Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Power of word-of-mouth turned simple everyday thing into Viral Marketing - Rapping Southwest Flight Attendant

Like the spreading of the epidemic Swine Flu H1N1, viral marketing spreads through viral processes to reach a large number of people rapidly. It is word-of-mouth delivered and enhanced online. (Ref.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing)

Below video - A Southwest flight attendant rapped his announcement in March this year, I think is a good example to reflect the power of word-of-mouth.
A passenger on the flight took this video and posted it on Utube. The great number of views made in a short period induced CNN to report it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbR_0hGxfZI&feature=related).
Knowing how famous this staff had become, Southwest grabbed this opportunity to launch its viral marketing campaign with this famous staff. It invites this famous rapping flight attendant to attend and rap in the company's activities, such as the shareholders' meeting . All his rappings were recorded and posted on Utube. Both Southwest and this flight attendant had become famous in the US.
This example points out two important attributes of viral marketing: 1) Simple everyday things can result in viral marketing, once they are made into something unusual and interesting to draw people's attention as to create word-of-mouth. 2) The power of word-of-mouth can bring out a great effect from a simple thing. This was totally started by an ordinary staff who did something a little bit special, but had caused a great impact. It has acted as free publicity and has raised awareness of Southwest. This positive viral marketing effect works better than any multi-million dollar commercial.

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