreds of people, generates a flow of information that is propagated by many to many) both of its location, which emerges as proactive and innovative. The second strength of “Dedicated to” is the technology used by the application, both in the realism of the video customization, and in the seamless integration of sharing functions.
In viral marketing projects large numbers are often generated, but little brand recognition, or at worst a detachment from the brand values, right?
We always think about this during the creative design and the choice of channels. It’s important that the buzz does not only generate word of mouth, but creates also leads, increases the memorability of the brand, reinforces the positioning. In this case we started from the brand values when we created the video, transforming it from movie for its own sake, to a video dedications service, with 5 customizable themes sewn on the wishes of the users (Happy Birthday, Good Luck, In love, King for two minutes and You asked for it) and with an approach “towards the other” that is in the DNA of Best Western.
And the other difficulty of such operations is often their lack of measurability…
Yes, when you put a viral video online it is difficult and expensive to monitor its spreading and that’s why we chose microsite and Facebook. In any case, in this project we used our proprietary monitoring tool – IAKI viral traking – that allows us to measure the on-going performance of the operations and to optimize the communication activities in the process, while the client can monitor in real time the effectiveness of their investment.