Cuban cautioned advertisers against investing heavily in so-called viral campaigns that are spread by users beyond their initial point of distribution on YouTube or other video sharing sites. But he touted opportunities to run commercials on high-definition television such as his HDNet network.
"What makes viral so special is it's so hard to do. It's so hard to plan. It's hard to stand out," he said, describing 99 percent of money advertisers spend on viral campaigns as "wasted."
"You guys love to be the trailing edge," he said.
I think the second paragraph above is very applicable to my previous post on Facebook's new ad format.
Facebook seems to be trying to turn it viral and as Mark said, "its hard to do. "
I compare all of this to real world germs.
The common flu spreads naturally, it stinks to catch it, but if you get it from a friend it's unintentional.
Think of a bio-weapon like small-poxs, it's an intentional release and the backlash and devastation is clear. Quarantines are setup, etc.
If this format is to work, it's really got to be a great campaign. If not, you've just unleashed a bioweapon.
Next thing you know you'll have quarantines around your brand.