Escalate - Marketing Critique » web browser http://skal8.com Marketing to consumers in control Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:12:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Nintendo breaks a wall online, creates a remarkable ad http://skal8.com/branding/nintendo-breaks-a-wall-online-creates-a-remarkable-ad/ http://skal8.com/branding/nintendo-breaks-a-wall-online-creates-a-remarkable-ad/#comments Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:22:16 +0000 Steve Hammer http://skal8.com/?p=46 Continue reading →]]> Lets just admit it, so much information is in front of any of us on a given day that its getting harder to impress and create remarkable ads.  The Super Bowl spectacle every years is often the lone place where the average individual goes to seek out a commercial.  With the exception of Apple and maybe a few Bud Light commericals, not to many get talked about at the water cooler anymore.

Leave it to Nintendo to break every other rule and create an ad that people will seek out.  Using the now familiar idiom of leaked footage of a new game uploaded to youtube, they continue to make the video break out of the frame to make the entire web browser appear to be broken apart by the rough game play.  It delivers a message that illustrates the uniqueness of the game in a way that’s very easy to understand. 

How effective has it been?  As of this writing about 12 days after it posted, over 2.3M views have been logged.  Pretty amazing for something that is nothing more than an ad.

]]> http://skal8.com/branding/nintendo-breaks-a-wall-online-creates-a-remarkable-ad/feed/ 1 Firefox 3 as viral launch http://skal8.com/events/firefox-3-as-viral-launch/ http://skal8.com/events/firefox-3-as-viral-launch/#comments Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:37:50 +0000 Steve Hammer http://skal8.com/?p=18 Continue reading →]]> The web browser Firefox 3 (of which I am a proud user), had what can only be called an amazing launch.  They set the world record for downloads of software on a single day, despite plenty of reports of errors during the launch, such as late start.  They ran two very important websites, www.getfirefox.com and www.spreadfirefox.com.  Spread firefox was the center for the marketing, and get was the call to action. Firefox is a very well reviewed browser, no doubt, but software like this is a standards and network game, meaning that the value of the software increases as more people have the software.  There were important considerations to having as many people have the software as quickly as possible, and they knocked it out of the park.  Over 8 million people downloaded the software in a single day.

The secret is: there was no prior world record for software downloads.  Firefox invented it.  The strategy was amazing.  The press and bloggers wanted to cover it, and users had an incentive to download it as quickly as possible.  They were able to multiply the visiblity of the launch many times over traditional marketing.

They also involved the existing community quite well.  As far as grassroots efforts go, they made it easy by having toolkits for the “faithful” to spread the word.

Firefox also added an element of pride.  Downloaders could print certificates for their particpation in the occasion.

From every aspect, the launch was an amazing use of publicty and community involvment.  I applaud them for setting the record they created…  and acheiving a very critical strategic goal with their innovative marketing.  They got beyond the functional improvements of the browser and made it an event to get a new piece of software.

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