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I heard a rumour that Volvo promised the inhabitants that if they all bought one then Volvo would never issue an internet pop-up ad again.
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It makes you wonder if there is any truth at all to the story. Why would they choose a town in Sweden to adverise in the UK?...I was wondering if there is any one that knows if there is any truth to the story?
I have no idea whether it is true or not, but I don't think your point implies that it isn't. Surely if we assume that it is true, they'd have to use whatever town it happened in, whether it be Sweden or Mongolia?
Actually, on re-reading your post, maybe that's the point you were making....
I'll just be going now.
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The joys of viral marketing! It's not true, yet it has acheived it's objective of getting everyone talking about it.
I've got details of the campaign filed carefully away somewhere from one of the marketing mags so I'll post again later if I can find it.
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Did you mean Viral marketing there PG? What exactly is that then? I've got visions of lots of PR people wandering round with colds at the moment....
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Bazza... yes it's viral - no typo there.
Basically it's a kind of marketing, spread by word of mouth, or more commonly email/internet/new technology. It's main characteristic is that people are commonly heard saying "have you seen this...."
It spreads fast and wide, like a virus.
An estate agent did it very sucessfully recently, by distributing spoof house descriptions around the net, and massively increasing traffic to their own site as people clicked to see if it was "for real".
Hard to explain really, because it's so fluid.
What has happened with the Volvo campaign appears to be that they've put out this advert about so many people buying the car on the same day, and then put out their own spoof website (promoted by email - there's the viral bit, or spam, depending on how you view it), which has got everyone talking about whether the documentary is true or not. I'm not sure if it's obvious that the site claiming to expose the spoof is obviously done by volvo or not as I've not seen it. Incidentally there's now some debate about whether this can be claimed as a marketing success or not, as details of the spoof site have not spread as fast and as wide as they probably would have liked - the virus isn't spreading fast enough if you like. I think that's how it's all worked anyway.
Possibly the longest and most rambling explaination ever - sorry!
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Ah! Thank you PG. Upon reading your explanation, I have heard of viral marketing before, was just having a 'moment'.
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"yet it has acheived it's objective of getting everyone talking about it. "
Well congrats to Volvo for getting people to talk about their ad. Silly me, I always thought they were in business to sell cars, not conversation points. Is anyone even remotely interested in buying or even test driving an S40 since viewing or hearing about the "documentary"?, nope neither am I.
While I am on a rant, has anyone bought or become more interested in a car after being exposed to a catchy (viral pun intended) ad campaign?. I get the impression that these ad campaigns are dreamed up by ad agencies/companies looking for industry awards rather than product sales.
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I recieved an email from volvo yesterday with a link to the documentary. Having seen the adverts and being intrigued I watched the documentary. It all seemed very convincing and I didn't think much more of it. I continued to have the virtual tour of the car and all the rest and them closed the web page. When I did this I got a pop up (and I have a pop up blocker) that said something along the lines of 'The volvo advert is not true and I have proof'. I clicked on this and it was a link to the documentary makers website and there is a second documentary in which the maker says that he came away from the filming believing it fully but after going over his footage there was a few discrepancies and coincidences. After watching this it does seem to me that the advert is fabrication.
Check it out, its worth watching www.carlossoto.com but watch the volvo version first as it makes it more interesting!
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I recieved an email from volvo yesterday with a link to the documentary. Having seen the adverts and being intrigued I watched the documentary. It all seemed very convincing and I didn't think much more of it.
then closed the web page. When I did this I got a pop up (and I have a pop up blocker) that said something along the lines of 'The volvo advert is not true and I have proof'. I clicked on this and it was a link to the documentary makers website
After watching this it does seem to me that the advert is fabrication.
Yes, the documentary is fake, but the second website is also made by Volvo. That's what I was trying to explain in my earlier, rather garbled, post.
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Volvo are in the business of selling cars; however part of that is brand recognition. And that's what this type of advertising achieves.
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Who doesn't know what a volvo is?
I am wondering do these campaigns work? Yes, they get people talking about a car, but does this actually make people want to buy the car or are advertisers just throwing their money out the window?
Is anyone's opinion really changed by these campaigns?
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Why do you think that advertising exists and has done for hundreds of years? Why do you think that all those company logos you can see blinking away at you on this page are there?Because advertising works!
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> Because advertising works.
Or at least because advertising agencies tell their clients that it works. Quite a different thing! Whilst BMW continue to advertise, Mercedes cannot not. et cetera!
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>>Or at least because advertising agencies tell their clients that it works
and the boards of all the hundreds of thousands of organisations that advertise simply nod and reach for the cheque book without ever once questioning whether they are getting value for money....if only it were that simple
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I believe that there is research to support the traditional methods of advertising, however, this is the first I have heard of viral marketing and I was wondering if any one had been effected by this particular volvo campaign, or if this was merely an advertiser's pipe dream?
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And exactly which pipe would that be?
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Viral marketing (although they probably didn't have the name for it back then) was around in the 1960s when Doyle Dane Bernbach were making ads for Volkswagen in the US. Each new advertisment, whether in print or on TV was talked about and eagerly awaited - and not just by advertising people.
Their radical approach was to tell the truth and concentrate on the product, something that US car advertising had never done!
Gareth
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Or at least because advertising agencies tell their clients that it works. Quite a different thing!
Do you seriously think that a company who is spending up to 2% of its gross income (clue; thats a lot of money) on advertising does not check they get results? They do really clever technical things like
1/ Check how much they sold before the add
2/ Check how much they sold after the add.
Re the Volvo adds
This is not advertising guys, this is marketing. Marketing is all about building brand image, building a market, generating interest and demand, etc etc. Take Sunny D (not the datsun, the drink) A marketing scam that built a product to a huge volume.
So Volvo are
1: Announcing they have a new car in a very subtle way
2: Generating curiosity
3: and dont forget there is a percentage of people who will think this story is true (because its on TV and it does not appear to be an add) and want to know whats so great about this car.
If they get curious people wandering into Volvo dealerships they have them on the hook, up to the salesman to get them gutted, battered and served up with chips.
My favourite was Ford with the Capri. Basically man buys Capri, has good time, gets girl to bed. "The car you always promised yourself". Great *Marketing*
You need to read Murray Walkers autobiography. He was an add agency man before he became famous. Great book.
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Well if its all marketing then that second film (www.carlossoto.com/current.htm) is a pretty damn elaborate was to get my attention. Its like a riddle within a riddle.
Great stuff - its kept me thinking thats for sure.
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"Because advertising works!"
Unless, of course, it's for something unhealthy, like tobacco or junk food, when suddenly its only purpose is to redistribute market share!
I would say that Volvo's entry of estate cars in the Touring Car races did them far more good than any print or TV advertising, but then it probably didn't have much impact on those with less interest in motorsport. Wonder why they've never gone rallying..?
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Actually, didn't they used to contest the Paris-Dakar, way back when the vehicles involved used to actually be cars?
I certainly remember once reading that the 240 was thought of as a fantastic desert rally-er, indestructible.
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