it's such a cute wittle viwus

April 28, 2007 5:39 PM

What are some examples of small or mid-sized brands that succeeded in significantly increasing awareness of their brand through viral advertising?
posted by bingo to Grab Bag (15 answers total)

Stormhoek?
posted by Good Brain at 5:59 PM on April 28, 2007

Vans, back in the day. Malcolm Gladwell used them as a case study in The Tipping Point.
posted by krakedhalo at 6:55 PM on April 28, 2007

Go Daddy.
posted by dhammond at 7:01 PM on April 28, 2007

Moleskine.
posted by jbickers at 7:02 PM on April 28, 2007

Head-On.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 7:20 PM on April 28, 2007

Hush Puppies?
posted by kisch mokusch at 7:36 PM on April 28, 2007

Burt's Bees, Tom's of Maine
posted by Mick at 7:56 PM on April 28, 2007

Google?

No, seriously. When was the last time you saw an ad for Google?
posted by niles at 8:03 PM on April 28, 2007

Blandtec
posted by jaimev at 8:21 PM on April 28, 2007

Best answer: Err...Blendtec blenders, not Blandtec. Here's an inteview with their marketing director regarding the huge impact of their viral video.
posted by jaimev at 8:27 PM on April 28, 2007

Timberland?
posted by aladfar at 10:52 PM on April 28, 2007

Essentially, considering the miniscule promotional budgets common in the publishing industry these days, the whole of the book business is run on viral marketing these days, save perhaps 100 exceptional books each year, which do get major advertising. The same thing could possibly be said of the music business, except for the weirdness that is radio - not viral, but not normal advertising, either.
posted by paulsc at 12:09 AM on April 29, 2007

Pretty Flowers?
posted by dangerousdan at 1:12 AM on April 29, 2007

Aqua Teen Hunger Force.. oh wait, that "backfired." *snicker*
posted by afx114 at 10:46 AM on April 29, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks. Hints as to why the thing was viral and/or how it worked are helpful.
posted by bingo at 8:28 PM on April 29, 2007