Viral

Viral Entertainment Marketing: Great, But it Could be Better

Last holiday season, Office Max hired Jib Jab to produce an innovative viral piece. Jib Jab isn’t a marketing firm, but if your budget is big enough they know what entertains. And they proved it with “Elf Yourself.” The site received 192 million visitors in 6 weeks – results you expect from a super bowl ad, with a budget that is miniscule by comparison.

But what did they miss? Only 40% of the visitors knew the piece was sponsored by Office Max. And only 30% of that 40% said they would be more likely to make a purchase from Office Max. Granted, you’re still talking about connecting with 24 million people in exactly the right way. But then there’s that other 168 million.

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Web Video And The Path To Viral Success

Viral Holiday Card If there’s one thing 2008 confirmed (apart from the obvious and apparent lack of control we have over our economic predicament), it’s that web video is here to stay. Chances are you are already watching your fair share of You Tube clips and downloading the occasional TV show.

And as the medium grows in popularity, and advances in technology make its implementation cheaper and easier to utilize, more and more people are seeking to integrate video into their online strategy. This month alone we have been commissioned to integrate, or produce, videos for four clients. And while straight video has immediate impact, we are going to see an increase in interactive video, that allows users the chance to effect their own outcomes, and chose their own scenarios. If you’re not familiar with interactive video check out this simple example we generated for our holiday card this year.

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Venture Conference Goes Live With Viral Marketing Campaign

The last thing you’d expect from a venture conference would be an innovative viral email campaign. But that’s exactly what we just produced for the visionary folks over at Astia. Parodying the industry’s staid public image, we threw out the rulebook and repositioned the it Conference as THE place for forward-thinking investors.

Straight after its launch, Astia CEO Sharon Vosmek emailed us to express her delight with the video’s reception, “Let me start with how amazing the response has been to the piece you created. People LOVE it. Thank you so very much! We are thrilled!”

  • Read more abut the Astia it Conference branding project

Web Animation Proves Big Hit In Financial Services Sector

Gary Snoman: Viral Phenomenon from Iron Creative on Vimeo.

In today’s fast-paced world, there are a lot of things competing for our attention. We’ve got IM windows open, a screaming email inbox and the phone ringing off the hook. Which is exactly why it is so important to use humor to connect with our consumers – even for just a few minutes.

Even hard-nosed business types are embracing the power of a little levity to help get their name out and reconnect with former clients. Take this rough cut of a holiday message we developed for Trident Capital as an example. It’s done in a traditional style, but is very much at the cutting-edge of corporate communication.

Gary Snoman: Viral Phenomenon

A local VC firm with a small budget wanted to make a big splash. Who’d have thought an irreverent animated short about a self-made, self-satisfied snowman would, well, snowball!

The Challenge: Blueprint Ventures is a technology investment firm, which had done very little marketing in the past. In December of 2005, the firm contracted Iron to produce an online animated short, in hopes of gaining some brand awareness in the industry.

The End Result: The Gary Snoman series has become a viral phenomenon, spreading from viewer to viewer all over the world. Viewings over the last three years have numbered in the hundreds of thousands and mentions in the San Francisco Chronicle and a wide array of online publications have elevated it to one of the most anticipated annual holiday entertainment events in the Private Equity world. The ultimate result: the Blueprint brand is now known throughout the industry.