Mar
26
Wikipedia: The Ultimate Marketing Tool
March 26, 2007
Borat the movie, was released this weekend and topped the weekend box office with record-setting ticket
sales of $26.4 million in the U.S. and Canada at only 837 theaters.
A quick Google search for Borat first brings up the Unofficial Borat Homepage and then a Borat listing in Wikipedia. Wikipedia? Is Borat so important to our culture that it deserves a Wikipedia listing, or has Sacha Baron Cohen, the real actor that plays Borat, using Wikipedia as a marketing tool?
The Wikipedia listing covers a lot of information on Borat including a fictional biography, which I highly recommend reading, and links to Mr. Cohen’s other characters; Ali G and Bruno. All of this information expands on the characters and builds public awareness.
What a great marketing tool… an encyclopedia.
Here are other examples of questionable items listed in Wikipedia. Should they really be listed in an encyclopedia, or are they using Wikipedia as a marketing tool… or both?
-Though Apple’s (AAPL) IPod may deserve a listing for creating a revolution, does it’s competitors; Samsung YEPP and Sandisk SANSA?
-Did the George Foreman Grill change a market or just George Foreman’s career?
-Tom’s of Maine was one of the first successful natural personal care product lines. What market did Speedstick and Degree deodorant pioneer?
-Slim-fast helped it’s customers reduce their weight, but is it encyclopedia material?
Wikipedia is fully aware of companies using their service as a marketing tool. A lookup for the Magic Bullet, an “As Seen on TV” product, produces the following message before the listing:
“The current version of the article or section reads like an advertisement”.*
For another take on this subject see “Using Wikipedia for Marketing“, and article from Rohit Bhargava’s blog: Influential Interactive Marketing. Rohit Bhargava is the Vice President of Interactive Marketing for Ogilvy Public Relations.
So what are you waiting for? Get your product up on Wikipedia!
*As of January 8, 2007 the Wikipedia article for “Magic Bullet” was revised and the advertisement warning was removed.
Subscribe
