Flame On! [Burger King Marketing]

With the help of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Burger King has been making inroads with its viral marketing tactics. A huge part of their success has been their unconventional marketing tactics to create and bolster the brand image.

In early November, a friend of mine found a wallet on a busy Chicago street. Accompany a clean dollar bill was a faux driver’s license of the King and a BK Crown card. This accompanied their reverse pick-pocket campaign.

Not be beaten by Britney Spears or Alan Cumming, the King joins the "celebrity" fragrance bonanza. You can get a whiff of “flame-broiled meat” thanks Flame, by BK. Meghan Daum explores the primal relationship between man and meat, but notes that the l’eau pour homme can only be bought in unique spots:

You have to buy it at a Ricky's drugstore in New York, which has an exclusive deal, or on Burger King's "Fire Meets Desire" website, which features its king mascot reclining by a fire and clothed in nothing but an animal fur. Make that, you had to buy it at those places. By Monday, it was sold out at both and going for $73 and up on EBay.

Word-of-mouth marketing has its share of success and failures. In its success stories, the strengths come from:

• Low Cost: Campaigns are cheap and easy to initiate
• Longer Shelf-Life: People still talk about the subservient chicken

However, from the littered street of failed attempts, companies find it difficult to find the tipping point:

• Ethics Vs. Controversy: It’s a fine fine line between edgy and distasteful. Burger King’s Whopper Virgin campaign has been controversial and has garnered a lot of feedback.
• Span and Control: By turning over power to the people, companies have to be able to live comfortably with the buzz (good or bad) associated.

Youtube matures

Given the current business environment, Google too is feeling the pinch. During tough times, its easy for companies to apply a haircut across the board. However, it is as this time, that companies should reassess their strategic priorities and surgically apply cuts.

Gone are the days of too many toys in the box. Companies should judiciously guard growth opportunities and if they have to cut costs, should focus on routing out inefficiences in COGS.

Google is no different, it is currently shifting its engineers to focus on the most promising projects. We've seen how companies that continue to invest in R&D will be positioned for explosive growth when demand returns. What is commendable is their continued efforts to innovate and experiment with their X billion acquisition Youtube.

LA Times writes about how the wild wild west that is Youtube is starting to clean up its act.

In addition to its long-standing campaign to crack down on illegally copied material, in September the site outlawed videos depicting drug abuse and last week tightened its guidelines further to restrict profanity and sexually suggestive content. In other words, before the money wagons roll in...

At the same time, they're experimenting with tons of ways to monetize on their insane traffic. From advertising to selling music, Youtube's entrepreneurial spirit translates to more experimentation.

Yesterday's NY Times article profiles their partners program. The article profiles individuals like Mike Buckley (video shown above), whose share of the advertising profits generate over $100,000 a year.