Thursday, February 28, 2008

Accidental Viral Marketing?

When I came across an article that had the words "cat toilet" in it, I knew I had to read on. The Cat Genie is an actual flushing toilet for cats! So how does it work? The Cat Genie hooks up to your plumbing and actually flushes. The washable granules are then washed and dried for the next use. There is a detailed diagram of how it works on the website. Stop and think before you run out to buy one for your smelly cat, they start at $297!

Okay, so what in the world does this cat toilet have to do with viral marketing? The website features a video showing how the toilet works. After watching the video, I just had to tell my roommate to watch it. Then I sent the link to a couple of my friends. Just as Sally McKenzie mentioned in her article, I too played a hand in spreading the buzz about this product. The fact that there is no "send to a friend" link makes it seem that there was no intention of doing any viral marketing. It seems like more of a simple "how it works" video. But this simply goes to show that just an interesting product alone can do its own marketing. Companies with interesting products should think about the value of making a simple video. Some other strange products that I think could benefit from an informational or humorous viral video are: The Pathlighter, The Dogone, The Rocking Horse, and The Octodog. My message to Cat Genie: Add a "send to a friend" link to the video and make this a viral smash!

To view the full article by Sally McKenzie, click here.

"Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat
It's not your fault"

1 comment:

Kim Gregson said...

interesting posts - 10 points