Snuggie Sightings - An Unlikely Marketing and Viral Success Story
By now you must have heard of them - the blankets with sleeves that keep you warm no matter what you're doing. Buy a Snuggie, and you can talk on the phone, eat a snack, read a book, or even cast spells, according to one YouTube parody video.
I'll admit. The first time I saw the infomercial, I thought it was funny, quirky, and another example of a useless product being marketed on TV. I still think it's pretty useless, but the fact that it's been incredibly successful is simply mind boggling. The makers of Snuggie have sold over 4 million sleeved-blankets in just a 3 month period. Not to mention the fact that the product has blown up virally.
Did the makers of the product plan for this when they created the original infomercial? Watch it, it's almost too corny to be true, even for an infomercial.
Snuggie Sightings
There's even an entire website, called Snuggie Sightings that's devoted to pictures, videos, and news about the Snuggie.
There was also a widely distributed photo of a person wearing the Snuggie at President Obama's inauguration.
The biggest lesson that you can take away from the Snuggie is that you never know when a campaign, idea, or product can go viral. Mostly, it's due to factors beyond your control - so just enjoy it when it happens, and be prepared to react. If done properly, you undertake actions that will grow your viral success.
Where else have you seen the Snuggie? Share your Snuggie experience with a comment below!
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Aaron Strout's Presentation, "I'm Your Customer and I Can't Hear You" from Inbound Marketing Summit 2009
