When developing a viral app, bear in mind that the Graphic User Interface (or GUI) is as important as the app’s name or logo because ultimately it is an essential part of the user experience itself.The principle behind a viral app is that the user can share it with his friends once he likes it. Likewise his friends will also be able to spread the app further to their own peers, hence the expression “viral”.However a user will only "disseminate" an app if he enjoys it, in other words... Read Full Story

Here are some of the most popular viral services:MySpace - FaceBook - YouTube - Bebo - LinkedInNotice that these brands all share branding communalities:1- Small names (1, 2 syllables), easy to remember2- You can use them as verbs (i.e, “Vivian YouTubed her birthday party”; “I am Linked-In to Jack”, etc.) 3-When you think of their names, you can picture their logos in your head4- These brands fulfill the promises in their names:--> MySpace is a space I can customize because it is “mine” a... Read Full Story

Let me first describe what is not considered a good target audience for a viral service such as a social network: Think of an online community for women, aged 18 to 55. Why is it not good? I will give you 3 reasons:1- The more you define and limit your niche, the easier you will be able to address their needs and come up with a differentiated and relevant service. An example? LinkedIn: a social network for professionals. Another one? InMobile.org: a social network for mobile executives. If y... Read Full Story

I have been working with viral based communities, online and mobile applications since the 90s and viral marketing is definitely one of the areas that I feel definitely very passionate for.One of the most frequent questions that I get regards to reaching a critical mass when providing a service or application which is dependable on user adoption.In plain words, how can you develop a website or a service (like YouTube or FaceBook), spread the word, and get a huge amount of users when offering... Read Full Story

I am often hired as a consultant to companies that need to create and implement global branding strategies to increase their presence as well as expand their market share. These are different challenges, but most of the times, they come together with a very similar set of questions. Most companies are looking for a cost effective formula to launch products and services and acquire a loyal user base that grows exponentially (virally).Let’s face it: Branding is crucial. If you are looking for b... Read Full Story

Marketing, PR and Communication professionals are often expected not only to create powerful and persuasive Marketing collateral such as sell sheets and PowerPoint presentations, but also to be articulate speakers.Public speaking is a learned skill, just like playing the piano or the trumpet. It takes time and practice. There are several courses and even orators groups, such as Toastmasters Internationals where you can practice in a friendly, supportive and encouraging environment while rece... Read Full Story

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is one of my favorite campaigns. By far one of the best I have seen in the last 5 years, for several reasons. It stands out for its honesty, the strong emotional appeal and the universal theme.Actually the theme is so universal, that even the version made for the Hong Kong market remains basically the same. Here are the two ads and how they adapted the same message and format to the two different demographics: Read Full Story

I am a big advocate for using as many visuals as you can in order to convey your message as clearly as possible. You will also find out that humor will be one the best allies you will ever have in order to ensure that your message comes across easily, especially in advertisement. Take this Chinese Menthos ad for example (no need to speak Chinese in order to understand it) :I also wanted to thank Kare for a previous comment on this blog and bringing up the TBS Very Funny Ads. If you are intere... Read Full Story

Outrageous. That’s the only word that comes to my mind to describe what one Brazilian school of samba did during this year’s carnival.Making the long story short: This school of samba (that’s how groups that parade during carnival are called) decided that this year they were going to develop a parade based on “things that give you goose bumps”; the good and the bad. So they came up with an entire allegoric car depicting… the Holocaust. Piles and piles of human bodies with happy Hitlers and na... Read Full Story

I was raised in beautiful Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and one of the most interesting TV shows I used to watch there while I was growing up was called Intervalo (“commercial break” in Portuguese). The show presented some of the best TV ads around the globe: the funny, the witty, the expensive… Well, today is Super Bowl and once again, it is time to watch the ads.An interesting ad caught my attention last year because of the cross-pollination of several communication trends such as the user genera... Read Full Story