Valeria Maltoni analyzes recent work by Edelman to understand the dynamics of viral marketing. Conclusions: It’s the Network, Stupid. In other words, influence has less to do with individuals than with the patterns by which information is spread. Figuring that out will get you farther than understanding who are the top bloggers. Interesting stuff.
Web Ink Now: The New Rules of Viral Marketing – free ebook!
David Meerman Scott has another winner with this short e-book about viral marketing. It’s already been downloaded 20,000 times and once you read it, you’ll know why. No obligation, no registration, just get it.
Secret Websites, Coded Messages: The New World of Immersive Games – Wired, Dec. 20, 2007
This Wired story details Nine Inch Nails’ elaborate viral marketing campaign and a new kind of role-playing-based market. What’s interesting about the approaches outlined here is that they assume that the community will work together to solve the puzzle. Clues may be placed anywhere, and a person who finds a clue may not be the person who figures out how to decipher it. Rather than a player vs. player contest, it’s a group project.