viral

Prayers for the Assassin is a geopolitical thriller by Robert Ferrigno. The novel?s provocative pretext - The Islamic States of America - caught the interest of the world's most prestigious publisher, Simon & Schuster.

Prayers for the Assassin is set in the year 2040 in which United States has become a moderate Islamic Republic after a complex chain of events rooted in today's headlines. After a cross departmental brainstorming session, Simon & Schuster determined that an unprecedented online campaign to augment their traditional marketing tactics was needed.

Anyone in marketing has experienced it, the 2:00 pm creative push to brainstorm ideas for the next step in a campaign, the next big breakthrough. With coffee in hand, you stagger into an office only to sit there, staring at your colleagues staring back at you. Inevitably, the day might have beaten you, productivity has halted. Sometimes this creative and cognitive slump can be overcome with aid of caffeinated beverages, quick jaunt out of the office, etc.

A good friend of mine from college is now working as a sales rep over at Kimberly-Clark, you know the folks who make they make Huggies, Kleenex and Scott Towels; so when I see their name mentioned along with a viral campaign I have to take notice. Ad Age had a great write up about how K-C used a viral video site to promote their Duckbill brand, but as I read the article I couldn't help but feel as though they could have done so much more.

If you have been worried about the serious problem facing our dairy farmers today, then this site is for you. CowAbduction.com, explains how dairy farms everywhere are under attack from aliens who are highly interested in the abduction of our milk source. Complete with a video interview of the dairy farmers and mysterious photos of cows flying through the air, this website almost makes you believe, well you know.

Just in case there are any other die hard Batman fans out there, I wanted to let you in on some of the tricks The Joker is playing. In anticipation of The Dark Knight's release in 2008, The Joker is making his presence known all over the internet. There are a few websites that you can go to, find codes, and complete challenges. The end result? A teaser trailer of the film. Which, for me, will suffice until there is a full-blown campaign, and then the actual movie. Here are some of the websites to get you started: