Blog Post #10 - Viral Marketing

I didn’t know that I already knew what viral marketing was until I read the definition. I knew that consumers can be influenced by companies to share information about the company’s product but I didn’t know the actual term for this action. A perfect example of viral marketing is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. ALS is a disease that affects the nervous system in a way that weakens a person’s muscles and negatively effects physical abilities. The ALS association did not create the ALS ice bucket challenge. Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with ALS, created the ALS ice bucket challenge about two years ago. He posted a video of a bucket of ice being dumped over his head, which then lead to his friend to do the same. And before you knew it everyone was posting videos. Each video began with the person stating their name and three other people they want to nominate for the challenge and then the pouring of ice over their head. Eventually famous actors and professional athletes were creating videos and donating money. 115 million dollars were donated in an eight-week period.