Catch the viral fever
"Young people are particularly ripe for viral campaigns because part of looking for boundaries is finding and connecting with other people," Carrabis says. "That's part of the appeal of MySpace and other social media; it's immediate in terms of connecting with others and pushing boundaries, even if it's not terribly informative."
Carrabis pointed to a recent Ray-Ban campaign that drew the attention of Greg Verdino, VP of Emerging Channels at Digitas. While Verdino blogged that viral marketers should "fail their way to success" by continuing to launch campaigns into the social media stream, Carrabis cautioned that infecting youth with a viral campaign requires a targeted approach.
"If you use viral, you need to think about the right infection points," Carrabis says.
But not all viral campaigns are created equally, according to Carrabis. The Cartoon Network's campaign for "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" that led to fears of a terrorist attack in Boston was a message understood by those under 25, but was missed by the general population.
According to MacKenzie, one campaign all marketers should watch is the 2008 election.
"Currently at the forefront of media attention is a particularly innovative campaign: The 2008 Presidential election," MacKenzie says. "Candidates have wisely utilized social networking sites to reach out to the millennial generation, connecting with them in previously uncharted territory."
Next: Beyond viral