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[Marketing Lessons] - How Sneaky Is THIS?!?! Have You Seen This SHOCKING Facebook Video?

by Marksv
17 replies
I just posted this on my blog, but I just HAD to share...

So I'm sure if you're on facebook, you've seen a link spread by your friends for a video of a guy getting revenge on his ex-girlfriend.

So, OK, I got curious...

When a couple of my friends liked it, I clicked through.

I ended up on this page: WOW, This GUY Went A Little Too Far WITH His REVENGE On His EX GIRLFRIEND!

This is the most ridiculously sneaky and yet incredibly creative campaign I've seen in a while...


The landing page has:

1. A Picture of a hot girl.
2. A capturing title
3. A box that shows how many people 'liked' this page on facebook (over 50 000 - and the domain seems to only have been activated on September 11 of this year, 4 days ago...)

The actual content of the video is blacked out, with an instruction to share click a 'Share' button to unlock it.

Right away, the fact that they are forcing people to like a video that they haven't even seen makes me laugh.

So of course, I can't resist, and I click on the share button, thinking I can always remove it from my profile.

After I click, I'm now presented with ANOTHER beautiful box that instructs me to fill out a survey to unlock this video...

WOW!

So, now it's even smarter!

Not only was I forced to share the video before I actually saw it, but now I'm forced to fill out a survey (CPA offers of course) to unlock this video...

I think one of the things that are really smart about it, is the fact that they make you jump through a smaller loop first (the facebook share) and then they make you jump through a bigger one. The nature of human beings is such, that after already sharing the video, they are SO MUCH MORE LIKELY to actually fill out those CPA surveys!

It's almost like now they HAVE to watch the video, because they ALREADY SHARED IT!!! LOL

So I couldn't bring myself to do it, I refused to fill out the survey.. lol

But now, I'm so curious about what the video is actually about!

Now THAT'S amazing (yet very sneaky) marketing.

All in all, I'm completely upset with how sneaky this technique is, but I just can't help but praise the person who came up with it because it's JUST SO SMART!!!
#facebook #revenge #shocking #sneaky #video
  • Profile picture of the author VyctorB_10
    gee, that's not cool M... u get a frownie point & "unthanks" just for that... ~
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    • Profile picture of the author Marksv
      Originally Posted by VyctorB_10 View Post

      gee, that's not cool M... u get a frownie point & "unthanks" just for that... ~
      Hi VycotrB!

      I hope your kidding...

      While I agree that the campaign itself is NOT a 'positive' campaign, it still has some marketing lessons that are worth taking note of...

      They say that you've got to find the 'Hidden Gem' in everything, and in this campaign, there are certainely lessons that could be taken away.

      I think that the principle of making a person commit to a small action and then getting them to follow through on a bigger action, if done in a different situation, is a great sales and persuasion tool...

      In fact, the 'Yes Ladder' (which this basically is) has been discussed in the most positive and helpful sales books ever since 'how to win friends and influence people' by Carnegie...

      Hope you guys don't take this the wrong way, you've gotta look at the good in everything, there's a lesson to be learned from every situation...

      Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author Marksv
    Hey healymedia!

    Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with you, this IS spam...

    BUT...

    You've got to admit the the principles behind it are very smart!

    It's exactly because of the fact that the 'like' links show up not only on your wall but also on your friends' walls that this spreads so quickly...

    I remember another similar example with a video promoting 'how to cure bad breath' on youtube.

    You could watch the video without any trouble, but then they were offering to send you a free tongue scraper if you joined their facebook group and shared their video with your friends.

    You can't argue with the fact that it definitely will help the campaign go viral..

    Mark

    PS. Don't misunderstand, I belive in WHITEHAT marketing, but I can't help but marvel at the creativity(even though it's sneaky) of the campaign...
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  • Profile picture of the author ReachOneMedia
    This is not spam at all...

    He does not force you to share the video... he does not force you to fill the survey...

    That person simply trigger out your curiosity. It's your fault if you share the video and fill out the survey to see the video.

    That guy/girl is a genius!
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    • Profile picture of the author VyctorB_10
      in that light... i give it to ya M... i can side with you on that this time... otherwise if you promoting it yourself, different story.. & i was semi-teasin...





      v~
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      • Profile picture of the author Marksv
        Originally Posted by VyctorB_10 View Post

        in that light... i give it to ya M... i can side with you on that this time... otherwise if you promoting it yourself, different story.. & i was semi-teasin...





        v~
        Good!

        Now take back your 'un-thanks' ! :p

        Mark
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        • Profile picture of the author VyctorB_10
          i take it back & cross my heart... lol.
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          • Profile picture of the author VyctorB_10
            Hey sweet to see another T.O kat here, Respect Bro!
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    • Profile picture of the author Marksv
      Originally Posted by ReachOneMedia View Post

      This is not spam at all...

      He does not force you to share the video... he does not force you to fill the survey...

      That person simply trigger out your curiosity. It's your fault if you share the video and fill out the survey to see the video.

      That guy/girl is a genius!
      Definitely a very SMART campaign!

      It does feel 'shady' to me though, but regardless, you've got to appreciate the strategy and method behind it...
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  • Profile picture of the author petelta
    This is dumb marketing though. Unless you are selling viagra to teenagers, you are in the wrong place
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    • Profile picture of the author Marksv
      Originally Posted by petelta View Post

      This is dumb marketing though. Unless you are selling viagra to teenagers, you are in the wrong place
      Hey petelta,

      Well, while they're not selling Viagra to Teenages(which I don't think would be that lucrative anyways) I actually don't think the marketing is so dumb...

      They're not promoting products...

      They're promoting a free video that by the title appeals to what I would imagine to be the main demographic on facebook...

      They're generating curiousity, and then they're just capitalising on that curiousity by placing a barrier between people and their desire to fulfill their curiousity...

      Since they most likely get paid for each survey completed, this is actually smart way to advertise it.

      People also do it on streaming movie or show sites. They have some script that blocks the content up until the person has filled out a survey...

      It's definitely annoying, but at the same time I guess it works because people seem to keep on doing it...

      Oh well, again I think that there's probably something to learn from every campaign out there, even the nasty ones...

      Mark
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      • Profile picture of the author petelta
        Originally Posted by Marksv View Post

        They're promoting a free video that by the title appeals to what I would imagine to be the main demographic on facebook...

        They're generating curiousity, and then they're just capitalising on that curiousity by placing a barrier between people and their desire to fulfill their curiousity...
        I didn't go through the ap so I don't really know what its selling or what they are doing. If their target demographic is males from age 16-35, then that is a "smart" way to get people to see what they got...

        It's not smart because it's targeting one demographic with the "sex sells" concept and more than likely it's target is something different. Maybe a good way to get a few surveys filled out for $10 bucks, but I wouldn't consider it smart marketing because they trick people.

        This has been done quite a bit before...there is a free game online called "Evony" as one example....They make money by people buying virtual stuff on their online platform....but every one of their ads is a woman that is in her underwear with nothing mentioning a game.
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  • Profile picture of the author d0rhk
    I wonder how much money this person has made...

    Probably several thousand.
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    • Profile picture of the author VyctorB_10
      It's the Toronto connectz yall... ~
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  • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
    I cant see any wrong in this campaign the only thing I see is pure GENIUS and many lessons to learn:

    a) Curiosity is a very strong trigger.

    b) Beautiful women always work.

    c) Just put the pieces on the table the user mind will do the rest
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    • Profile picture of the author Marksv
      Originally Posted by d0rhk View Post

      I wonder how much money this person has made...

      Probably several thousand.
      The last I saw, they had something like 50,000 likes, which means at least 50,000 people have seen the landing page, and actually clicked the share button.

      Out of those 50 000 people, I'd think at LEAST 30, 000 have filled out a survey, some might have done more than one survey.

      I don't know what CPA networks pay for each survey filled out, but I'd assume it would be at least $1 per survey.

      My estimate would then be they would have made at least $30,000 in 4 days...

      I might be way off...

      Originally Posted by patadeperro View Post

      I cant see any wrong in this campaign the only thing I see is pure GENIUS and many lessons to learn:

      a) Curiosity is a very strong trigger.

      b) Beautiful women always work.

      c) Just put the pieces on the table the user mind will do the rest
      I agree with you that this definitely has some Genius pieces to it, and also marketing lessons we could take over to the WhiteHat side...

      I remember Travis Sago had an email outlining just how crucial curiosity was when crafting a slaes copy/headline.

      This definitely fits the bill...

      Originally Posted by petelta View Post

      This has been done quite a bit before...there is a free game online called "Evony" as one example....They make money by people buying virtual stuff on their online platform....but every one of their ads is a woman that is in her underwear with nothing mentioning a game.
      Hey, I remember the Evony campaigns...

      I actually thought it was also a very interesting exercise in marketing. I think both the sex appeal and the curiosity that those image ads had would have definitely captured attention, and maybe even got high clickthrough rate.

      The one thing I have to wonder is whether the conversion rates were lower than usual because of the low relevance of the ads.

      At the same time, the ad DID suit the target market of the game. Male, most likely 15-35, so I guess maybe the conversions weren't too low.. :s

      I DO remember hearing a lot of controversy online about the Evony campaign, and about how it was deceiving and sleazy...

      As much as blackhat trickery methods annoy me, I do have to give it to them, they certainely can be quite creative...
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