For more Presentation, Notes, Project Reports visit a2zmba.blogspot.

com

Viral Marketing and Viral Stealth Marketing: Similar but

Ambiguous?

Lokesh Godwani (S2610936)

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTIO : ......................................................................................... 3
N

STEALT MARKETIN : .............................................................................. 3

H G

VIRA MARKETIN : .................................................................................. 5

L G

VIRA STEALT MARKETIN :.................................................................... 6

L H G

CONTRASTIN MOTIVE : ........................................................................... 7

G S

CONCLUSIO : ............................................................................................ 9
N

References and Readings: ................................................................... 10

2
For more Presentation, Notes, Project Reports visit a2zmba.blogspot.com

Introduction:

Consumer responsiveness to traditional marketing and conventional

communication tactics have begun to dwindle, thus diminishing the effectiveness of

marketing and promotional efforts. In a move towards gaining consumer attention,

organistions are beginning to introduce techniques that cut through clutter present in

traditional advertising. One of the techniques that marketers are employing is the use of

Word-Of-Mouth (WOM) or buzz marketing techniques. Some of the forms of Buzz

marketing are Stealth Marketing, Viral Marketing, and Viral Stealth Marketing (VSM)

etc. One important factor to note here is the relatively lower costs involved in this form of

marketing technique (Thomas Jr, 2004). As an emerging marketing concept, VSM has

begun to materialise in many different areas. VSM, similar to viral marketing, is

distinctly different whereby some fundamental differences are present. The objective of

this discussion is to compare and contrast these two marketing concepts and discuss their

importance.

Stealth Marketing:

The foundation of stealth marketing is based on the belief that most individuals

respond to opinions, or views presented by their peers rather than a concentrated

campaign targeted at the masses (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004). Conventional advertising

techniques have created an atmosphere where-in consumers tend to be hit with a barrage

of advertising messages, all trying to garner their attention, and sell them some product.

This overwhelming stream of advertising messages has resulted in consumers adopting a

3
generally distrustful attitude towards conventional marketing attempts (Kaikati and

Kaikati, 2004). Stealth marketing looks to address this phenomenon by building a

scenario wherein, sections of the target consumers are gradually discussing the product or

the brand being marketed. Stealth marketing doesn’t look to make a loud statement but

the product in question; rather it relies on the concept of “word of mouth” advertising, to

create a gentle murmur amongst the members of the target group, convincing the target

audience that the product isn’t marketed to them, rather they came across it and it is peer

endorsed (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004). This approach has one key difference from word-

of-mouth advertising, this difference lies in the process by which the product is first

introduced in the midst of the target audience; the product is initially endorsed by

individuals who are intentionally endorsing the product at the behest of the organisation

marketing the product. This endorsement is done extremely surreptitiously, without

letting the targeted consumer know that the product is actually being marketed to him or

her (Balter and Butman, 2006).

Stealth marketing has proved to be effective for a number of organisations that

have indulged in this form of advertising, resulting in a growing number of organisations

viewing it as a form of marketing their products (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004, Martin and

Smith, 2008). This growing adoption of stealthmarketing notwithstanding stealth

marketing has come under scrutiny from academics, questioning the ethics of stealth

marketing. The growing criticism of stealth marketing has been based on factors like; the

moral implications, Corporate social responsibility, intrusiveness that is similar to

telemarketing, deception of the final consumers, and the resulting perceptions consumers

4
For more Presentation, Notes, Project Reports visit a2zmba.blogspot.com

create about marketing and brands in general (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004, Kennett and

Matthews, 2008, Martin and Smith, 2008, Milne et al., 2008, Petty and Andrews, 2008).

The supporters of stealth marketing, argue that while this form of marketing is

ethically questionable, it can be adopted as a technique as it doesn’t do any real harm

apart from keeping the goal behind the endorsement a secret (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004,

Martin and Smith, 2008). It is also argued that, while the intentions of the stealth

marketer are to garner sales, it also results in increasing consumer knowledge, imparting

information, which the consumer would have avoided if a conventional form of

advertising was used (Martin and Smith, 2008).

Viral Marketing:

Viral marketing stems from the well recognized principal of word of mouth

(WOM) marketing, yet it is conducted through a digital format or information and

communication technologies such as mobile communications, email and web logs, also

known as blogs. Stemming from WOM, viral marketing represents word of mouse

advertising where messages are targeted towards individuals that have an interest in the

message content and who will hopefully pass the message along to other individuals,

adding a personal recommendation (Helm, 2000).

The viral marketing technique relies upon communication that existing users of a

brand or product have with other individuals. The influencing consumer in this case

5
endorses the brand entirely unintentionally; the viral marketing message usually comes

across as an afterthought to the entire communication. As (Moore, 2003) has rightly put

it, the brand, in a case of viral marketing usually comes across as underwriting the users’

communication.

Some authors have referred to Viral Marketing as form of stealth marketing

(Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004), but this is not the case as viral marketing differs from stealth

marketing in the fact that the brand or product being promote is explicitly stated in the

communication message. Another differentiating factor is that the individual actually

endorsing the brand or product doesn’t endorse it as per a pre-arranged understanding

with the oraganisation in question, nor does the individual do it out of a material gain.

Viral Stealth Marketing:

Viral stealth marketing (VSM) is an emerging marketing concept. As the name

suggests it blurs the boundary between the concepts of viral marketing and Stealth

Marketing wherein, it is a form of stealth marketing that is indulged in using viral

marketing channels. It involves the use of paid endorsers of a brand or product, who

endorse the brands using channels like social networking sites, blogs etc.

Organisations in the past have resorted to VSM in order to market their products

or brands. The classic examples of this would be the examples of Wal-Mart (Martin and

Smith, 2008), and Dr. Pepper (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004). Both Wal-Mart utilized blogs

to promote their respective brands. While Wal-Mart claims to be just a sponsor of a

specific blog (Gogoi, 2006), Dr. Pepper’s tactic involved actually recruiting young

6
For more Presentation, Notes, Project Reports visit a2zmba.blogspot.com

individuals who were part of successful blogs (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004). The Wal-Mart

sponsored blog was popular when it was active, the disclosure that the blog was actually

sponsored by Wal-Mart created a severe backlash in the form of criticism from both

consumers as well as influential consumer groups (Martin and Smith, 2008).

Contrasting Motives:

VSM, similar to viral marketing, is distinctly different whereb y some fundamental

differences are present. The biggest difference as discussed is the fact that viral stealth

marketing keeps the identity of the brand being promoted hidden at the first point of

contact between the individual promoting the brand and consumer being targeted,. Viral

Marketing on the other hand, doesn’t try to create any doubt as to the origin of the

marketing message. The name of the brand or product is blatant and explicit in the entire

communication.

Viral Stealth marketing has a more bottom-up approach to its strategy. It is

primarily consumer driven, where the company comes into the picture at much later stage

for the target consumer. This results in the consumer not questioning the attempt at

marketing till a much later stage. Viral marketing on the other hand follows a more top-

down approach which is essentially company driven. Neither of the two consumers i.e.

the influencers nor the target consumers are involved in the marketing aspect

intentionally.

7
 The immediate chances of a viral stealth marketing campaign succeeding seem

higher on paper as compared to that of a viral marketing campaign as consumers tend not

to view the communication as marketing exercise, but rather as a peer endorsed point of

view (Kennett and Matthews, 2008). Viral marketing on the other hand uses the

marketing message as minor component independent of the actual message in the

communication between two individuals (Helm, 2000, Moore, 2003).

Another important factor to note here is the fact that, the actual promotion here is

carried out by individuals whom the consumers identify with as they are usually from the

same demographic and also the same social set. The targeted consumers and the

influencers usually share the same beliefs, which the reason why they are in contact with

each other to begin with. This provides an extremely humane touch to the entire

marketing campaign as there is a belief person endorsing the product is someone who

knows the needs and wants of the other individuals in the same social set. Most of the

targeted consumers also tend to trust the opinion of one of their peers rather than a

random marketing message. This is something that Viral marketing where, the marketing

message comes via a peer but is not endorsed by the individual per se apart from the fact

that the individual is using it.

While the ethical considerations of VSM range from a number of concepts like

deceit, intrusion, and exploitation to moral responsibility (Martin and Smith, 2008), a

bigger question is the distrustfulness that consumers gain towards not only the brand or

8
For more Presentation, Notes, Project Reports visit a2zmba.blogspot.com

product, and the industry in general but also towards communication messages received

from individuals who have in the past been party to VSM activities (Kennett and

Matthews, 2008, Martin and Smith, 2008). Viral Marketing on the other hand is

considered to be relatively ethical with issues being restricted to problems like SPAM.

Both viral and viral stealth marketing are aimed at the section of young adults

known as ‘gen-y’, studies have shown that most teens are not averse to the phenomenon

of viral stealth marketing (Ahuja et al., 2007). The literature on the subject states that

most teens are actually open to the idea of trying out products and also of being able to

influence other individuals. On the other hand they are also open to being the targeted

VSM subjects, with only area of concern being that the product being endorsed shouldn’t

be of poor quality (Ahuja et al., 2007).

Conclusion:

In conclusion it can be said that the ethical issues aside, VSM is here to stay. The

main reasons for this are the minimal costs involved in any form of buzz marketing, the

effectiveness of VSM campaigns, and also the fact that most of the target audience

doesn’t view it as unethical. This probably is the biggest driving factor along with the

costs discussion. the other important factor is the fact that VSM allows marketers to

assign a humane touch to their promotions as the actual promotional aspect is carried out

by individuals who are usually part of the same demographic and also the social set as the

9
targeted consumer. This doesn’t mean that this is the end of the road for viral marketing;

this marketing technique is still extremely effective for certain products like search

engines, and email service providers etc. The subject of VSM though still requires

research in terms of whether its impact can be measured and also to check its impact on

the individuals endorsing the products in the scenario where a product fails to live up to

the endorsements.

References and Readings:

AHUJA, R. D., MICHELS, T. A., WALKER, M. M. & WEISSBUCH, M. (2007) Teen
perceptions of disclosure in buzz marketing. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 24 ,151 -
159.

BALTER, D. & BUTMAN, J. (2006) Clutter Cutter. Marketing Management, 15 ,49-50.

BALTES, G. & LEIBING, I. (2008) Guerrilla marketing for information services? New
Library World, 109 ,46 - 55.

FREEMAN, B. & CHAPMAN, S. (2007) Is "YouTube" telling or selling you something?

Tobacco content on the YouTube video-sharing website. Tob Control, 16 ,207-210.

GOGOI, P. (2006) Wal-Mart's Jim and Laura: The Real Story. Business Week.

HELM, S. (2000) Viral Marketing - Establishing Customer Relationships by 'Word-of-

mouse'. Electronic 10 ,158-161.
Markets,
KAIKATI, A. M. & KAIKATI, J. G. (2004) Stealth Marketing: How to Reach
Consumers Surreptitiously. California Management Review, 46 ,6-22.

KENNETT, J. & MATTHEWS, S. (2008) What's the Buzz? Undercover Marketing and
the Corruption of Friendship. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 25 ,2-18.

KHALID, M. D. & IAN, B. (2002) Marketing implications of webcasting and extranets.

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 20 ,223.

MARTIN, K. D. & SMITH, N. C. (2008) Commercializing Social Interaction: The Ethics

of Stealth Marketing. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 27 ,45-56.

10
For more Presentation, Notes, Project Reports visit a2zmba.blogspot.com

MILNE, G. R., BAHL, S. & ROHM, A. (2008) Toward a Framework for Assessing
Covert Marketing Practices. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 27 ,57-62.

MOORE, R. E. (2003) From genericide to viral marketing: on `brand'. Language &

Communication, 23 ,331-357.

PETTY, R. D. & ANDREWS, J. C. (2008) Covert Marketing Unmasked: A Legal and

Regulatory Guide for Practices That Mask Marketing Messages. Journal of Public Policy
& Marketing, 27 ,7-18.

SMITH, M. M. & REYNOLDS, L. J. (2007) The street team: An unconventional peer

program for undergraduates. Library Management, 29 ,145 - 158.

SUBRAMANI, M. R. & RAJAGOPALAN, B. (2003) Knowledge-Sharing and Influence

in Online Social Networks via Vir al Marketing. Communications of the ACM, 46 ,300-
307.

THOMAS JR, G. M. (2004) Building the buzz in the hive mind. Journal of Consumer
Behaviour, 4 ,64-72.

11