Viral marketing works on the premise that if one person receives a message and passes that message onto five people (and then each one of those five people pass the message onto five more people) soon there will be a lot of people who have heard the message (much like a chain letter or e-mail). This is an inexpensive way of promoting a brand, company or product.
Virtual marketing would have taken the form of word of mouth exposure, with many people discussing things that they saw on last night's television. This is sometimes referred to as 'water cooler talk'.
As technology develops, the internet viral marketing has started to become an effective way of gaining exposure for a relatively low cost for a company. Social networking sites have become popular and are now a way in which people communicate with friends and family. Companies who can create an advertisement which grabs the interest of the public , can use a phenomenom in social networking to boost their brand image or increase their sales.Virtual marketing has become a great way for companies to gain exposure at low costs, this is because the delivery of the message relies on the audience.
Institutions
Previous cadburys adverts were portraying the message that their chocolate tastes really good and so buy some and eat it. An example of this would be by using an attractive woman being filmed eating a flake in a suggestive manner. The TV ads were product orientated with taste and feeling the main elements of the advert.
To update Cadburys marketing activity in 1996 they embarked on a revolutionary sponsorship deal with Coronation Street. This deal has since been copied by many programs and companies – for example Carphone Warehouse were the sponsors of Big Brother (Channel 4) from 2004 – 2007, terminating the deal during celebrity Big Brother 2007 because of the alleged racial issues in the house. The sponsoring of Coronation Street resulted in Cadbury receiving regular viewing for over 10 years. They were able to use the slot to advertise the brand as a whole or focus on separate bars that they feel needed more promotion. Cadbury have shown over the years that they are not scared of innovating when it comes to their approach to marketing.
Forms and Conventions
First released on Friday the 31st of August 2007 (during the finale of Big Brother) the Cadbury ‘gorilla playing the drums’ advert starts with a close up of a gorilla’s face and a slow build up of Phil Collin’s song ‘In The Air Tonight’ (1981).
The first time you see this advert, you cant work out what the gorilla is doing. Then the camera work pans out to the gorilla playing the drums when the song really kicks off. The advert does not show a chocolate bar, or even mention one. The only thing in the advert which relates to Cadbury is the traditional cadbury purple backdrop behind the gorilla. This shows how strong the brands name is, as the chocolate bar dosent even have to be mentioned, yet people still not what the advert is advertising.
The filming of this advert is what makes it so successful, there is an ambiguity at the beginning with the close face shots create curiousness. This is then carried through with the realness of the gorilla in such a normal environment.
This advert instantly grabs the attention of the viewing audience as there is a gorilla on the screen. A gorilla is a masculine animal, who many people seem to be interested in and the fact that the gorilla is so life like, it helps to sell this advert to the public. The gorilla has no gender, and this is what draws in the interest of both sexes. The purple background creates a juxtaposition with the masculine appeal of the gorilla as purple is a regal colour normally associated with females (we later find out that is because the advert is for Cadbury). The advert is shot using close ups of the gorillas face and this shows the intense power and feeling of dominance. We see the gorilla sat in a very human way, behind a set of drums which gives a surreal feeling which is easy for us to remember. The use of Phil Collins, Something in the Air Tonight attracts an older audience who remember this song first time round. This is much like children today recognising Gary Linekar as the presenter of Match of the Day (BBC1) and not the world class international footballer which initially created his fame. Now children will say to their parents “that’s the song from the Cadbury advert” not “this is the guy from Genesis”.
Airport Vehicles
Released in March 2008 (and much anticipated, thanks to the success of the “gorilla” campaign), the airport advert, which is backed by the rock track “Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen” (1978). The advert begins with the “glass and a half full productions” slogan on the screen, which then fades away. A plane takes off and then we begin to see these airport vehicles that have been modified or ‘pimped’ (in the style MTV’s series Pimp My Ride).
The vehicles are all different colours with neon lights; the music is at the start of the song, building to fastest point. When it reaches this point the vehicles start to pull off, there is a fire jet from an exhaust and the race begins. It becomes apparent that the smallest vehicle is really battling through the pack of much larger vehicles; the larger vehicles are trying to stop the small one breaking through and the advert ends with the camera rising away from the race with the Cadburys bar coming into shot with the slogan “A glass and a half full of joy” beneath.
This advertisement starts with an aeroplane taking off from an airport at night time. An airport is a place in which most of the population will have preconceptions about such as queing or waiting around. The next part of the advert shows different airport vehicles in dark hangers behind lit up and coming to life. The vehicles are very colourful (orange, green, blue, white and yellow) these colours are assiciated with associated with fun. They look dressed up as if they were ready for a night of fun. The lyrics of the song start with “tonight I’m going to have myself a real good time. The film and the song fit perfectly. The race starts and the smallest vehicle zooms through the pack of larger vehicles who are floundering, this satisfies the British fascination and love for the underdog.
Eyebrows
The eyebrows advert starts in a very grey photo shot, brightened only by the young girl who is wearing a very distinctive purple dress. The scene depicts her and her brother being measured up for the dullest family photo ever. The phone rings and the man measuring the two children up is called away. The children look at each other, the boy reaches for his watch and then a computerised version of ‘Don’t Stop The Rock’ by Freestyle Express plays from his watch. The children then start to perform what can only be described as an unnerving jig with their eyebrows. This continues for roughly 45 seconds. During this time a pink balloon is added for effect. At the end of the advert the screen once again turns purple and the Cadbury bar is shown with the slogan “A glass and a half full of joy” beneath.
'A glass and a half full of joy' is the underlying message that is being delivered is of the joy that Cadburys can give you, much like the joy these adverts seem to give the people who watch them.
This advert portrays very mixed messages. Looking at a still of the advert shows what seems to be a middle class white family in a normal situation, in this case having a family photo taken. The music that is used is an 80's electro pop tune, which is completely out of sync with the rest of the advert. This is then followed by a strange eyebrow 'dance'. This is then followed by the strange eyebrow dance. The message that this advert is sending is one of expecting the unexpected flipping a normal, sedate situation on its head and creating an entertaining advertisement that people will remember and want to talk about.
Audience
These adverts are aimed at a youth market aged from 15-25, their target audience is media literate. This age group has grown up with technology, such as computer games and they have been an important element to their life. The adverts thrive on people’s curiosity with people trying to analyse why the advert has been made and what the meaning behind the advert is. Youths will be interested in new music, as a curious nature and therefore they will be interested in the songs involved in these adverts. Another sign of why these adverts are aimed at this market is the fact that the ‘gorilla playing the drums’ advert was first released during a finale of an episode of Big Brother – a program that has a massive youth following. There are many different reasons as to why Cadbury are aiming at this age group. This age group are young and have many years of purchasing left. If they can develop a loyal customer then they will have this customer for the next 40 to 50 years, if not more. This age group is also prominent in the social networking revolution on the internet. Social networking sites help to advertise products as young people are talking all over the internet, posting links about what they have seen and discussing their feelings towards these things. These adverts have been spread all over the walls of Facebook, which has meant that the word has spread quickly, therefore the buzz is spreading.
The adverts show a great representation of the current youth market. ‘The eyebrows’ advert has created significant interest and many individuals have recreated this advert and posted it on their Facebook sites even comedian Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins with singer Lilly Allen (Sunday Night Project, Channel 4) has made a his own version of the famous advertisement, this all contributes to keeping the message in the public domain.
Conclusion
The gorilla advert was aimed at the correct age range; with the first viewing being during the finale of Big Brother 2007. This show has a cult following, the target market for this show is generally 18-25 year olds. However. people from other cross sections of the general public do watch this show and would also be interest in the advert and also in the Cadburys products. The advert was well made as it demands your attention as you think to yourself what the gorilla is going to do next. When you see that the gorilla is in a recording studio sat behind a set of drums you become really curious about what the advert is selling. It is only at the end of the advert that the Cadburys bar comes into the advert. It shows the slogan underneath and this is when the viral message starts to spread. People will talk to their friends and ask them if they have seen the ad and people may also search YouTube or other sites on the internet for another glimpse of the advert. Their may also be Facebook status' about the advert, and this is what helps to spread the buzz about the advert.
Brand Republic state, using Sky Broadcastings figures that “58,000 households watched the extended version of the advert on the red button during the space of a fortnight”. The hard task for Cadbury was to build on this and keep the interest in their marketing in customers minds.
Technology has had a major part to play in the advances in viral marketing, with the use of mobile phones that can surf the net with excellent speed and quality people are always contactable by others. If the others have a message they really want to share (in this case the brilliant new weird, funny advert they have seen) then they can do straight away. Many young people may have saved a copy of this short advertisement onto their mp4 players, mobile phones or even laptops to show friends and family.
Cadbury as a brand have reached a stage in their product life style where they dont need to promote what they make, nor do they just need to remind the public. This is why the virtual marketing campaign that does not have anything to do with chocolate is so successful for them. They have a strong identitiy with their shade of purple and this now reminds people that Cadbury still has products for us to buy. As with the little girls dress in the eyebrows advert, the public will be eagerly anticipating the next instalment in this line of advertisements, looking for any hint or that shade of purple.
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