Customer Relationship Management: P&G Relies on Teens for Viral Marketing

Poor you: If you weren't asked to choose the music for a Pringles commercial and didn't get an advance script of a TV show aimed at teens, you just aren't with it.

Those are two examples of viral marketing done by Tremor, a marketing unit of Procter & Gamble that builds word-of-mouth advocacy among teens for P&G products and outside clients.

Not just any teens, though, said Erika Brown, Tremor's brand manager.

The packaged goods firm draws a distinction between trendsetters (the first to embrace new fashions, products or ideas) and trend spreaders, or “connectors,” said Brown, speaking in June at the Ad:Tech conference. Connectors are the 10% of the teen population who have “social networks like you would not believe.”

Brown didn't go into much detail about how Tremor recruits its charges, except to say that it doesn't accept just any teen wanting to become a connector.

Having an influential network is only part of the battle. An item has to lend itself to viral marketing. A user of the best adult incontinence product in the world may be loyal to it, but the chance of his walking into a cocktail party and touting it is unlikely. And for any product to be buzz-worthy, it has to have a message — like “Get it first!” — wrapped around it.

Pringles allowed connectors to vote on the music that would be used in the snack's commercials. This gave them ownership of the campaign, and participants pointed out the commercial to their circle whenever it aired.

In the case of the TV show, advance copies of the season finale's script were mailed, several pages at a time, to connectors. While the juiciest details were blocked out, what was revealed was enough to get tongues wagging — and to generate a 171% ratings spike.

A similar program worked for a retail chain that opened a new store. Connectors were given advance notice of the store layout and an invitation to a VIP store opening. Each connector brought about six people, and each friend spent twice the average amount seen at other stores.

Brown did warn that it's not easy to capture lightning in a bottle, and nearly impossible to do it twice. She pointed to the success of the campaign for the movie “The Blair Witch Project” as a successful viral effort, and the producers' attempts to engineer a similar push for the little-seen sequel, which had a forced feel, as a failed one.