The fliers started showing up on campus a few weeks ago. They read, in red lettering on white sheets of paper, “Need a Superhero?”

A few days later, those fliers were replaced by ones that said “Add me on Facebook” underneath “Need a Superhero?” This led more than a few students to the Facebook group, which has nearly 200 members. It prompts “poor huskie(s) in need of a superhero” to write their “best poor college stor(ies).” A few of the members obliged.

Then, a few days ago, it was revealed the site is part of a marketing campaign for the NIU Alumni Association and GEICO Insurance. It was created, jointly, by the NIU Alumni Association, the College of Business’ Experimental Learning Center and GEICO, said Meg Kramarz, assistant director of alumni relations.

This is an example of the way some companies and organizations are choosing to reach their target demographics, particularly young people, in the Internet age. Called viral marketing, it might show up on places such as YouTube, Facebook or even Twitter. As was the case with “Need a Superhero?” the marketers often reveal little information at a time to get consumers asking, “What is this?”

“Viral marketing has been shown to be a very effective way of getting things disseminated in new media. It has trumped a lot of traditional marketing campaigns,” said David Gunkel, director of graduate studies for the Department of Communication.

The technique “Need a Superhero?” used – letting out more and more information incrementally – “seems to be the approach that has the greatest traction,” Gunkel said. “If you look at the successful campaigns of the last two or three years, this is the strategy they’ve taken.”

One day, junior marketing major Talal Alqahtani saw one of the fliers on a wall in the Visual Arts Building. Later he logged onto Facebook and joined the group. He said he still would have done so even if he had known it was a marketing campaign. “I think it’s going to be a good place to share our experiences,” he said. “And to see NIU students as well.”

NIU alumna Alexsandra Robles still receives e-mails from NIU periodically. On one of them, she saw a link to the “Need a Superhero?” Facebook group. She joined it and even posted a “poor college story” about herself. When asked if she knew what the group was, she said, “It seems to be just a fun group where NIU students … write stories relating to tough times they had financially.”

After being informed it was a marketing campaign, she removed herself from the group, saying she never would have joined it had she known. “I suppose it’s a pretty clever way to market, but I doubt this way is going to get kids to ‘switch to GEICO’ any more so than the commercials will,” she said. “People of our generation are hit by marketing in so many ways, I doubt anyone even noticed or cared that promoting GEICO is primarily the group’s purpose.”