Is Nvidia Exploring the Dark Side of Viral Marketing?

BoingBoing are indicating that AEG to create faux online personnas to develop positive reputations in online communities to pitch Nvidia products. Consumerist's unsubstantiated indictment: "About a week ago, The Consumerist stumbled upon claims made by various gaming websites that graphics chip manufacturer Nvidia, in cooperation with the Arbuthnot Entertainment Group (AEG), had seeded various gaming and PC hardware enthusiast sites with pro-Nvidia shills. That is to say, that AEG would hire employees to create personas' in various gaming communities, slowly building up the trust of other members by frequent posting unrelated to Nvidia, to later cash in that trust with message board postings talking up the positive qualities of Nvidia's products." Now, one of AEG's self-proclaimed skills is in: "Strategic seeding [of] viral assets to ensure they are spread far and wide" Ok, fair enough. And If the process above is being followed, and true enthusiasts who happen to be key members of a community are being given samples of product, with no strings or expectations attached, that is good aggressive (and smart) marketing, and is above board. (The recipients do have an obligation, in my opinion, to disclose the freebies, however. One approach is the one that Nokia is following that is covered here, here.) Now, on the other hand, if shills are being compensated to talk up Nvidia in online forums without disclosing their interests or, even worse, are being compensated to create multiple personalities to astroturf the gaming world, that is an entirely different kettle of fish altogether, and reeks of the issues that have been covered previously Brand Autopsy. Nvidia, however, horribly flubbed their first attempt to publicly address the situation. After some badgering, This is certainly not the best piece of outreach that's ever occurred. If Nvidia is NOT engaging in below-board practices, Nvidia would be better served by coming out with a flat, unambiguous statement to that effect. The Perez response is weak and defensive, and not at all what one would expect if they were trying to address the situation in a straightforward and truthful manner. Not good. Shel, AEG blog is silent on this at the current time.) Update: Christopher Carfi, CEO and co-founder of Cerado, looks at sales, marketing, and the business experience from the customers point of view. He currently is focused on understanding how emerging social technologies such as blogs, wikis, and social networking are enabling the creation of new types of customer-driven communities. He is the author of the

Suggest a Correction

Found an error or have a suggestion? Let us know and we'll review it.

Your Name *

Your Email *

Correction Details *

Submit Correction