Viral Video

(via)

I cannot help but love stuff that takes a dig at things that marketers and agencies embrace with the passion of a zealot. The video above might be a spoof but I assure you it is not way off the mark. There are companies that help you get followers, likes, clicks and yes, even views. It is also a well-known fact that there are brands who use the services of these companies (abetted by agencies of dodgy reputation). When a marketer's performance matrix depends on the number of followers, clicks, likes and views acquired, what can you expect. 

In my opinion, there is only one viral that matters - 'has the product gone viral?'.

Viral

Une Fille Comme Les Autres from Jalouse blog on Vimeo.

This is a smart ad for a French fashion magazine Jalouse. It is scripted in the manner of agencies making a viral video pitch to clients. What I like about it is that it mocks the whole viral pitch agencies make without appearing to do so.  

I am still surprised and bemused when clients and agencies alike in their pompousness think that their product or ad or digital engagement is going to go viral (or an idea will become ‘big ’). One would think that by now these professionals would have realized that nobody knows when (and why) something is going to go viral. 

These people seem to forget that viral is an effect, an outcome. They also seem to forget that it is next to impossible to predict this outcome. In most cases, it is on hindsight that one identifies the reasons for something becoming a viral. And that the very same reason(s) will not work another time around. 

Simply put, nobody knows anything and there is the consumer to remind them just that, time and again.

Therefore….. 

An intelligent person saying 'viral video' is like a beautiful woman picking her nose.
— Bud Caddell (@bud_caddell) January 26, 2012

  

Graffiti on Air Force One?

Is it a plane? Air Force One? An event?

This event demonstrates the extraordinary lengths to which people go to create a buzz for the brand. View the interview to know more about this event.

But the 'Mother of all events' is the famous shoe made in Turkey and thrown in Iraq. Read about the buzz it gave the shoe manufacturer here. I also learnt a couple of pointers from this event on how to create a buzz. They are as follows:

It should be spontaneous and real (or at least close to real), the brand (or product) should only be a via media to convey the message (it should not be overtly 'The Brand') and lastly one needs a sucker who is prepared to cool his heels as a guest of the government.

Let's do a viral!

This is a refrain used indiscriminately these days by marketers and agencies alike.

Very often one attends meetings wherein the client and agency discuss animatedly about doing a viral. The result: A TV Commercial which in the best of times would have been the cause of severe migraine is uploaded on to YouTube or the company website or emailed to unsuspecting victims. The client and agency pat each other on the back and the poor viewer who is subjected to this soaks his or her head in cold water.

This is not a viral by any stretch of imagination.

Faris Yakob has summed it in his inimitable style – “Viral is a thing that happens, not a thing that is.” To reinforce this further he has come up with a very strong blog on ‘spreadable media’ with a wonderful video which is spreading like (you guessed it right), a viral!

However, if one still wants to see examples of good viral that are truly viral, take a look at Ignites pick of Top 5 Viral Marketing in 2008. Hope it gives you an idea or two for your brand.

Ahchoo!