Social Media Marketing Models: Mischief Marketing
A couple of the lads here at Techrigy engaged in a little mischief marketing today, throwing out a teaser video that was cryptic enough that it had me wondering what it all meant. This past week Burger King put a campaign on Facebook offering a Whopper coupon in exchange for deleting ten of your friends, who would then get a note informing them that you’d dropped them for a free hamburger. Ouch!
Viral or WOM, argue the distinctions if you will, are often predicated on having a little fun. Done well they work because they provide a little respite from the daily drone. With the amazing explosion of Twitter and Facebook activity, these campaigns now have platforms designed for generating viral exchanges, places where you don’t have to email a joke to dozens of friends (thank God that stopped), instead you can put it out there and people can decide for themselves whether they want to click. This mischief marketing is a tricky balancing act that requires total willingness to fail, or perhaps worse, to sink without a ripple. But it is also fun to do and say something about the companies behind it. Sense of humor anyone?