The Firecracker Effect
An overview of the phenomena in the Jewish audience for how offerings can benefit from word-of-mouth marketing on a grander scale.
The advantages of marketing to specific segments of the broader Jewish audience are numerous and often vary significantly from one scenario to the next. For example, a healthcare company might have the motivation to market a pharmaceutical to a subset of the Jewish demographic based on a higher concentration of a particular genetic disease within the segment. Alternatively, a hospitality group may market its offering based on awareness of demand due to its proximity to a nearby Jewish community. While these examples emphasize that rationales for Jewish advertising are often case-specific, there are overarching benefits and universal themes present in almost all contexts of Jewish-centric campaigns. One of the most substantial of these advantages is what we refer to as the firecracker effect.
The Basis For The Firecracker Effect
The firecracker effect refers to the phenomena present in the Jewish audience for how products and services can benefit from word-of-mouth marketing on a grander scale when compared to the mass market. The interconnectedness of Jewish communities, especially in the more religious segments, is the core driver for the proliferative spread. The firecracker effect, therefore, focuses on the notion that recommendations go farther and travel more quickly. The inherent trust present from being part of a differentiated group and the associated network effects translates into the optimal ground for organic growth and especially so for novel offerings in the context of Jewish marketing campaigns.
A Double Sided Coin
It is necessary to mention that while exceptional offerings are prone to the advantageous effects of increased recommendation and sharing prevalent in the Jewish audience, the same holds in equally harmful measures for subpar offerings or those with publicized mishaps. Negative experiences are likely to travel faster and farther within the Jewish community, and we have seen countless times where the broader audience has rallied around such issues in an arguably unparalleled manner. While it is true that these instances generally had undertones relating to religious or ethnic matters, we have also seen similar coalescence around solely business matters. Sometimes it was merely a matter of mistaken messaging, and other times it related to a wholly misguided undertaking. While it is not feasible to cover all bases in this regard, it is prudent to be mindful of the relative interconnectedness of the Jewish audience and navigate accordingly.
The First Firecracker Must Be Lit
Without proper lighting of the fuse, there will not be the desired positive effect in line with the firecracker theme. So too, when building out the architecture for a Jewish marketing campaign with a viral or significant organic growth spoke, it is essential to ensure the optimal environment enabling recommendations, referrals, and social sharing. Facilitating rapid and natural growth can take various forms, and the kind utilized will depend on the offering at hand. We see strong potential with referral and contest-based growth strategies for offerings that are web or app-based. However, for brick and mortars and other non-web-based offerings, there is more creativity required. In this regard, we focus on framing unique and catchy narratives around these more traditional offerings and pitch PR and produce creative native-style content and drive targeted traffic to the pieces through both PPC and programmatic. These campaigns are advantageous in numerous ways, but notably, they give brick and mortar offerings “wings” by instituting a digital component that enables sharing and related organic growth.