It's the buzz word of the noughties, and the holy grail of internet marketing, but what is it really? Put simply, viral marketing is about giving consumers a reason to spread your brand message, either via email or through forums, web logs and newsgroups. By getting others to spread your message, it should be relatively cost effective, and should add the elusive 'endorsement factor' to your campaign. The sad truth is that the vast majority of viral campaigns fail, and that's the issue; a viral campaign is black and white - it either works or it doesn't.

Creating a viral campaign that works requires an excellent creative idea, a brave client, a reasonable budget, clever 'seeding' and a dollop of luck. Virals can take all sorts of forms, from funny video clips to flash games, and from photo-shopped images to text emails. If you want ideas for a viral campaign, want our opinion on whether a viral idea will work, or need help seeding a viral campaign you've created, get in touch.

Click here to view some examples of viral campaigns we?ve undertaken