Samboy, Facebook and the Bushfires: Extreme conditions and the Persistence of Marketing Theory

Abstract

This descriptive paper chronicles the rapid growth of a “Bushfire Support” Facebook page, where a manufacturer brand’s web campaign was appropriated by the public as a fundraiser for the Victoria bushfires of February 2009. By harnessing the goodwill of the community, the Facebook group known as “Samboy is Back - JOIN NOW TO WIN $10,000 FOR RED CROSS BUSHFIRE APPEAL” grew to five times the size of its nearest competitor. The Bass Model is shown to provide a reasonable representation of the growth of a bushfire fundraising group with 12 hour increments. Some patterns recur in marketing despite extreme conditions and the S-curve of the Bass Model appears to be one of them.