Mobile Communication Slow To Go Viral Alex Gerage, November 20, 2009 Have you ever wondered why so few viral marketing campaigns ever go mobile? Granted, The Dark Knight did a good job using mobile communication to send out automated phone calls that supplemented the online viral, but few films have taken advantage of the opportunities that the medium provides. Well, Nancy Gohring of PCWorld offers an interesting breakdown that highlights why mobile communication has such trouble accommodating to viral marketing. Gohring argues that viral marketing has not taken off in the medium because the mobile communication industry is not homogeneously structured. There are multiple carriers and brands that provide unique services and opportunities designed to court customers. In many ways, the goal of cell phone companies is to set themselves apart from the competition in terms of price, quality, and offerings as greatly as possible. How does one craft a message for the masses then when a multitude of software and applications are used to receive it? Mobile communication does not function like the internet, where word of mouth can easily spread across social networks or email because everyone has an email address or Facebook profile and there are few limitations to communication. It seems cell phone users though have one of a kind plans that make them incompatible with others. This makes virals are too difficult to pass along without a tremendous amount of planning and capital by content creators for a return that is not worthwhile. To me, incorporating mobile communication is pivotal for the future of viral campaigns. In many ways, the medium is better suited for this marketing than the internet. Mobile viral campaigns can grow and react instantaneously because of the immediacy of the medium. Nohring’s piece though shows the current compatibility amongst mobile brands does not allow for this phenomenon to thrive. In addition, problems also emerge when considering that films often have promotional tie-ins with a single mobile service producer for non-viral promotions. How can a film studio employ a multi-carrier campaign while at the same time honor exclusive agreements with a single brand? I imagine that as the internet becomes a more primary feature on mobile phones, brand communication will be more in sync, much in the same way different computer brands are able to coexist with the same software. Hopefully that leaves us with better virals. Be sure to leave some thoughts below if you wish to chime in! Viral Marketing
Flynn Lives: Tron Legacy Event In IMAX February 24, 2010October 18, 2011MovieViral.com has discovered the site that FlynnLives is leading us to, Pit Cell. The page describes an “exclusive event” for FlynnLives members in 5 international IMAX theaters. The event will take place February 27th, and tickets will become available tomorrow, February 25th. More after the jump. Read More
District 9: MNU and Christopher Still Updating! August 18, 2009August 18, 2009Update: Christopher’s blog has been back-dated to 8/13/09. District 9 was released this weekend, and usually (with a few exception), that would mean the viral campaign would be over. That is apparently not the case here. Both the Multi-National United and MNUSpreadsLies Twitter and Facebook accounts are still updating so… Read More
Viral Video of the Week: Avatar Wars December 27, 2009December 26, 2009We’ve already shown two great viral videos from this week (see them here and here), so I had to pull from the last two weeks to find this gem below. It’s a video parody that combines Avatar with several other films to show a trailer for a war of real… Read More
I see a delay in mobile viral due to one, it costs the user to receive such viral, and two, marketing bases itself on such a visual effect, that a simple text may not get the message across. The mobile platform is there if they use it correctly.
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