[MUSIC] Consumers are bombarded with ads on a daily basis. The ad clutter that they are exposed to is actually making them more and more immune to traditional advertising. That's why brands try to reach their existent and potential consumers using unconventional, alternative marketing methods. Brands are looking for new ways to communicate with surprise and interact with customers. The goal is to reach consumers in unexpected ways and places to generate interest and establish a bond with them. We see brands in popular tv programs, movies, even in music videos. We frequently hear about new methods of reaching consumers such as viral marketing, guerilla marketing, buzz marketing. This methods are actually very similar to each other. Viral marketing encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others. Brands produce fun, controversial and unusual contents such as jokes, games, video clips to generate interest and urge consumers to share them in e-mails or via online platforms. The idea is to create the potential through their social networks for exponential growth in the messages' exposure and influence. These materials should be interesting, simple, and easy to transfer. Viral marketing works effectively on the Internet because communication via online platforms is easy and inexpensive. For example LG, in order to promote the visual quality of its televisions had a viral campaign. They set up a giant ultra HD LG television in a meeting room to look like a window that is placed as a city skyline. Real individuals who believed that they would have a job interview are taken to the room and sit across the fake window. Once the meeting begins the interviewees are horrified to see a very real looking meteor plummeting toward the downtown area. They recorde how people actually react to what they have seen on the screens and how they perceive it to be real. This video emphasizes the clarity and visual quality of their TVs. Almost 19 million people have watched the video only on YouTube. You may see the video by clicking on the link. Off the Internet, viral marketing is referred to as word of mouth marketing or buzz marketing. It also focuses on consumers passing along information about a particular campaign or a product. The term buzz refers to the eagerness of consumers who genuinely like a product, and hence would like to share information about it with others. Since people spreading the information are perceived as unbiased sources, they are highly credible. Unique, cool and new products with potential to signal a social identity for the sharers are more suitable for buzz marketing. For example, people would like to share information about a bar that's very in. Sometimes companies sponsor people to spread information. They gather these people, make them try their new products and pay them so that they can talk about these products to their social circle. One important aspect of buzz marketing is that people who are sharing the information should be perceived as trendsetters, then others become more attentive to what they say about brands and products. Guerilla marketing is a low cost and original way of conveying and promoting a product. The intention is to create a surprise moment through using unusual objects in unusual locations and times. It uses unconventional means such a graffiti, sticker bombing or flash mobs. The goal is to raise attention, create excitement and build relationships with consumers. The smart way of incorporating the brand in unusual locations intends to intrigue consumers, establish positive attitude toward the brand and increase recall. Here we see the guerilla marketing campaign of Duracell. The placement of the flashlight is smart and catches attention. This ad of Coca-Cola actually grabs you, making itself more noticeable. It's makes consumers even smile. Here we see Cingular, a telecom company, demonstrating its claim that consumers will have less dropped calls if they switch to their network. We see that people are even taking photographs in front of the dropped calls. The creativity and novelty of this idea lead consumers to talk to their friends about this campaigns. Product placement is another alternative marketing technique that is widely used to promote products through appearances in films, movies, video games, and other media. Products placed in story lines can be a lot more successful for brands. For example, in TV series such as Modern Family and Big Bang Theory, occasionally with see brands incorporated into the story line. Demonstrating the desire of one character in the show to own or purchase a certain product. The key for a successful placement is to incorporate the brand and its information to the storyline in a subtle way. The James Bond movies have always a popular venue for product placements. According to the reports, Spectre contains more product placements than any previous James Bond film. Seventeen major branch appeared on screen. At one point James Bond is presented with a flash new watch. The camera's zooms in to show us that it's made by Omega. In this specific scene, we see James Bond drinking Heineken in the movie. In this lecture we have briefly talked about alternative marketing techniques that brands use to communicate their messages to their consumers in creative ways. In the next lecture we will elaborate on crisis management. [MUSIC]
