What’s a Viral Marketing Win?

I’m jacked up sideways about going to see the Coraline movie this weekend. I haven’t even read the book. I rarely see a movie when I want to read the book, but I’m going this weekend come hell or high water (or, since this is Vancouver, come four inches of snow that paralyzes the city). For weeks and weeks I’ve seen videos and articles about all the insane handcrafting that went into making this stop-motion animated film. The Coraline folks outdid themselves marketing specifically to communities of crafty people online.

Last week I tumbled a trailer for the movie, featuring author Neil Gaiman. This morning a friend of mine commented over there that the movie will be out, at least for a limited time, in 3D. I hadn’t known that. So cool!

Anyway, this friend and I got into a discussion about viral marketing after I told him about all the stuff I mentioned above. He replied, though, that it was obviously a viral-marketing FAIL, as he and everyone he works with—all of whom spend a lot of time online—hadn’t heard a thing about it; he hadn’t known about the movie at all till he saw my post about it.

See, I think that’s a sign of the campaign’s success. Now a bunch of people who didn’t know about the movie do know about it. That, to me, is a viral marketing WIN.

What do you think? Fail? Win? Shut up already and pass the buttons?

(PS Anyone know if the movie will play in 3D in Vancouver? I can’t find anything about it, and it’s making me twitchy! Looks like it’ll open in 3D at what I still like to think of as the Paramount Theatre on Burrard!)