Nike's viral marketers and blogs in Brazil

Together with eight other journalists, I am part of a blog called Futepoca, which mostly deals with football (soccer) — not that any of us works in sports, but we like the topic a lot. On February 26, we got an e-mail that was curious, to say the least. It came with the heading “Article on Ronaldo” and the sender was someone from a “viral marketing” company. The e-mail read:

"Hey there, FUTEPOCA Bloggers!

I work at the RIOT agency, which specializes in Social Media Strategy.

I visited your blog and like the content a lot.

For that reason, I thought it would be very relevant to suggest that you write about the Nike Web site on the “recovery” of Ronaldo, which had surgery on February 14 on his left knee. This site was created by Nike so that fans of Ronaldo could send good wishes and motivation to the player so he can return to the field as soon as possible and once again captivate football lovers.

I am sending you a small explanatory note with some instruction on how this article might be written, okay?

In case you agree to write about Ronaldo and the results on your blog — comments and the like — are positive, who knows, maybe we could form some sort of partnership, okay? This post I am suggested would be sort of a pilot post. If it gets results, and new campaigns come up that are relevant to your blog, we can talk again, okay?

PS: If you accept, we need the text written and posted by tomorrow night, okay? Any questions, contact me."

“Spontaneous” support

“Viral marketing” is a method used by a lot of companies to increase their brand recognition, and has social networks as its initial niche. The idea is for publicity campaigns to reproduce like an “epidemic.” Now the promoters of these campaigns are starting to use blogs — because these have a supposedly “amateur” characer — as a way of promoting their products.

Unlike other campaigns, however, the “proposal” made in Nike’s name contains a clear promise of “future dealings,” as is evident from the part I reproduced in boldface. This is something that undermines the very concept of viral marketing, because it is nothing more than a subtle suggestion of a paid post. They are not trying to buy ad space, which is completely normal and common on any site or in any publication. They are trying to buy editorial content.

Below, the “guidelines” they sent on how the blogger ought to write up the post:

"The post consists of writing a short article on the Ronaldo phenomenon, his conquests in Brazil and abroad. It should focus on ennobling the player, who has acquired, through his many success, the status of a “phenomenon.” In this text, or just below it, the link to the Nike site should be inserted. Try to motivate people to send the player good wishes, or create a video celebrating a memorable goal, showing Ronaldo’s trademark, which is a raised index finger.

Try also to emphasize the opportunity to send messages directly through the Nike portal or by SMS. The post should motivate people to support the player spontaneously, referring to the passion for football and the great player Ronaldo."

Marketers demoralize

You see those “guidelines”? Copy and paste a selection into Google. You will see that various Web sites and blogs contain verbatim passages of it. Others follow the “spirit” of the briefing more closely. It could be that a number of different bloggers really did express their admiration for Ronaldo and posted under this “incentive,” but in good faith. However, in practice, it is difficult to tell the difference between sincere admirers and those who did it simply because of the promises the e-mail made. It is difficult for the reader to believe that the Web site author is sincere.

But there is a more serious distinction to be made here. There are sites and blogs that focus more on entertainment that are authored without any journalistic standards, and there are Web sites authored by journalists, who supposed ought to follow the standards of this profession, which are so often abused these days. The latter cannot accept such an offer under any circumstances. For that reason, our site did not even respond. Futepoca is often not journalistic, it deals with its subject matter with humor and a bit of irreverence, such as creating campaigns to make fun of the organized fan clubs. But most of the time, including the treatment of information run in other publications, clear standards are followed. After all, even though none of us are sports professionals, we are full-time journalists in our working lives.

For that reason, what surprises us is not that the Nike item would have been published on news sites, but mainly the way the “news” was delivered. On the Futebol Interior site, for example, the headline was “Nike runs a global pro-Ronaldo campaign. Participate!” Any first-year journalism student would blush. Other blogs and sites also republished the campaign.

The contribution of blogs to the democratization of social communication in Brazil and in the world is becoming decisive. But this type of marketing campaign, when echoed in the blogosophere, is demoralizing. Nor is [advertorial marketing] in the major commercial media a new fact. But it continues to be a lamentable one.