Viral Market_ New Marketing Play Rules

Imagining, you are now charged with announcing a major new attraction,what you will do? 




In the old marketing play rules --
 you pull out your wallet and spend millions to buy your way into people’s minds
>> interrupting your potential customers with TV spots?
   billboards by the side of the highway?
   hire a big PR agency to beg the media to write about your attraction?






In the new marketing play rules --

(I think everyone know about Harry Porter~ who is his fans, raise your hand!)


Word-of-mouse spreads your ideas for free?'  yes, Cindy Gordon did that when she launched <<The Wizarding World of Harry Potter>>.

 when 7  = 350,000,000 

 Gordon just told seven people about the new attraction

"=" or even ">"

other large entertainment companies was spending millions of dollars to interrupt everyone in the country with Super Bowl TV ads + blimps + direct mail + magazine ads!


How could she do that ? --


Gordon launch The Wizarding World of Harry Potter by first telling the exciting news to a very small group of rabid fans.
7 people at the top Harry Potter fan sites were hand-selected by Gordon’s team, with Warner Bros. and Rowling herself providing input about the choices. These seven were invited to participate in a top-secret Webcast held at midnight on May 31, 2007.

Soon after the Webcast, the team sent an e-announcement to their in-house, opt-in email list of park guests so they could hear the news directly too. Team members also sent the e-announcement to friends and family.

They did not hire an agency,they did no widespread outbound media relations, no marketing stunts, no CEO conference call, and no expensive advertising. 


-- provide a place for bloggers 
-- offer the media to link to for information on the theme park 
-- putting fans first


Gordon’s team launched 《The Wizarding World of Harry Potter》 through social media, they were able to run the entire promotion in-house, with a very small marketing budget and a tiny development team.




I believe that ‘there is no free lunch in the world' & any dissemination of information should pay.
But why there are so many marketers think viral marketing is free? the enthusiasm from target consumers, who here are Harry Porter's big fans,is the mainly powder of spread ~ those big fans are most willing to share their information to other,then other fans happy to join in, then the group ceaselessly growing.

A virus doesn't even have to mate -- he just replicates, again and again with geometrically increasing power, doubling with each iteration:

1
11
1111
11111111
1111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

~   In a few short generations, a virus population can explode.