TV + Viral + Charity Incentive = Formula for Success?

Sometimes the best way to marketing a laundry detergent is to link the worlds of television with viral videos and charities. This has been done before but every time we try it we learn something new.

Razorfish helped all® detergent create a promotion that aired April 5th on Celebrity Apprentice. Instead of focusing on the attributes (how much can you talk about the attributes after all), we associated all® with a charitable cause through viral marketing. Celebrity Apprentice viewers saw a 30-second TV ad directing them to a website to watch videos that featured Celebrity Apprentice contestants Joan and Melissa Rivers. The videos featured them using all® in absolutely ridiculous settings (watch the clip for an example of one). Each time people forward the videos, all® donates 50 cents to charity.

What do you think of this? The marketer is using media dollars as an incentive to encourage people to distribute the clips. The clips themselves are entertaining enough that with a little push (I believe) people will want to share them with each other. There's incentive built in, a good cause component and an opportunity for someone to build social currency. The charities supported were the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity and The Lili Claire Foundation.

Adweek covered the story from the angle that the distinction between digital and traditional shops are blurring. No question, and its a change long over due but what matters today is understanding how people not just do things but how and when they're motivated to encourage others to take specific actions. That's social influence marketing at play.