the secret, why were things being held back from them? This put the teacher in an awkward position and he/she was forced to say that the students already had been taught the secret but because the teacher was sworn to secrecy they couldn’t tell them exactly what that was. As you can imagine, this created a huge thirst for this film. People just had to know what the secret was.

Subsequent trailers were then released which created even more thirst. What was the secret? By the time the DVD was released an incredible demand had been built up. And the mom

In case you have been living in a cave in Tibet, The Secret is the hit DVD movie that has created a buzz around the planet. If you haven’t yet seen the movie, you should definitely, check it out. While you may or may not agree with the premise of the movie, it is important to be familiar with the film in order to help understand why it’s marketing campaign was so successful.

The Secret DVD was released in the latter part of 2006. The movie is about the law of attraction. The law of attraction is a teaching that has been around for many years and in essence states that what you focus on, you attract. Or as Mike Dooley says in the movie, “Thoughts becomes Things”. If your mind tends to focus on things that it doesn’t want, then we will tend to attract more of the same.

The Secret is more documentary than drama and features many well-known teachers of the secret such as Bob Proctor, Joe Vitale, Jack Canfield and John Assaraf among others. Many of these teachers are also expert marketers and promoters.

One of the key marketing strategies was to engage the film’s teachers to market the film to their mailing lists, students and customers The other strategy was to use viral marketing.

So what is viral marketing? In many ways viral marketing is like word-of-mouth advertising on steroids. Due to the immense power of the internet it is possible to reach millions of people in a very short period of time. Many sites for example, have a tell-a-friend script on the site. This enables visitors to click a button and have the site’s URL emailed to a friend. The web makes it very easy to pass on information to our friends and acquaintances. The Secret was very successful at using these techniques to create a world-wide exposure very quickly.

Beginning about a year before the film’s release a short trailer was created. This trailer was incredibly intriguing. Everyone was wondering “What is the Secret?” The film’s participants, many of whom are master marketers, promoted this trailer to their customers. They were also sworn to secrecy as to what the secret was. This created a great deal of curiosity and turmoil.

I remember seeing in many forums irate students wondering why they had not been taught the secret, why were things being held back from them? This put the teacher in an awkward position and he/she was forced to say that the students already had been taught the secret but because the teacher was sworn to secrecy they couldn’t tell them exactly what that was. As you can imagine, this created a huge thirst for this film. People just had to know what the secret was.

Subsequent trailers were then released which created even more thirst. What was the secret? By the time the DVD was released an incredible demand had been built up. And the mome

sence states that what you focus on, you attract. Or as Mike Dooley says in the movie, “Thoughts becomes Things”. If your mind tends to focus on things that it doesn’t want, then we will tend to attract more of the same.

The Secret is more documentary than drama and features many well-known teachers of the secret such as Bob Proctor, Joe Vitale, Jack Canfield and John Assaraf among others. Many of these teachers are also expert marketers and promoters.

One of the key marketing strategies was to engage the film’s teachers to market the film to their mailing lists, students and customers The other strategy was to use viral marketing.

So what is viral marketing? In many ways viral marketing is like word-of-mouth advertising on steroids. Due to the immense power of the internet it is possible to reach millions of people in a very short period of time. Many sites for example, have a tell-a-friend script on the site. This enables visitors to click a button and have the site’s URL emailed to a friend. The web makes it very easy to pass on information to our friends and acquaintances. The Secret was very successful at using these techniques to create a world-wide exposure very quickly.

Beginning about a year before the film’s release a short trailer was created. This trailer was incredibly intriguing. Everyone was wondering “What is the Secret?” The film’s participants, many of whom are master marketers, promoted this trailer to their customers. They were also sworn to secrecy as to what the secret was. This created a great deal of curiosity and turmoil.

I remember seeing in many forums irate students wondering why they had not been taught the secret, why were things being held back from them? This put the teacher in an awkward position and he/she was forced to say that the students already had been taught the secret but because the teacher was sworn to secrecy they couldn’t tell them exactly what that was. As you can imagine, this created a huge thirst for this film. People just had to know what the secret was.

Subsequent trailers were then released which created even more thirst. What was the secret? By the time the DVD was released an incredible demand had been built up. And the mom

eir mailing lists, students and customers The other strategy was to use viral marketing.

So what is viral marketing? In many ways viral marketing is like word-of-mouth advertising on steroids. Due to the immense power of the internet it is possible to reach millions of people in a very short period of time. Many sites for example, have a tell-a-friend script on the site. This enables visitors to click a button and have the site’s URL emailed to a friend. The web makes it very easy to pass on information to our friends and acquaintances. The Secret was very successful at using these techniques to create a world-wide exposure very quickly.

Beginning about a year before the film’s release a short trailer was created. This trailer was incredibly intriguing. Everyone was wondering “What is the Secret?” The film’s participants, many of whom are master marketers, promoted this trailer to their customers. They were also sworn to secrecy as to what the secret was. This created a great deal of curiosity and turmoil.

I remember seeing in many forums irate students wondering why they had not been taught the secret, why were things being held back from them? This put the teacher in an awkward position and he/she was forced to say that the students already had been taught the secret but because the teacher was sworn to secrecy they couldn’t tell them exactly what that was. As you can imagine, this created a huge thirst for this film. People just had to know what the secret was.

Subsequent trailers were then released which created even more thirst. What was the secret? By the time the DVD was released an incredible demand had been built up. And the mom

very successful at using these techniques to create a world-wide exposure very quickly.

Beginning about a year before the film’s release a short trailer was created. This trailer was incredibly intriguing. Everyone was wondering “What is the Secret?” The film’s participants, many of whom are master marketers, promoted this trailer to their customers. They were also sworn to secrecy as to what the secret was. This created a great deal of curiosity and turmoil.

I remember seeing in many forums irate students wondering why they had not been taught the secret, why were things being held back from them? This put the teacher in an awkward position and he/she was forced to say that the students already had been taught the secret but because the teacher was sworn to secrecy they couldn’t tell them exactly what that was. As you can imagine, this created a huge thirst for this film. People just had to know what the secret was.

Subsequent trailers were then released which created even more thirst. What was the secret? By the time the DVD was released an incredible demand had been built up. And the mom

the secret, why were things being held back from them? This put the teacher in an awkward position and he/she was forced to say that the students already had been taught the secret but because the teacher was sworn to secrecy they couldn’t tell them exactly what that was. As you can imagine, this created a huge thirst for this film. People just had to know what the secret was.

Subsequent trailers were then released which created even more thirst. What was the secret? By the time the DVD was released an incredible demand had been built up. And the momentum did not stop there. Appearances by the producer and film participants on television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live and the Ellen Degeneres Show continued the buzz.

The Secret provides us with a great lesson in viral marketing. We may not be able to create our own Hollywood movie trailers but web 2.0 resources like YouTube provide us with facsimiles. Perhaps through creative marketing, we can create the type of success The Secret has enjoyed.