13 August 2005 ~ 1 Comment

Gap’s WatchMeChange viral campaign – spreading the virus

Gapwatchmechange_2Seen CPB’s new viral campaign for the Gap yet?

If not, you should definitely pop over their site, and prepare for quite a laugh. The campaign is a spin-off of the popular online retailing "Virtual Me" 3D technology. It’s not exactly well tied to Gap’s inventory or catalog, and actually provides nothing more than a few links to Gap.com, and a few appearances of the Gap logo. Then again, it’s designed to be a viral campaign, not to aid in the selling process.

Here’s the interesting part- you’ll notice word is spreading, but certainly not like it could or should be.  Why not? Take a peak at this screenshot- it’s the end of the ad. See anything missing?  Like, say, something quite vital to all online word of mouth plays? Yup, for some reason, at the apex in momentum, while you and your co-workers are still belly-aching, there’s no ability to pass your virtual dancer (or even just the url) along to your other friends. Oops.

The crazy thing is, they actually do provide static urls that point to your designed GapGirl or Boy, they simply bungled the execution. Where’s the tipping point in a viral campaign? I doubt it’s before you get to the good parts…

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