Nike's latest ad campaign is making extensive use of viral marketing techniques. (Source: Nike)

Viral marketing is actually a communications and branding strategy that relies on the word-of-mouth effect of individuals sharing a company’s marketing message with others. As more people spread the marketing message the reach and impact grow exponentially and suddenly everyone’s informed and in the loop. This is how Hotmail became the early defacto standard free email.

Another great example of viral marketing currently at work is the outrageous popularity and anticipation that Samuel L. Jackson's new summer flick Snakes on a Plane (SoaP) is generating. The movie has a ridiculous plot that involves Jackson playing an FBI agent escorting a federal witness from Hawaii to LA. Enroute, thousands of snakes are released by the mob who doesn't want to see the witness survive the flight. Despite the absurd concept of the movie, Snakes on a Plane has spawned countless websites, blogs, fake trailers, discussion boards and merchandise on par with the type of hype a Lord of the Rings or Star Wars movie normally gets. New Line Cinema (the studio producing SoaP) has even agreed to re-shoot scenes for the film after pouring over suggestions from fans on how to make it better.

One of the scenes being re-shot involves Samuel L. Jackson delivering a line he was born to say: “I want these mother f’n snakes off the mother f’n plane now!” How great is that going to be? I'd pay money just to see him utter that line. If it was ever in doubt I think this movie will officially clinch Samuel L. Jackson the top spot of “must see scenes you've gotta see by one actor”. Just consider he’s already got the ‘eaten by a Shark mid-speech’ scene in Deep Blue Sea, the ‘Yes they deserved to die and I hope they burn in hell!’ scene from A Time To Kill, any scene from Pulp Fiction, and now Snakes on a Plane.

The basic explanation of SoaP's popularity and buzz lies solely with the title. With Snakes on a Plane you know exactly what you're getting - there's no double entendre, there's no clever synonym put in by movie execs.  Snakes on a Plane is a little like Rod Smart's "He Hate Me" jersey from the XFL days – it’s perfect because there's no other explanation needed. 

Nike is hoping for a similar level of success with their World Cup of Soccer campaign through their viral marketing concepts.

Nike’s ad campaign is centered on the central theme of Joga Bonita – Portugese for “Play Beautiful”.  In the ads, former French National and Man United star Eric Cantona hijacks a German sports TV show and makes an impassioned plea for the game of soccer to be played with skill, imagination, creativity and passion. The choice of Cantona as pitch man for the play beautiful campaign is interesting to say the least because this is the same guy who as a player kung-fu kicked a fan who was taunting his ejection from a game.

In the series of ads numerous stars such Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are spotlighted displaying an array of skills. No star displays his skills more prominently than Ronaldinho – the game’s greatest player.

In one clever ad that conjures up immediate comparisons to Nike’s ad of a few years ago where a six-year old Tiger Woods is shown dominating the British Open, current clips of Ronaldinho are mixed with a collection of clips of the Brazilian star playing indoor soccer as a young kid. In another unreal ad entitled “Brazilian Ping-Pong” Ronaldinho receives a new pair of Nike soccer cleats and proceeds to kick the ball off the crossbar back to himself from 30 yards out. These ads are currently being shown on TV but to a bigger extent they are generating awareness for Nike online; millions have already downloaded and circulated these ads – viral marketing at its best.

Nike’s choice of Ronaldinho, the emphasis on beautiful and imaginative play, the spotlight of team Brazil and even the choice of having a slogan in Portuguese are all calculated and strategic moves to align Nike head-to-head against the industry’s leader, Adidas. This year’s World Cup is being played in Germany, Adidas’ backyard.  If you draw parallels out to the pitch, the German style of play is very organized and structured; the exact opposite spirit that Nike and team Brazil are built on. The biggest story of the World Cup will unquestionably be the play of the talented Brazilian roster which makes it such a brilliant move on Nike’s part to centre their promotion on the Brazilian team and their style of play.

In addition to the popularity of the ads online Nike is exploiting the power of viral marketing through the establishment of Joga.com – an online community in collaboration with Google that will allow soccer players and fanatics to share their videos and pictures, and engage in soccer discussions with fellow users.