Having the pleasure of working on one of Dell’s first viral marketing campaigns, Project Nerd Buddy, I am astonished at how many companies struggle to understand what constitutes a viral video. Just because you upload it on YouTube doesn’t make it viral. I have even seen educational videos about products marketed as viral by the companies that upload them. Yikes! 
So what makes a video viral? It’s truly an art. Often times, it has humor or gore, can be complex, engaging, and interactive. It breaks down to something people will want to watch or interact with over and over again and send to their friends. If your video doesn’t have these attributes, it’s probably not viral. Some of the heavy hitters are Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, and my personal favorite, Reebok’s Terry Tate. I have probably watched the Terry Tate linebacker videos over 100 times.
Doesn’t seem too hard to create these, right? Then why have so many companies failed in their viral ventures? It’s actually quite simple. Many companies aren’t willing to create an only viral video. It has to be educational, have product placement or a direct link to purchase to justify the cost — and it may or may not be compelling enough to make you want to watch and share. Ideally, there should be a balance between engaging you and motivating you to do business with the sponsor. Let’s take Subservient Chicken. Yes, I have played with the chicken for hours on end, giving him every command I can think of, but does it make me want to go to Burger King? Not really.
Reading through Geek Sugar this weekend, there was a nice write up on a newer viral campaign for Kodak, called Make Me Super. This is a good example of a viral campaign that may have found this balance. You can upload your photo and it gets placed into a superhero’s body. A video is then created for you with a snappy theme song with your name in it.
It’s funny, engaging, interactive, and yes, I have already forwarded it to many of my friends. What I am most impressed with is how well product placement and ability to purchase is worked into this site. They have made products that you would purchase about you, rather than about them. I may have to create a superhero for my husband and make a set of the playing cards for him as a stocking stuffer. His poker buddies would get a big kick out of them!
I’m happy to see some of the viral efforts getting back on track and companies doing a better job striking the balance, rather than being on either end of the video spectrum. Viral marketing can be a great medium and is capable of creating excitement for a company’s brand beyond commercials and traditional marketing methods. Looking forward to seeing more and more.
Do you have a favorite viral video that was done well or done wrong? Looking forward to your thoughts and comments.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:57 pm
The Kodak make me super is a little more fun than project nerd buddy. It needs a little more jazzing up. It needs some color and a little music or sound. It`s a good start.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:56 am
@sugarbear, thanks for your comment. We learned a lot while making project nerd buddy. And like with anything in life, if we had the chance to do it over, we would probably do a couple things differently. It was a fun project to be a part of.