How to ensure a 100% success for your product launch- Through virality?


Can you name a few brands that tend to generate a lot of buzz whenever they have new product launches? I hope you do agree that Apple is definitely one of them. Being a technology laggard, I rarely keep myself updated with news on the latest technological releases. However, whenever there are new Apple product launches, why a technology laggard like myself, is always aware of it? This goes to show how impactful viral campaigns can be in generating brand awareness that is able to reach out beyond the brand's target market.

With that, why does news related to Apple always go viral and tend to trend in social media platforms? I would say that it is highly contributed by the amazing amount of media coverage that they consistently receives. The reason could be due to the fact that they are the market leader with having exceptional brand equity. Building a brand equity is not an easy feat thus, how did Apple do it? The main attribute would definitely be having a loyal consumer base contributing to their success for their product launches. I am sure that long queues for Apple products is not unfamiliar news to you as we can see from the clip below.

We can infer from the clip on how impactful loyal evangelist can be in terms of generating brand awareness through word-of-mouth (WOM). When words spread, it emulates interests causing the public to go "what is going on?". This leads to one to find out more information pertaining to the brand in order to satisfy their curiosity. Of course, the next ideal situation for Apple would be consumer retention as a result of consumer satisfaction. 

Dyson is another example of a successful product launch due to viral campaigns. Around October 2018, they launched a hair care appliance which they marketed as “Dyson Airwrap Styler” which created a lot of buzz during that period as it was perceived as groundbreaking and revolutionary. They utilised Influencer Marketing by sponsoring various YouTube beauty content creators that has a large following such as AndreasChoice, Sophia Chang and Milabu. Due to how unique and interesting the product is, a lot of other renowned beauty “YouTubers” such as Tati, KathleenLights and even Grav3yardgirl also jumped into the bandwagon of trying the product without obtaining sponsorships from Dyson. 


From this, Dyson succeeded in creating a hype for their “Airwrap Styler” in the beauty community which positively resulted in the product being out of stock upon its launch. The product gained mixed reviews from users mainly due to its hefty price tag of USD$500 for a hair care appliance. However, despite the price tag, interests remained heightened for the product and this is proven with it still being sold out 4 months after its launch. This demonstrates the importance of generating awareness and how viral marketing impacts a successful product launch.  



This ideal situation however would not be able to happen for both Dyson and Apple if the quality of their products are inferior or that it did not live up to its claims leading to cognitive dissonance. It is thus critical for products to actually deliver the value as claimed as virality may not always be on the positive spectrum risking negative market perceptions. These are the risks and uncertainties involved in viral campaigns which marketers have to take into consideration. Hence, is having viral campaigns a critical factor in ensuring a successful product launch for brands? Do comment your thoughts on this. ðŸ˜Š

Comments

  1. jillsonMarch 18, 2019 at 1:34 PM

    Interesting read, didnt know about the dyson product but its probably cause i dont use such products. it seems like no matter how expensive your product might be, with viral marketing the product will definitely be able to sell. But how if the products are luxury items or products like a car, will viral marketing work as well?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nur LukitaApril 3, 2019 at 8:47 PM

      Hey there! Thanks for your comment. I believe that viral marketing will work on luxury items as well due to the company's strong brand equity as how as I portrayed with the Apple scenario- where they have loyal evangelists to help them spread the word instead of doing so themselves.

      Delete
  2. ChloeMarch 29, 2019 at 11:58 PM

    Hi! Great insights on this topic on virality. I would say viral campaign is not a critical factor in ensuring successful product launch since it is not easy to achieve. In my opinion, viral campaign will result in greater reach, not just its target demographics and maybe even change the perception or preference of the consumers towards the brand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nur LukitaApril 3, 2019 at 8:51 PM

      Hi! Thanks for your comment. I do also agree with you that attaining virality is not an easy feat. Most of the time it happens by luck as the company is unable to control consumers' market reception.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mobile Marketing - Is it essential?

Image
What was the longest time that you have ever been away from your phone? Has it ever reached more than 24 hours? Most unlikely am I right? Smartphones has significantly impacted our lives in order to be able to function optimally. This statement can be illustrated through the following videos where millennials try the "The No Smartphone Challenge". After watching these videos, it had piqued me with a sudden realisation on how we have become so dependent on such a small gadget and also amazed at how its absence can greatly affect our lives. Even though we all know at the back of our heads that having high dependency can cause severe implications as depicted in the videos above, most of us are just too used to convenience and just take the modernisation of technology for granted. Hence with high reliance towards our smartphones, it directly correlates that individuals are much more exposed to mobile contents more than anything
Read more

Measuring what matters in Instagram

Image
Have you ever scrolled through Instagram and thought to yourself, why does my feed’s sequence seem so random? Well for sure it is  definitely not random. With digitalization and technology constantly evolving, Social Media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are consistently implementing changes to their interfaces. Today's discussion will be mainly surrounding Instagram's algorithm transitions over the years and how it affects marketers.  Back in 2016 and before it became highly commercialised, our feed was sequenced in chronological order, with the least effort to best-guess the preferences of each of its users. Ahh, the good ol’ uncomplicated days isn’t it? Currently, the main factors contributing to  Instagram algorithms   are; 1.    The Engagement a Poster Typically Gets 2.    How Long People Spend Looking at Your Post 3.    Your Relationship with the Instagrammer 4.    The Type of Content And… Probably back due to p
Read more

What contributed to the success of Fitbit?

Image
Internet of Things (IoT)- the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data. Personally, when I first heard of IoT’s definition, the brand that first pops up in my mind is Fitbit. Fitbit is definitely no stranger to the market. Founded in 2007 and based in  San Francisco   California , their product offerings mainly focuses on measuring personal metrics involved in  fitness  such as  activity trackers  which includes the  number of steps walked , heart rate, quality of  sleep , steps climbed. Their business soon grew to be so successful that in the third quarter of 2018, they became the third largest wearable company in shipments, trailing right behind  Xiaomi  and  Apple . Other renowned sport brands such as Nike and Adidas saw the potential in such fitness trackers that they also created a product-line extension based on that especially since it aligns with their company’s f
Read more