• 3 Things Marketers Can Learn From Swine Flu

    Posted on May 4th, 2009 by and currently 9 commenting.

    Absolutely nothing.

    Okay, okay. Not nothing. But thanks to our good friends in the media, it’s all we’ve been hearing about for weeks now. And let’s be clear that I’m not a doctor or expert in diseases, so keep that in mind.

    So I’m not going to talk about what can we learn from the H1N1 virus. Instead, I’m going to talk about what we can learn from the COVERAGE of the H1N1 virus.

    1. If you incite panic, people will do things needlessly and without thinking. It’s been proven that those little surgical masks don’t do anything. But when the media shows people with those things on their faces walking around in public, it makes others go out and get them, too. The equivalent? Those marketers that are approaching companies and saying, “Holy crap! You’re not on Twitter? Facebook? You’re not blogging?!? What the hell? Your company is gonna die!!” And then said company rushes into these new technologies without a plan – just because everyone else is doing it.

    2. Information spreads rapidly. So does misinformation. We’ve heard from some people (you know who you are) that they are telling their friends and family not to get on trains or airplanes because it’s an enclosed space and therefore your chances of getting H1N1 go up. That’s BS and total misinformation, but it’s spread like wildfire because it has a lot of the elements of WOM (one of which is people want to feel like they are doing a service to others by warning them of dangers). The equivalent? Bad word of mouth about your company spreads fast – usually a lot faster than the good stuff. But who is out there spreading the good information for you? Because I’m here to tell you that if you try and do it yourself – nobody’s gonna believe you.

    3. People will believe anything – for a while. Especially in this day and age. They will also talk about you for a little bit when you pull a “look at me” stunt. I’m not saying that the Swine Flu is a stunt, but as soon as all the hype dies down it will be but a memory. The equivalent? The next buzz event. The next viral video. The next Skittles stunt or P&G’s Tide drive. All distant memories.

    What am I missing?

  • http://www.webbedmarketing.com Rebeca

    On a slightly more positive note.. the swine flu has shown the power of social media and its ability to share knowledge and keep people informed. Heck, the CDC even built a social media toolkit for consumers with widgets, videos, podcasts, etc. http://www.cdc.gov/socialmedia/?s_cid=tw_eh_28

  • http://www.missdestructo.com Miss Destructo

    Viral Marketing at it’s best. Nuff Said. :)

  • http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com olivier blanchard

    MSNBC is already testing Raccoon Roundworm as a viable substitute in case hamthrax turns out to be a dud.

  • Sylco

    Not to many people seem concerned about how it started. Disgusting US pig farm in Mexico. There are probably very little regulations there and its cheaper to run that in the US where regulations are much tighter. The pictures on TV grossed me out and I will never eat pork again. These diseases, Mad Cow, Bird flu and swine flu and probably others are the result of BAD BAD farming methods. Cows are vegetarians, its not brain surgery, who would ever think of feeding them other animals in their feed. thats where mad cow disease started. The bird flu and swine flu are animals and birds are packed together so tightly in disgusting conditions. the best way to avoid these problems is BUY LOCALLY then you know where its coming from and that its fresh.

  • http://wvu89.wordpress.com/ Jim R.

    Well put. To often companies that lack a legitimate strategic marketing vision use the latest trends as a band-aid; they easily fall prey to rumors and innuendo.

  • http://www.TechHerding.com Dick Carlson

    Best lesson from the coverage? That graphics are powerful. More powerful than words.

    On day one I saw a map of North America with some dots in Mexico City. No big deal — I live a long way away, it’s happening to somebody else.

    Day two, there were a couple of dots in the U.S. Still not a big deal — I’m down here in South Carolina, and those little dots are a long long way away from me. Not a problem.

    As the days went by, those dots got bigger. And there were more of them. And soon, there was a little dot just a bit north of my home in Columbia. Whoops — now it’s a problem!

    Those simple graphics with their little dots were very powerful.

  • http://trainingtime.wordpress.com Marie

    Another lesson – Word of mouth can be your most powerful tool. Get enough people excited about something and they’re going to call all of their friends and family to tell them about it. Whether they’re sharing correct information or not, it can spread like a wildfire.

  • Carmen

    Hey Spike…I think you’re completely on point with your “lessons learned” from all the coverage. I would just suggest that the degree to which each observation is applicable would vary, depending on the particular culture/environment. For example…

    I was in three different locations in the past few days, and each had a different attitude about this latest global health threat:
    Washington, DC – everyone was in panic mode about H1N1;
    Chambersburg, PA – conversations were more about economic stability and job security–swine flu wasn’t even on the radar; and
    back home in Atlanta (where I can look out my window and see the CDC offices just across the street) – no panic, but rather a “ho-hum” attitude. Maybe we’re so conditioned by the automatic toilets, faucets and the like that we’ve programmed ourselves to believe that we can handle whatever pandemic flavor-of-the-month comes along despite all the hype surrounding it.

    And I am certainly neither a disease expert or a marketing expert. These are just my observations based on my own recent experiences!

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