Social Media and Viral

Marketing MKT3012
Learning objectives

Introduce the module

Introduce the team

Get you thinking about important deadlines

© Middlesex University Presentation title 2

Todays plan
• Intro
• Intro to teaching team
• Recap from MKT2002
• Little dabble with social
• Little dabble with viral
• Some pointers for the year
• Important deadlines
• The textbook

© Middlesex University
 DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU DIDN’T DO MKT2002 LAST YEAR

WE WILL COVER SOME SIMILAR MATERIAL IN THE FIRST FEW

LECTURES

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 5

Teaching team
• Luke Devereux, Module Leader
• L.Devereux@mdx.ac.uk
• Lecturer
• You may have been taught by me in previous years
• Background in journalism, market research, copywriting, selling advertising
• I also publish academic research
• And of course some of you may remember I like guitars…and dinosaurs

© Middlesex University
In fact here’s me tweeting about dinosaurs (I needed to get a
dinosaur in the first lecture at least)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 7

Sorry I didn’t mean tweeting…I meant….X-ing….(or whatever)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 8

 What do we think about this btw? Do
we think it was a good move?

Love it?

Hate it?

Confused by it?

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 9

And that other social news…Threads….anyone tried it?(Forbes 2023)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 10

Other important facts about me from last year
• I love Ed Sheeran with every fibre of my being

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 11

Also some notes about articles
• I’ll often put hyperlinks in my slides that should send you to useful articles
• I will put a Fancy Exploring More? section in each week should you wish to
explore things further. I’ll often put useful academic articles here
• So try and make the most of the links and articles I send your way.

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 12

Teaching team continued
• Natalie Staub
• N.staub@mdx.ac.uk

© Middlesex University
 Now let’s meet each other.

If you’re struggling. Ask yourselves these questions:

1. What’s the most boring thing you’ve done since last year?
2. Why do you love (or hate…) Harry Styles?
3. What is your favourite social media platform? And why?

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 14

 Okay module stuff…that’s why we’re here right?

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 15

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module the successful student will be able to:

1. Critically evaluate social media practice with reference to owned, paid and
earned tactics
2. Apply relevant theory and models to recommend solutions to social media
challenges
3. Identify, synthesise and review literature on viral marketing
4. Design viral content with due attention to the psychology and sociology of
viral marketing, ethical issues and content sharing research

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 16

So what did we do in MKT2002?
• So last year in MKT2002 we covered a wide range of areas. Almost like a
‘greatest hits’ of digital marketing
• Your assessments were in web design, SEO, A/B testing and social media
• However, if you didn’t study MKT2002 (firstly, it’s okay…I’ll forgive you one
day), don’t worry. I’m here if you have any questions about digital and I’ve put
a folder of related things from last year online.
• And we will cover some similar material to begin with…

© Middlesex University
So why study social media?
• Social media, whilst it does have its downsides is here for the time being. It is
inevitably part of the toolbox that marketers can use (Hanlon 2018).
• It gives a whole host of things to be looking at and exploring
• Ultimately it is where potential audiences are hanging out so we can go there
and figure things out, find out there want’s/needs
• A lot of ad spend takes place in this area (IAB 2020)
• So the more we know about it the better. It can help us create more
products/campaigns that can reach our audiences

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 18

Also from an SME perspective is top paid ad channel(from a
couple of years ago)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 19

Social ad spend dropped this year…so far(Marketing Week 2023
)
• Some things that have possibly contributed are inflation impacting SME spend
• Elon Musks antics have also impacted those that advertised on Twitter
• Meta have seen declines too citing ‘weaker advertiser demand”

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 20

And there are still things to learn…Gen X and social media
• Saw this interesting piece on marketing to Gen X on social media (
WARC 2023), which was interesting to remind us of the size of the market out
there

• Key findings from it:

• “Gen X is responsible for 27% of global spending and, with rapidly rising
earnings and savings, are entering the most financially rewarding stage of
their lives.
• On TikTok they comprise 28% of users and are the fastest-growing generation
on the platform.
• Yet just 5% of brand spend on influencer campaigns is targeted at Gen X.”
(WARC 2023)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 21

So why viral marketing?
• Well this viral nature of things was particularly big a few years ago, there
seemed to be a gold rush of trying to make a viral video in 2010s.
• Ultimately though its all about message spread, and this is the interesting
area.
• So big classic examples of this are ice bucket challenge, KONY
• But we see more modern examples of this in things like dance trends/songs
on TikTok, the spread of memes etc.
• So this can be useful as it can help create more reach for campaigns, building
awareness and memory structures
• We also see things like OOH helping things go viral on social.
But it is rarely the magic bullet everyone claims it can be (Nelson-Field
2013)
© Middlesex University Presentation title | 22
So why viral marketing?
• Also different platforms are affecting how things spread.
• E.g. Tiktok is less based on friends networks in the way fb was.

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 23

Distracted boyfriend

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 24

 Quick question:

How often do you think of the Roman Empire?

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 25

How often do you think of the Roman Empire?(Forbes 2023)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 26

Anakin and Padme Meme (Esquire 2021)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 27

Grimace and the purple shake(2023)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 28

Mi pa su su sum (from a while back but I liked it)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 29

And is TV being purposefully meme-y now?(The Guardian 2022)

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 30

Can we predict viral?
• Not really, we are largely at the mercy of audiences (and algorithms).
• Things can go viral or they can’t
• Things can go viral for the wrong reasons (e.g Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad)
• One view of this is that actually our marketing landscape is what is considered
a complex system( Rand et al. 2016)
• Complex systems are hard to predict (Mitchell 2012) , however it can help us
understand and explore viral behaviour.
• Remember in academia, we can use theory as lenses to view the world
around us…and hopefully understand it better
• This is how you get theory into your essays

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 31

 So we can’t predict it….but isn’t that all part of the fun?

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 32

So how can you get the most out of this year?
• Feel free to get in touch when you want.
• Don’t be afraid to ask silly questions
• Reference reference reference
• Work smartly, use your time effectively.
• Use something like Mendeley or refworks to store your articles (I use
Mendeley).
• Keep pushing yourself
• Remember… if you do the minimum, expect the minimum
• Reference reference refence
• Hand things in on time. You are third years now!
• Reference reference reference!
© Middlesex University Presentation title | 33
 REFERENCE!

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 34

 REFERENCE!

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 35

 REFERENCE!
© Middlesex University Presentation title | 36
REFERENCE!

REFERENCE!
© Middlesex University Presentation title | 37
 REFERENCE!

REFERENCE!
REFERENCE!

REFERENCE!
© Middlesex University Presentation title | 38
 REFERENCE!

REFERENCE!
REFERENCE!!!
REFERENCE!

REFERENCE!
© Middlesex University Presentation title | 39
 REFERENCE!

REFERENCE!
REFERENCE!!!!!!!!
REFERENCE!!!!!!

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 40

Assessment
• i. Individual assignment (100%) (3,000 words, Week 11, 8th Dec 10pm).
Drawing upon a review of relevant literature, students are required to evaluate
the social media and viral marketing strategy of a real-life organisation,
suggest areas for improvement and design social media and viral content.
This assessment will address Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 41

• We will go over this in more detail in the coming weeks
• I’ll also do my usual ‘one pager’ a week or so before the deadline (this is
usually guidance created based on drafts I’ve seen etc.)
• But as this is a short module I would advise you get started as quickly as you
can.
• So start thinking about what brand you would like to look at.

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 42

 Okay so there, we go….welcome to the module!

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 43

 Any questions?

© Middlesex University Presentation title | 44