Virtual Pumpkin Carving – How Cool Is That

Finally, the day that all kids – little and grown-up – have awaited since October began, came. It is Halloween. And what better present for your friends than a pumpkin that you personally carved for them to show them you haven’t forgotten them, that you care. But, unfortunately, it is impossible to send all your friends pumpkins, someone might say. Well, it turns out there is actually a way. Just go to http://www.theoworlds.com/halloween/ and you can carve as many pumpkins as you want and send them to as many people as you would like – virtually.

It is up to you whether to use free-hand cuts or, if your hand is a bit shaky (like mine), straight-line ones. What makes things even better is that if you make a hole that does not look quite like what you wanted it to be, you can always go back and redo the carve instead of having to come up with creative ways to turn your intended smiley pumpkin into a grumpy or an angry one (which can actually be part of the fun) or having to run to the nearest store for a new one when even the whole family creativity can’t turn the sieve-like pumpkin into something you would proudly put on your front porch. Once you have carved the perfect Halloween pumpkin you can go ahead and send it to its receiver. Here, again, you can choose between using the standard “Happy Halloween” message and customizing your own message to send to the specific recipient. Another good thing is that you could access your pumpkin whenever you like, using its ID number, and send it to different people with different messages. However, no matter whether you choose to use the standard message or write your own one, it will always end with a link to the site, prompting the recipient to go check it out personally. And that is why viral marketing campaigns are usually very successful – they are based on the assumption that if you get an e-mail from a person you know and who knows you and your interests, there is a great chance that the thing they sent you is not only going to attract your attention but is also going to be of interest to you. Once you received the e-mail, if you liked its content, you are then going to send it to your friends, then they – to theirs, and so forth. And if the ID number of the pumpkin I carved has anything to do with the number of pumpkins that have been carved (which I suppose is probably the case) it seems the viral idea is working for TheoWordls.com since more than 115 thousand pumpkins have been carved (and supposedly sent) through the web site.

As a marketing person to-be I am always curious to learn more about the people who stay behind the scene and who bring to live creative ideas like the virtual pumpkin carving. So who are TheoWorlds.com and what do they do? According to the information found on their website, they are a creative shop devoted to making your brand messages stand out in today’s cluttered media space. They believe in the power of fun for attracting people’s attention and that is why most of their online marketing products are Flash-based games – the perfect viral marketing tool in their opinion. Apart from Flash application development and design their services include illustration graphic design and animation; programming; web design and development; and concept developing and story telling. In their words their campaigns can help you attract more people to your website; increase your search position; promote your brand; and subscribe more people to your site newsletter.

Except for the Halloween e-cards they offer visitors to their website the opportunity to decorate their own gingerbread cookie Christmas e-card. They also have Coca-Cola’s brand placed in one of their award-winning games – The Office Space.

So if you are looking for a creative way to make people aware of the existence of your product or service for the upcoming holidays you may consider contacting TheoWorlds.com and working with them on your own viral marketing campaign. You are guaranteed that they will come up with something fun and catchy and as long as it is relevant to your brand you should not worry about attracting people to your site. The word will spread around on its own. Like a virus.