Nicole Nic’s Sticks by OPI: Results from a Field Experiment Using Traditional Media and Viral Marketing to Launch a New Nail Lacquer Product

This case describes a viral marketing campaign run by a company called SheSpeaks (New York) for OPI, one of the world's leading brands in nail lacquer. OPI launches a new and innovative nail lacquer product, "Nic's Sticks", using viral marketing and traditional advertising. The case describes the viral campaign and a field experiment conducted to identify which consumers are the most effective "seeds" in terms of spreading word-of-mouth about the product and generating sales.

This case can be used as an introduction to buzz/viral marketing as a tool for launching new products. It has a lot of detail on seeding strategies (who should be selected as consumers at the start of the campaign to spread word-of-mouth) and describes a scientific field experiment whereby different seed characteristics were compared to see which were more effective.