posted by Anna Fleet on July 26th, 2010
I have something embarrassing to admit to you. I never, EVER leave the house without my Burt’s Bees lip balm. In fact, I’m so addicted to (what I like to call) my bee-auty product that I take it jogging with me over my iPod. <Hides face in shame…>
But what made me chose to divulge this weakness to all of you was the greater question: How exactly did Burt’s Bees, the natural beauty company from Durham, N.C, become such a mass-commercial sensation where other green beauty manufacturers of its enjoy only mild/more homegrown success?
Can you think of any natural products that, like Burt’s, are sold in large retail chains? I can think of multitudes of natural products that base their sales campaigns on the use of green ingredients and earth-friendly advertising, but, typically, these products are sold largely at flea markets and small local shops. An article in the New York posts claims that Burt’s Bees enjoys this special success thanks to some very distinctive marketing.
And even though Burt’s qualifies as a “natural” beauty product—products are made using natural ingredients like milk, honey, beeswax and almond oil—their seemingly low-key marketing shtick is free of any green gospel. Instead Burt’s uses a laid-back marketing style that stirs up word-of-mouth promotion—on one hand selling in national retailers like Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada and Wal-Mart, Walgreen’s, CVS and Whole Foods Market in the US; but also in small local bookstores and hospital gift shops.
According to Leigh Anne Rowinkski, the Director of Client Solutions at Information Resources, Burt’s Bees is “…lightning in a bottle”, which puts the product in a fortunate position. It’s true! As Burt’s sales straddle mass-market retail chains and homegrown shops—they still keep their mom and pop reputation in tact.
Can you think of any other brands that enjoy the best of both worlds like Burt’s Bees? If you know of any, please share.
Tags: burts bees viral marketing campaign, green-friendly marketing, marketing natural products, viral marketing for small business, viral marketing tips, word of mouth marketing
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posted by Anna Fleet on July 14th, 2010
He’s already proven to the world that he’s sexy, skilled on motorcycle and horseback, and romantic with the ladies…now he’s a viral marketing genius as well!
The Old Spice Man is at it again, sending out personalized YouTube messages to Tweeters with a ton of followers—and I’m not talking one-line retweets; I’m talking full-length, YouTube video that address their thoughts and feelings, by name!
Old Spice is doing some fabulous viral marketing, using well-known folks with a lot of followers—like Digg founder Kevin Rose, Olympic skater Apolo Ohno, actresses Alyssa Milano and Justine Bateman, and techy site Gizmodo. Check out Old Spice Man’s YouTube message to Kevin Rose, after Rose posted that he wasn’t feeling well on his Twitter status. It’s hilarious and its social media at it’s best.
And the spokesperson with 98% muscle is even reaching out to us regular folks (with thousands of Twitter followers). Take the personalized message to Gabe as an example. All together Old Spice Man is featured in more than 100 personalized YouTube videos.
Where does he get the energy?
Well in my opinion it’s well-directed energy and money from the folks at Old Spice. They are targeting people with a ton of followers, and that equates to a ton of social networking prowess when those same people retweet the videos and spread them virally throughout their huge social networks.
So just when you thought he was perfect, Old Spice Man shows us viral marketing at its best—he’s outdone you once again…on a horse!
Tags: alyssa milano, Justine bateman, Kevin rose, old spice man, old spice viral marketing campaigns, social media strategy, social networking for non-profits, social networking for small business, viral marketing tips, youtube for viral marketing
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posted by Anna Fleet on June 29th, 2010
This morning, as I did my rounds on Twitter, Facebook and Google News, I was instantly taken aback by a lion meat burger.
A lion meat burger?
What the heck is a lion meat burger ?
Gasp! Huff! Gasp!
It’s exactly what it sounds like. And the Phoenix Small Business Examiner jumped on the lion meat burger news after Phoenix-area restaurant, Il Vinaio, announced they were adding this controversial meat on a bun to their menu (in case you’re curious—it’s legal, not that it has me craving lion at the moment, actually quite the opposite).
So what exactly does this mean for the local restaurant Il Vinaioi? It means a ton of online attention in the form of viral marketing—that’s what!
Positive and negative reactions (such as mine) have put this restaurant in the spotlight (news wires, blogs and social networking sites) all over the web because of the controversial menu item.
So small business take a cue from the story of the lion meat burger. A little controversy can be a good thing…especially when it increases your web presence and gets people talking about you.
By the way…I checked the Il Vinaio menu and there was no lion burger in sight.
Tags: blogging for small business, lion meat burger, small business web strategy, viral marketing tips, web marketing tips
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One Calendar with Social Networking Powers
