Viral Marketing
New Markets Business Model by Geoff Benjamin, Jan. 14 2002
http://www.redcottage.com/worksf/
"Amazing what being first to market with a popular communication tool can be worth! But, of course, ICQ has done a few other things than just be in the right place at the right time with the right product. Here are some of the critical factors of their success (both past and present):
Popularity Contests, By Danny Rimer - Aug 06 1999
http://www.thestandard.com
"...When was the last time you checked out the most popular downloads on www.download.com and ICQ's Instant Messaging software was not at the top of the charts? ...Of course, it has the most members, and critical mass breeds critical mass. In fact, ICQ is one of the top-five most popular downloads on the Internet at this point. With more than 55 million registered users and 18 million active users, ICQ is one of the killer apps - right up there with browsers, media players, compression products and a couple of other utilities."
Viral Marketing - Chapter 12, by Emanuel Rosen
http://www.emanuel-rosen.com
"...An interesting thing about ICQ is their marketing - or the lack thereof. When journalist Ami Ginsburg came to interview the young Israeli founders, all the "marketing" they could show was a brochure they had once produced but that was hardly ever used. They simply didn't do marketing as we know it. All their efforts are directed at motivating the user to spread the word. They seemed to understand that as much as people liked the services, they wouldn't necessarily go out of their way to promote it. So they tried to make it very easy to spread the word. For example, they use the standard e-mail that will invite your friend to join, but the software can also be instructed to scan your address book and send all your friends invitation letters. Telemarketers from ICQ will never call you up during dinner the way MCI did. Their idea is to build a tool that includes an inherent mechanism for spreading the word and then letting it grow. When a structure like this works, there is no need to nag customers. "The less you do, the more it grows", Ted Leonsis if AOL, the company that now owns ICQ, told Newsweek".
Read the full article
http://www.redcottage.com/worksf/
"Amazing what being first to market with a popular communication tool can be worth! But, of course, ICQ has done a few other things than just be in the right place at the right time with the right product. Here are some of the critical factors of their success (both past and present):
- Free software downloads (although this may soon end)
- First to market (with many other competitors trying to catch-up).
- Viral Marketing (it is in the interest of each user to recruit more users)
- No Industry IM Standard- (both a threat and weakness)
- Built brand loyalty through a comprehensive community for users.
- ICQ software dashboard stays on screen-continuously visible.
- High international reach. - 60% of users outside USA.
- Technical and user-friendly superiority."
Popularity Contests, By Danny Rimer - Aug 06 1999
http://www.thestandard.com
"...When was the last time you checked out the most popular downloads on www.download.com and ICQ's Instant Messaging software was not at the top of the charts? ...Of course, it has the most members, and critical mass breeds critical mass. In fact, ICQ is one of the top-five most popular downloads on the Internet at this point. With more than 55 million registered users and 18 million active users, ICQ is one of the killer apps - right up there with browsers, media players, compression products and a couple of other utilities."
Viral Marketing - Chapter 12, by Emanuel Rosen
http://www.emanuel-rosen.com
"...An interesting thing about ICQ is their marketing - or the lack thereof. When journalist Ami Ginsburg came to interview the young Israeli founders, all the "marketing" they could show was a brochure they had once produced but that was hardly ever used. They simply didn't do marketing as we know it. All their efforts are directed at motivating the user to spread the word. They seemed to understand that as much as people liked the services, they wouldn't necessarily go out of their way to promote it. So they tried to make it very easy to spread the word. For example, they use the standard e-mail that will invite your friend to join, but the software can also be instructed to scan your address book and send all your friends invitation letters. Telemarketers from ICQ will never call you up during dinner the way MCI did. Their idea is to build a tool that includes an inherent mechanism for spreading the word and then letting it grow. When a structure like this works, there is no need to nag customers. "The less you do, the more it grows", Ted Leonsis if AOL, the company that now owns ICQ, told Newsweek".
Read the full article
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