I passed the Dove Video on, did you?

Dear Gal Pals... I'll admit, I received the Dove Video via a blog and then passed it on to others in a blatant act of consumerism. Many individuals add up to big residuals and that means higher profits for the right reasons. Do you want to change the world? Start with the SEND button.

It's a profit thing. Low advertising cost (as in NONE for word-of-mouth) means more cash to companies. To get that, however, companies must provide a product and a message that people will want to spread. Are you a consumer word-of-mouth activist? If you passed along an "ad" you are, and that little act of "endorsement" can change the world faster than politics. Companies have no borders, they want products that will resonate and sell globally. What we buy here, defines what the rest of the world is offered as well. The higher the pass along rate, the more companies will want to do whatever resonated with the consumers.

Here's how Vox Marketing summarizes the numbers...

"Dove Evolution," a 75-second viral film created by Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto, was uploaded to YouTube on Oct. 6 and has been viewed over 1.7 million times since, Ad Age reports. While that total is impressive, it pales in comparison to the sudden traffic spike the site Campaign For Real Beauty has enjoyed from the viral success of the "Dove Evolution" film. According to Alexa, the jump in traffic earlier this month more than tripled the surge that Unilever enjoyed from Dove's 2006 Super Bowl spot.

The buzz generated for the video has also been fueled by bloggers, who have made the video one of the Top 15 most-linked-to videos among bloggers, according to blog-tracking service Technorati. The popularity of the film has spilled over to mainstream media, with featured segments on television shows "The View," "Ellen," CNN, "Entertainment Tonight" and Fox's "Geraldo," all within the last two weeks.

The numbers that will definitely grab advertiser's attention is that a 30-second spot for the 2006 Super Bowl cost $2.5 million, but there was no cost for Dove to upload "Evolution" to YouTube.

Lessons learned for consumers:
- Numbers talk.
- Participate in the pass-along world only if you want to vote for a product. Numbers send a message regardless if you passed it along for the entertainment value or want to endorse the product - high numbers get noticed.
- KNOW that the moment you pass along an item, that you are endorsing a portion of it.
- If you don't agree with the message. DON'T pass it along.
- Low numbers talk, too.

Comments

[C. B. Whittemore]

Yes, I have in my most recent post at http://flooringtheconsumer.blogpost.com. I really enjoy your blog.