As a nation of consumers, we are obsessed with the latest fads and trends. While some of these fads have reasonably long lives, others go extinct almost as quickly as they become popular. Many of these trendy products have characteristics in common. They are cheap, easy to find, and collectible, as in there are multiple variations (color, size, etc.) Time will tell if the latest fad, Silly Bandz, will have the ability to remain popular for several years.
Robert Croak, founder/creator of Silly Bandz, first encountered similar products while on a trip to Japan. When he first started he was shipping approximately 20 boxes a day from his home. He now ships over 1,500 daily. The incredible thing is he has created this success without any advertising. He has rode an incredible wave of word-of-mouth marketing that has taken advantage of the new popularity of internet marketing through websites like Twitter and Facebook. Currently over 350,000 people have “liked the Silly Bandz Facebook page.
For those who are not familiar, Silly Bandz come in packs of 12 or 24, and are nothing more than rubber bracelets that become a unique shape when you remove it from your wrist. The product seems like a combination of two other fads, the Livestrong bracelet and the collectability of Pokemon, as many engage in the trading and purchasing of them in an effort to collect them all. The Silly Bandz website features packs that include bands that appear as Marvel comic characters, Justin Bieber, and dinosaurs. These bands, like so many fads, seemingly came out of nowhere in their rise to fame. Like many fads, it sounds like a “stupid” idea until someone makes it popular.
What is fascinating to me is how something can become so popular, despite no advertising. Currently four different packs are now among the top fifteen bestsellers on Amazon.com. It is incredible to see just how powerful word-of-mouth advertising can be. It is understandable that things can become popular within a local area, such as a school. But Silly Bandz has had success nationally solely due to buzz marketing. Silly Bandz captured the nation’s obsession with finding the latest and hippest trends and capitalized on the marketing potential of the online community. Word-of-mouth advertising has been boosted by the development of social media sites. Where it used to take months to spread news about a product, it can now be done with a single update. Silly Bandz exemplifies the effectiveness of viral and buzz marketing and demonstrates why marketers need to learn how harness its power. I anticipate viral marketing will become the focus of marketing departments going forward and may replace mass media marketing as the focus of promotional campaigns.
Posted by Michael Austin
So, I don't know too too much on the subject, but here's a fun fact about the power of word-of-mouth: last Fall, a friend of mine from Alabama told me about Silly Bandz. He said that he had seen them before on little kids but that they were about to take off at the University of Alabama... he couldn't understand why, but he jumped at the opportunity to spread them at Wake. He then ordered probably 5 packages of them and gave one package each to me and a few of our other friends for free. The catch? He wanted us to go around and spread the word about them! I wore my zoo pack diligently until about Christmas Break, constantly taking them off and playing with them to show people how cool they were. My friend was initially hoping that people would instantly want to order some, and he wanted to be the "go-to" guy on campus to make that happen. Unfortunately, they didn't take off last Fall quite like he pictured... I ended up passing mine off to my sister (who now proudly flaunts them at her own university) and moved on with my life. Who knew that a year later they'd be like an epidemic?? Even though our group of 5 people didn't succeed at making them a trend at Wake, I know I definitely created some awareness as I exposed them to people who had never seen them before. Kind of an interesting experience!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the long comment haha!
Jackie
What is interesting about Silly Bandz is that there is actually no brand name or distinctive mark on the actual bracelets. Because of this, it is difficult to tell which bracelets are the "original" and which are imitators once they are out of the packaging. Unlike the Beanie Baby fad where the "real thing" was identified with the red "Ty" tag, these bracelets have no distinctive brand mark that I know of. I feel like this is important to note, especially since it is not very hard to imitate a relatively low cost, rubber bracelet. Until now I didn't even know there was an "official" maker of the bracelets. There's actually another brand of the bracelets already being sold in the WFU bookstore.
ReplyDelete-Jacqueline Buff
both excellent comments.
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