

Getting Past Viral Marketing: Stop Spreading Viruses and Start Giving Gifts - skmurphy
http://www.bigspaceship.com/blog/think/getting-past-viral/

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skmurphy
Concluding remarks:

    
    
       Rather than spending another misguided year trying to "engineer" viral 
       campaigns that will propagate themselves, regardless of consumer intentions, 
       it’s time to refocus our marketing efforts to align with the way that people 
       actually behave.
    
       It’s time to accept that all of our marketing efforts should start with 
       an understanding of the needs and motives that guide consumer decisions 
       and social behaviors, and not clever creative executions. We 
       need to stop thinking about a mass audience that can be influenced and 
       guided, and start thinking about the individual people we want to engage, 
       as well as the people they want to engage. And we need to understand 
       that effective marketing is no longer about making consumers serve 
       our agenda, but finding meaningful opportunities to serve theirs.

