Modeling Prompt 4
Viral Marketing
Integrated Math 3
In-Class Launch
Use after Unit 4, Lesson 1
Viral marketing works this way: An organization wants to publicize a message. The group shares the message (such as an image, a video, or an interactive tool) with a certain number of people, and makes it easy for them to share the message with their friends.
Ask students to think of examples of viral-marketing campaigns that they have noticed. External links aren’t allowed in these materials. Instead, conduct an internet search for “examples of successful viral marketing campaigns” ahead of time for ideas. Consider showing an appropriate video to the class that is a good example of a viral marketing campaign. Here are some examples of viral-marketing campaigns:
- Metro Trains Melbourne “Dumb Ways to Die” public-safety video campaign
- ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (raised money for ALS research)
- #NoMakeupSelfie (raised money for cancer research)
- Movember (raised money for men’s health awareness)
- Truth anti-smoking campaign (targeted a teenage audience)
Display these questions for all to see. Give students a few minutes to think quietly, and then invite selected students to share their response:
- Why do you think it is called “viral” marketing?
- Why would an organization want to use viral marketing?
Sample response:
- Viruses (the kind that make people sick) spread when people with the virus come into contact with those who do not yet have it. Then those who have been exposed come into contact with more new people, and so on. In viral marketing, the message is like a virus that people spread by sharing with others at an ever-increasing rate.
- Advertising is expensive. That is, placing a message where people will see it costs an organization a lot of money. When viral marketing works, the organization pays to get its message to only a fraction of the people who ultimately see it. The organization relies on the people who receive the message sharing it with their friends. In this way, many people end up seeing the message, but the organization pays only to produce the message—for example, by writing the content, designing the graphics, or producing a video—and then transmit it to that initial small group.