Merchandising Virality

Posted by Mike Walsh

1/13/08 7:56 AM

metroThere was a time when you couldn't walk down the street, ride a subway or drink a coffee without hearing the wretched racket of the Crazy Frog ringtone. It was certainly an interesting case study in mass virality, if not collective bad taste.

Why some content goes viral and most doesn't is the $60m dollar question. Or, as reported by Techcrunch, the $79m question. That's how much the Crazy Frog franchise made in 2005 through the sale of mobile ringtones alone. And that's not including CDs, plush toys, garments, videogames, posters, figurines and god knows what other kinds of merchandise were spawned from this manifestation of pure irritance.

Popularity is one thing. How to make money from it is another. Its a question I often find myself discussing with my media clients. Merchandising, made possible by mass viral awareness, might be one such avenue.

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