New Media Age, Opinion, 18 June 2004

Read DMC’s letter to the editor regarding the launch of the Viral & Buzz Marketing Association and the maturing of digital marketing in general.

DMC Letter to Editor, 18 June 2004, New Media Age

It’s been said that the launch of the Viral & Buzz Marketing Association (VBMA) marks a coming of age for viral marketing. This is significant because the VBMA’s membership brings together not only specialist viral marketing practitioners, but also companies from across the marketing spectrum who now devote a significant amount of business to the web.

So perhaps it’s not just viral marketing that has come of age, but digital marketing in general. It’s no longer the domain of specialised web agencies, but is fully integrated into the marketing mix.

Practitioners integrating web marketing techniques are now looking at more non-interruptive approaches like viral and buzz marketing - interesting when you consider the more interruptive-based attempts to gain credibility for digital marketing by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Digital Division, and the Direct Marketing Association.

The VBMA is already facilitating international collaboration between members, as well as introducing interested new parties to existing practitioners. The idea is to make the VBMA a means to an end for its members, rather than a self-serving means in itself.