The internet is the advertising method of the new millennia as it caters to a whole new developing demographic of multitasking and digital users, more commonly known as Generation D or Generation M. Advertisers have come to recognize the need for instant gratification of the current generation and have worked hard to utilize this attitude by providing them with a new way to view advertising that will prevent them from ignoring or fast forwarding through the advertisement. Through viral marketing, companies like Hotmail, Coca-Cola, Radio Head, and even Hollywood powerhouse production companies have successfully created hot services, products, and movies that all generated a buzz both online through social networking and email forwarding. The more interactive the viral message, the better and faster it spreads among the Generation D and M users.
The best example of an effectively run Viral Campaign is the Coca-Cola Zero advertisement. We all know how cut throat the soft drink company competition is so that they had to take the battle to the next level. Intellectual marketing through viral campaigns. The Coke Zero campaign used very memorable hooks like, “Zero is more” and “Zero will give you life as it should be.” for its North European campaign. Attached to these posters was an April 1st release date and a link to a zeroismore website for each particular country. The hook successfully created a buzz among the internet and real-world users who heatedly debated what the Zero really stood for. When the product was finally unveiled, the reality of how effective the viral marketing campaign finally came to light with the unexpected shortage in supply of the much talked about and debated Coke Zero in the specially designed bottles.