Can not-for-profit organisations make the best use of 'viral marketing'? To make a viral marketing campaign successful you need to push beyond the average, the accepted, the usual. That's all very well for radical activist groups, but what about the 'well-respected' mainstream organisations?

It turns out that's a question that researchers at Central Queensland University have been asking:

Not-for-profit organisations seeking to enhance social campaign messages through viral social marketing may find it hard to be edgy enough for success, while conforming to their own values.

That is according to Danya Hodgetts, from Central Queensland University, who has tested viral marketing to send an anti-obesity message.

Viral marketing - otherwise known as ‘word of mouse' - involves creation of a funny or confronting photo, animation or video clip Email, in the hope that those receiving it will pass it on to dozens of friends.

Ms Hodgetts' team found it hard to push the envelope far enough to get significant pass-on success, although their video involving a man walking his dog while watching TV was well received by the initial audience and led to click-throughs to a physical activity website.

[Via : Social campaigns struggle to be edgy (ScienceAlert).]

Welcome back to Groupings blog. Now that you are a regular, please feel free to comment on any story that you feel comfortable with.

Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog might be just what you need (and was the source of the link on the previous post here). It's:

on Robin Hood Marketing—the concept of stealing corporate savvy to sell just causes—and my life as a marketer, from Washington DC to Madagascar to points in between. 

I recommend starting with the October 2006 archives, and working forwards. Chock full of great stuff.