It’s Contagious.

I love the new definition of contagious these days. Not medically speaking, of course.

For many businesses, the trend du jour is to be perceived as different, bold, edgy, creative and fun — and to have your message spread with a mind of its own.

The goal is to have your message reach potential eyes, ears, fingers, computers, ipods, ipads and mobile phones as quickly and as broadly as possible.

Undoubtedly, there are many an ad agency and product company who woke up this very morning hoping that someone on their staff would have a simply genius idea today. And they hoped that idea would result in a print ad, tv commercial or online video that in turn would then spark a contagious flurry of viral proliferation throughout every social media medium.

The Old Spice – If You Have It – commercial continues to have its own afterlife on the internet for instance, long after the actual spot aired on tv.

The ideal scenario is to have the germ (ahem, I mean concept) eventually disseminated across Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Plaxo, FriendFeed, Hulu, MySpace, Google and Bing, etc. The inspired graphic, the 30-second tv spot or the one-minute video would catch the imagination of the public and in a nano-second, we would see the idea-as-a-finished-product then proliferated across the world’s airwaves and web-ernet with immediacy and ‘contagious’ enthusiasm.

An example in point: the Roller Babies viral video produced by Evian cleverly spread the product’s targeted message across the internet through subtle fun.

Instead of virus symptoms being the topic reserved for doctor offices, we now spend time talking about viral basics in our conference rooms. We analyze an idea for success fundamentals such as message clarity and visual creativity. We probe ideas for elements of uniqueness, factors of fun, the possibilities for success, and hopefully, the potential for a full viral outbreak.

Last year’s amazing public singing debut of Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent swept through social and traditional mediums with a vengeance. Companies dream of a similar word-of-mouth success.

This new world of viral thinking has added a whole new world of fun and energy to business.

In essence, we have a new vernacular for successful marketing and advertising. And the word contagious now enjoys a whole new reputation.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.

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