Everybody?s talking about?

When mass word-of-mouth is passed on digitally it is commonly described as ‘viral’. The advent of so-called web 2.0 has meant it’s become easier to share information communally and to spread the word like wildfire. We’ve all received a chain mail or a jokey video clip. When this activity is engineered for commercial purposes, it’s known as ‘viral marketing’. Stories of campaign successes have become viral tales in themselves. Hotmail famously grew from 0 to 12 million subscribers in 18 months via their signature on every member’s email – an invitation to sign up for a free account. Other well-known examples include promotion for the film, ‘The Blair Witch Project’ and the Agent Provocateur ad featuring Kylie Minogue on YouTube.

Through my own work I know that networkers, known as arts ambassadors, use online methods to promote upcoming events. They email their networks and create Facebook and MySpace pages on behalf of cultural organisations to generate awareness and attendance. I was curious to find out more about the potential for viral marketing in the cultural sector and began some informal research. I discovered plenty of arts organisations using viral promotion techniques, but does this produce sales? “Yes it does, if done well,” says Kingsley Jayasekera, Director of Marketing and Communications at Sadler’s Wells. He sends me a sample email for their recent street dance show, ‘Insane in the Brain’. It’s entitled, ‘Hi I thought you might be interested in this show’. Clicking on ‘Forward to a friend for the chance to win an i-Pod Touch’ opens a sound-blasting e-flyer with its own menu: trailer, show footage, live box office connection and the i-Pod opportunity. Unlike passive print, it is ‘alive’ and memorable. By tracking clicks, ‘forwards’ and site visits, they know it works.

World Wide Widgets

The tools available for viral promotion include videos, emails, Bluetooth, SMS/MMS messaging, media files, micro-sites, social network sites and blogs. Content can include competitions, jokes, voting, freebies, podcasts and something called ‘widgets’. Jim Richardson of Sumo Design has created widgets for several UK museums and explains that a widget is a mini application that can be downloaded to a desktop or added to a social network site. Artshare for example is “…a Facebook widget developed by The Brooklyn Museum”, which allows users to share works of art from museums around the world or even upload their own efforts. “Just under 3,000 people have added the widget to their Facebook profile since it was launched at the end of 2007. If the average user has 150 contacts, then this has virally delivered information… to around 450,000 people.”

Sowing the seed

There are no guarantees a viral campaign will go stellar, but creative thinking can result in some surprising viral ‘stars’. The witty ‘Will It Blend?’ videos posted on YouTube demonstrate that it is possible to reduce an i-Pod to dust in a blender. If kitchen appliances can be made into a hot topic, then surely the arts have a head start. No matter how good the content, ‘seeding’ is key: engaging influencers (aka ‘sneezers’) who will pass it on. Social network sites, such as Facebook and YouTube or blogging communities, such as Squidoo are a critical part of the toolkit since they are designed for information sharing. There are thousands of social networks out there, varied enough to suit all tastes, and some are artform-specific, such as www.dilettantemusic.com aimed at classical music lovers.

Enabling web users to pass on information easily is also aided by providing tools such as ‘social bookmarks’ where visitors can flag up favourite sites for a wider community to discover. Digg, del.icio.us and StumbleUpon are some prominent examples. It’s now illegal in the UK to ‘seed’ positive brand messages by pretending to be a consumer, so covert promotion is banned. Rather than blatant promotion, Yemisi Blake, a seasoned arts blogger suggests “creating value in the community”, a more educational, ethical approach meaning, “…using the technology to further an understanding of an issue or spread an idea to people who might not know about it”.

As well as supporting brand awareness and connection, viral outreach also enables the collection of new database contacts when recipients of emails and videos visit a promoter’s website to sign up or download. Viral marketing isn’t an exact science. There is a possibility that a ‘viral’ won’t reach its target audience, but it’s important to give it a fair chance by ensuring content, response incentives and seeding strategies match the target.

The downside

Campaigns don’t have to be expensive, but they do require effort and creativity. Richardson says, “A widget is complex enough to require a programmer, but simple enough that it shouldn’t cost a fortune. Most web designers should be able to build a widget in a day or two depending on what you want it to do.” There are other challenges associated with mass digital conversation, not least the ubiquitous ‘spam’. Speculation, misinformation and lampooning can also be problematic. The ‘Evolution’ ad by cosmetics company Dove (where an ‘ordinary woman’ is transformed into a supermodel using Photoshop) spawned witty spoofs on YouTube such as the male slob spoof and the carved pumpkin spoof. But other Dove ads attracted a less playful response including Onslaught(er), a clever Greenpeace parody which questions the company’s affiliations. The unpredictable nature of viral campaigns goes with the territory, however. “You have to accept a lack of control… Have fun with it and don’t be too rigid or controlling,” advises Jayasekera.

New wave

Digital communication has started to influence the way things look and happen in the arts: the ICA site looks like a cult blog or ezine, Birmingham’s Fierce Festival has used online voting to influence event content, and ‘mobile clubbers’ have danced en masse to ‘silent’ music on their headphones at random public spaces including Tate Modern. Seth Godin, bestselling author of e-book ‘Unleashing the Idea Virus’, goes so far as to suggest that “The winners are arts organisations that create events that ARE viral!” Customers are more in control than ever of how messages are spread, and of the message itself. Arts organisations are seeking guidance on viral campaigns: the risks, technology and how to track their effectiveness. But changes are happening fast. Web 3.0 is coming soon, and with it the demand for an increasingly bespoke menu of on-line services. The arts organisations that thrive in this communication arena will be those who stay ahead of the game.