Viral, awareness and alignment
Two days ago, I had no idea what (or where) William Woods University was. Today I know that it's a liberal arts institution in Fulton, Missouri. I also know that they have a marginally unhealthy obsession with ducks. Why do I know this? Because I stumbled upon their microsite GotDuck.com.
The site is creative, funny, and worth visiting more than once. It's also informative -- cast as a campus map with helpful "tour" tips that help visitors get to know the place. It's viral done right... I think.
Aside from the fact that I now know that WWU is a liberal arts u. in Mizzou, the site gave me some general "brand" impressions about the place. This is where I often have trouble with viral campaigns. It's great to get eyeballs -- and I think this one will -- but the experience has to be more than just plan cool, it has to be aligned with the institution's identity. So, if WWU is a place that pushes the borders, is bold and supportive of students' creative AND edgy ideas, has a great sense of humor, etc. than this site is spot on. Check out the site and you'll know what I mean. Ir those things aren't part of their core identity though, it misses the mark and the online and on-campus experiences won't be aligned. Not a good thing.
Their institutional site is pretty straightforward and doesn't reflect the edginess of the microsite. That's fine, but it does make me wonder a bit about alignment between the Ducks site and the institutional mojo.
All in all, I think they've done something bold and fun here and a bit outside the normal "safe" box for higher ed. Go ducks.
Just curious: How did you stumble upon GotDuck? Just wondering how "viral" the campaign truly is.
Posted by: Andrew Careaga | November 15, 2007 at 01:37 PM
Not sure how much traction it has. A quick look at their .edu site doesn't show any links or mentions (kind of odd). A few searches also pulled up limited results. So, it's hard to tell how this fits into a campaign and how they're handling their outreach. I do think that it has the kind of edge necessary for a site to spread virally though.
Posted by: Charlie | November 15, 2007 at 02:12 PM
Another follow up on this. I just read a PR Week brief about the "lemur swami" microsite at St. George's University. This is another fun app that is aligned nicely with their programs and, apparently, is helping them build visibility.
[link is on the right side]
http://www.sgu.edu/website/sguwebsite.nsf/svm/index.html
Posted by: Charlie | November 15, 2007 at 02:57 PM