Remember the shampoo commerical many years ago? Little did the producers of the commercial or their unsuspecting audience know, but they were on to the secret of viral marketing.
The idea of course was that if you liked the shampoo you'd tell your friends. Word-of-mouth marketing tries to take the idea to the extreme.
We're relying on exactly that to tell the world about the science of genomics. Read more
To get the ball rolling we held a digital art contest in support of the 2008 GE3LS International Symposium being held in Calgary April 28-30. The contest guidelines asked artists and scientists to use digital art techniques to express their thoughts about the point where genetics and society meet. We did a media release and 1 paid ad while everything else was accomplished through viral marketing. In the end we had 25 entries from all over the world, approximately a thousand votes, and an increased number of hits to our website. You can see all the entries at: http://picasaweb.google.com/MikesGene , and the winners will be announced next week.

Now for the really big viral marketing test. We're giving away genes on Facebook.
Not real genes of course, but the virtual version of genes for blue eyes, the main gene behind the alcohol flush reaction, and the ever popular speed gene for budding athletes. We have 12 ready to go and more are slated to arrive on Facebook next week.
A media release went out today and immediately got picked up by a couple of radio stations, and there will be a few pay-per-click campaigns on Facebook to support the cause. After that however we're hoping that everyone who tries the gift application will tell 2 friends, who will tell 2 friends, and so on. When all is said and done in a few months, we're hoping to have given away 30,000 genes.
Why ?

Part of the mandate for Genome Alberta is education and outreach. Part of what we do involves raising awareness of our work. Then there is the part about research itself.
Each gene you give or recieve includes some information about the gene, about Genome Alberta, and where applicable, links to some of the work we do. If we can tell that story 30,000 times, we will have made huge strides in spreading the word about the important and rapidly advancing field of genomics.
So why not hop over to facebook.genomealberta.ca and start using the application. If you're already on Facebook, simply search for the Genomics Application.
Don't want to dip your toes into the world of Facebook? No problem as we've posted all the content on our site at www.genomealberta.ca/facebook .

Try it out, then spread the word. It certainly works for shampoo.

You tell 2 friends and they'll tell 2 Friends and so on and so on ...

April 24, 2008 10:15 PM

Filed Under: Mikenomics


Remember the shampoo commerical many years ago? Little did the producers of the commercial or their unsuspecting audience know, but they were on to the secret of viral marketing.
The idea of course was that if you liked the shampoo you'd tell your friends. Word-of-mouth marketing tries to take the idea to the extreme.
We're relying on exactly that to tell the world about the science of genomics.


To get the ball rolling we held a digital art contest in support of the 2008 GE3LS International Symposium being held in Calgary April 28-30. The contest guidelines asked artists and scientists to use digital art techniques to express their thoughts about the point where genetics and society meet. We did a media release and 1 paid ad while everything else was accomplished through viral marketing. In the end we had 25 entries from all over the world, approximately a thousand votes, and an increased number of hits to our website. You can see all the entries at: http://picasaweb.google.com/MikesGene , and the winners will be announced next week.

Now for the really big viral marketing test. We're giving away genes on Facebook.
Not real genes of course, but the virtual version of genes for blue eyes, the main gene behind the alcohol flush reaction, and the ever popular speed gene for budding athletes. We have 12 ready to go and more are slated to arrive on Facebook next week.
A media release went out today and immediately got picked up by a couple of radio stations, and there will be a few pay-per-click campaigns on Facebook to support the cause. After that however we're hoping that everyone who tries the gift application will tell 2 friends, who will tell 2 friends, and so on. When all is said and done in a few months, we're hoping to have given away 30,000 genes.
Why ?

Part of the mandate for Genome Alberta is education and outreach. Part of what we do involves raising awareness of our work. Then there is the part about research itself.
Each gene you give or recieve includes some information about the gene, about Genome Alberta, and where applicable, links to some of the work we do. If we can tell that story 30,000 times, we will have made huge strides in spreading the word about the important and rapidly advancing field of genomics.
So why not hop over to facebook.genomealberta.ca and start using the application. If you're already on Facebook, simply search for the Genomics Application.
Don't want to dip your toes into the world of Facebook? No problem as we've posted all the content on our site at www.genomealberta.ca/facebook .

Try it out, then spread the word. It certainly works for shampoo.

Posted by Mike Spear at April 24, 2008 10:15 PM

Comments

Craig Knox email -

There is a spelling mistake on the facebook application page - it says "Welcome to the Genome Alberta GENOMICS applciation".

Mike Spear email - www.genomealberta.ca/blogs

aarrhggh . Thanks for catching it.

At some point in a project like this you look and revise until it all just runs together and you really need an outside editor !

Mike

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