When it comes to viral marketing, we need to take a fresh look at the difference between creating a lot of "buzz," and the effectiveness of what we have offered.
The most recent, best example was the "Snakes on a Plane" buzz that created extraordinary expectations that were dashed almost immediately on its weekend opening.
There are a number of reasons why this happened, but the one I want to talk about here is that the majority of the buzz was on the surface and spread quickly, but not deeply.
In reality, the wrong people were promoting the movie. It was just a fun exercise that everybody was doing at the time. It didn't involve real cinema fans who deeply believed in the movie. Instead, the majority of the online conversation centered on the marketing aspect of the movie and the making of it, rather than the movie as a product in and of itself.
Another way of saying it is that the buzz was, in the end, about the buzz - not about the story that was being offered. Viral was the star of the show. That's one of the reasons it never got traction.
To go deep virally, is to connect with the true believers. If you do that, they will give the campaign traction that those just passing it around could never do. Viral is going to increasingly move away from just trying to reach a big audience, to going after the deepest audience. Those who go deep will be the big winners and the big crowd won't even know that it happened.
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