There is no doubt that WOMM can be extremely effective, as well as fun, for marketers! WOMM encompasses a range of subcategories, such as: buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, cause influencers and social media marketing, ambassador programs, consumer-generated media, as well as other key mediums.
WOMM is the fastest medium in the world in terms of getting the message to the people, and due to its personal nature it’s more trusted than any other form of promotional method.
One of the latest WOMM campaigns to really catch my attention was launched by Pixar in preparation for Toy Story 3. The company essentially launched a campaign in the form of a series of fake, retro-styled commercials which were supposed to be from 1983, advertising Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear (see on YouTube), a new addition to the Toy Story cast; however, beware, this is a fake!
What makes this campaign even more fascinating is that it was posted on YouTube by Mr Crazycommercials (Not Pixar), a YouTube user that has uploaded seventeen (real) classic 1980s commercials. In addition, to make the commercial even more realistic, another user posted a Japanese version of the ad which had a comment that read: “vaguely remembered this toy from when I was living in Japan back in the day—got this off from one of my old VHS tapes I used to record off the TV with.”
So, what makes this campaign so unique? Well firstly, it targets late generation X and early generation Y using nostalgia as the advertisements really feel like 1980’s ads. Secondly, and probably most important of all, these ads do not mention Pixar, Toy Story 3, or any other character in the movie; however, they still achieved “buzz” and excitement before the release of the movie.
This specific campaign shows that it is possible to make communicating to a mass audience creative and fun. However, was this campaign successful? Well, the Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear English video currently has over 1 million hits while the Japanese version has over 250,000 hits, so I would personally say that it was a success.
Marketers and advertisers have long known key advantages delivered by WOMM, such as: trust; efficiency; low cost; ability to rapidly increase market share and brand awareness; and, theoretically, it’s the most powerful promotional tool available. What is its biggest drawback? Lack of control. While marketers may control most other mediums, WOMM is dependent on people, making it a much riskier medium.
Conclusions... no pain no gain! Sometimes risks are worth taking.
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