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Does the adage that “any publicity is good publicity” still hold true for brands or are these “Twitter Moments” of ridicule detrimental to a business beyond the few days where they are thrusted into the spotlight and become punchlines on the late-night comedy circuit or Twittersphere?

“The concept of viral marketing is by no means new,” Vishal Patel, a digital marketer, wrote as he delved into its origination and long-term impact. “Word-of-mouth marketing, viral’s forefather, has been around for ages. The principle behind word-of-mouth marketing is simple: use influencers to generate peer-to-peer product recommendations or buzz.”

“I don’t think viral is anything a brand should aspire to,” Ann Handley, an author and chief content officer at MarketingProfs, told Forbes. “If it happens, it’s a happy accident. But it’s never anything that a company should actively pursue because I don’t think it’s a worthwhile endeavor.”

A campaign gone viral does bring short-lived brand awareness like in what we saw when IHOP mysteriously announced it would be changing its famous moniker that had been short for "International House of Pancakes" to “IHOb.” The internet went wild, pondering just what the ‘b’ would be short for. Later, IHOP announced the change was temporary as the company was looking to promote its “burgers” and the fact unknown to many that IHOP, indeed, has menu options beyond breakfast.

"We are definitely going to be IHOP but we want to convey that we are taking our burgers as seriously as our pancakes," the company’s president, Darren Rebelsz, relayed to CNN Money.

As part of the campaign, IHOP updated its Twitter handle to @IHOb and Rebelsz even went as far as updating his position on his LinkedIn profile to “Chief Burger Officer.” After the announcement, he fielded interviews to ensure patrons that the change was merely a gimmick and that IHOP would permanently remain by its original name once the campaign concludes.

"There was a reluctance at first from the [IHOP] franchisees because the brand has made a couple different runs at promoting [non-breakfast]-type offers in the past and they've typically fallen flat," Rebelez told AdAge. "We knew we were going to have to do something different."

The wake of the IHOB campaign was “exactly” what the company was looking for, Rebelsz said -- though he did admit the company did not expect the “magnitude” of how much of an impact it would have in the mainstream media.

Well that was a crazy week. pic.twitter.com/5XvIErpSoH

— IHOb (@IHOb) June 15, 2018

TONGUE IN CHEEK: In the viral social media flood that followed IHOP's announcement of a name change, the company kept a cool head and played right along with all the jokes and jabs.

While IHOP may have been eager to play to the masses with the marketing ploy, some feedback like what Best Buy saw with its logo change can come as unexpected, particular at times that should be exciting for a brand. “The proliferation of marketing and advertising, coupled with the onslaught of millions of media channels in today’s world, has given cause for consumers to tune out and effectively avoid a great deal of traditional supplier driven messaging,” Patel wrote.

Patel described viral marketing today as more of a “long con” as brands use it to “seed” ideas in the minds of consumers who may not be converted to customers right then and there, but perhaps in the future.

“Viral marketing, like all marketing, is hit or miss,” Patel added. “However, viral marketing by nature is often more risky or controversial than traditional marketing. If done improperly viral marketing can backfire and create negative buzz.”

Graphic design blogs and the rarely-benevolent folks of Twitter were quick to point out Best Buy’s new logo that shook up the placement of the traditional “yellow tag” in favor of simple block typeface looked a lot like that of Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light (which itself had created a viral craze with the recent “Dilly Dilly” campaign).

The new Best Buy logo is “more modern and easier to read, especially in today’s digital world,” the company had said in a news release on its blog when it was unveiled. The new placement of the yellow tag provides a “graphic punctuation and a visual connection to our history,” Best Buy added.

“The updated logo is true to our heritage, but it’s really cleaned up,” said Whit Alexander, Best Buy’s chief marketing officer. “It’s an evolution toward the future and we’re really excited about that.”

Along with the new logo, Best Buy is rebranding its voice and showcasing its employees as a means of “telling the story of our people,” Alexander said. “Our people are our insurmountable advantage.”

CHANGING THE MESSAGE: Along with its logo change, Best Buy is showcasing its helpful employees which it believes gives the company a heads up over competitors and online shopping.

In what seems like stark refute to the feedback the new logo received, Best Buy’s new advertising campaign has turned heads and received praise from media and blogs for showcasing the customer experience in an age trending toward fully-digital shopping.

There are many advantages to viral marketing. Marketers are quick to point out advantages like the mainstream media exposure a campaign that’s gone viral can have and the low or non-existent advertising costs, like the free publicity IHOP garnered with the Rebelsz interviews where he explained the company’s motive and rationale and countless media outlets and radio stations covering the story. IHOP, for better or worse, has entered the national conversation when it had been just another place to grab a bite to eat.

“We believe that viral advertising is a cost-effective way to reach a large-scale audience,” wrote Alan G. House, an analyst at Value Line, a publisher that offers research to investors. “Most of the major advertisers have a social marketing department, so we believe that it represents another avenue for growth, as well as a means of diversification. We think that viral advertising is here to stay and that companies must realize both the positive and negative implications of this market approach.”

When poorly received, House suggests brands counteract the viral campaign with something more sensible. Dealing with adverse feedback “is difficult,” he wrote. “The best solution could be to launch a new viral campaign that is more socially acceptable or to address the controversial [item] in a responsible manner.”

The sustained impact that poorly-received viral marketing can have remains a new frontier for marketers. While “shareability” can certainly be measured through analytics, what lasting effects resonate with consumers a decade down the road following a viral campaign remains to be seen and financial numbers haven’t yet been examined perhaps as they should.

The focus, according to Handley, should be avoiding the potential of going viral, weighing possible outcomes before the launch of a campaign and aiming to create “great moments” with customers rather than viral ones.

“Marketing is art plus intent,” Handley said. “Creativity … is a big piece. The other piece is intent: what are you trying to drive, what do you want them to do? If you can address those two buckets, you’ll create some great marketing.”

LEARN MORE

Explore these links to learn more about viral marketing.

CIO takes a look at its 10 worst marketing campaigns

Gumas, an advertising agency, examines ways to measure success (or lack thereof) of a viral campaign

SocialNewsDaily examines more campaigns by big brands that have gone “bad”

USA Today puts a spotlight on how one-on-one communication with consumers posting negative reviews can harm a business and, sometimes, be beneficial

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