Chain Reaction

Viral marketing has evolved into a 21st century version of the snail mail chain letter of yesteryear. Only the difference is not based on superstition that if you don’t comply with the request you’re in for years of bad luck.

Rather friends pass on quirky new media-induced tidbits of information or fun games precisely because they know their acquaintances’ tastes. When done right, the brand meanwhile gets championed almost subliminally.

But only 15% of marketers over the past year felt they were successful getting their viral messages passed on, according to a JupiterResearch study.

“There is a lot of experimentation going on,” says Michael Greene, a research associate at JupiterResearch. “Marketers put a lot of campaigns out there hoping they will stick. Some are succeeding, but a lot aren’t.”

Obviously letting would-be forwarders know is critical to usage. A house list of opt-in e-mail addresses is a starting point. Another way is to target bloggers to help spread the word.

Jupiter Research’s Greene recommends not underestimating traditional media to call attention.

Office Depot last fall teased on its home page a microsite that let visitors build virtual creatures out of a clipboard chair or clock for a body; scissors, rulers or staplers for arms and a printer or coffeepot for a head.

Apparently a response to the media phenomenon created by rival Office Max’s Elf Yourself campaign in the holiday 2006 season, Office Depot’s first viral foray promotes a product line that has drawn more than 500,000 page views of its The Strange Little Office Beings at www.TheSlobs.com.

Users can send SLOBs to friends and family, challenge others in an online dual, or play against the House SLOBs. Winners earn additional credits to make bigger and better creatures. So far, 120,000 SLOBS have been created.

“We wanted to create a buzz in the industry and engage with our customers in a new and creative way,” says Emily Pelosi, senior manager of online marketing for Office Depot.

Bill Hanekamp, CEO of Microsite.com, a microsite design firm, says viral campaigns should address the following: Is it entertaining? Is it relevant? Is it timely? Is there an exclusive offer?

Sometimes, viral efforts require “a little bit of magic,” says Daniel Stein, CEO/founder of EVB, the digital agency behind Office Max’s “Elf Yourself.”

Take 20th Century Fox. The studio in January launched a humorous viral campaign with actress Carmen Electra to promote “Meet the Spartans,” a spoof of the movie “300.”

People personalize a video by uploading a photo and entering a name and phone number to www.carmenhasacrushonyou.com. In the clip, Electra talks about the movie and her latest love interest: You. Viewers watch their name appear as a tattoo on Electra’s derriere and their picture in her photo album. At the end, recipients get a prerecorded phone call from the star herself.

Did it work? Hundreds of thousands of videos have been sent and viewed, says Hilary Hattenbach, vice president of digital marketing for 20th Century Fox.

Audio works too. Visitors to www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail are invited to create audio messages by using computer-animated customizable chimps.

So far, nearly 120 million e-mails have been created since 2006, and the average pass-along rate is 25%, says Cynthia McIntyre, senior director of advertising for CareerBuilder.com.

“Personalization is a huge reason for its success,” McIntyre adds.

While no standardized metrics exist, companies often measure viral success by Web site visits, click-through rates, video views, amount of time spent on the site and blog penetration and feedback.

Office Max only achieved a fraction of the traffic for its “Scrooge Yourself” holiday 2007 campaign that its iconic “Elf Yourself” effort drew the previous year. Still, 6 million dancing Scrooges were viewed.

“If you aren’t seen by the right blogger or placed on the right Web pages, it won’t start that chain reaction,” says Matthew Peters, cofounder of Pandemic Labs, a viral and social media marketing company.

But no matter what the content, “You always have to have a fresh approach,” says Patrick Young, president of JetSet Studios, the agency that handled Fox’s viral campaign. “Hopefully, it’s ridiculous enough to get passed on.”