GOING VIRALa brief examination of viral marketing techniques

What is viral video?

‘Viral video’ refers to video clip content that gains widespread popularity through the process of

Internet sharing, typically through blogs and other media-sharing websites.

was born.

In 2005

We are a culture of voyeurs. We love to look, and we especially

love to look at other people. We primarily like sensational events because they are so unusual, but even sometimes just looking at

the mundane can be quite fascinating.

Timothy SharyScreen Studies Professor,

Clark University

a lot of viral videos gain momentum through social network sharing

back-flipped into their jeans

made a ridiculous

baseball catch

how are marketers making use of

viral video?

Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence.

Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, to millions.

Dr Ralph Wilson(cited by Kirby and Marsden)

it gives traditional advertising campaigns longevityeconomics it beats

consumer apathy

it turns passive viewersinto active audiences

it enhances brand credibility through

consumer endorsement

mass exposure

what attracts advertisers to

viral marketing?

$

$

45,000 for a full page colour ad in the£one pagein

costs$165,232

US

advertisers paid $100,000 US a second in the 2011

television advertising

cons

there’s a broad audience

so people are not necessarily interested

in the product,

and sometimes don’t pay attention

to the ad

which makes it

expensive

the very act of spreading the

message to one's social

network constitutes an endorsement

of the brand, which enhances its

credibility in the eyes of

the receivera successful viral promotion can reach

millions.

Chiu et al

Our clients are interested in the social effect and

sharing potential of online video content because it

provides a more meaningful interaction

and an organic and relevant distribution of

that content.Hashem Bajwa

Digital Strategy DirectorGoodby, Silverstein & Partners

Dedric Choi

Vice President of Strategy & Analysis

A viral video done right can foster

stronger relationships

between people and brands.

We're pleased with the results we've seen and we're

optimistic we'll see continued growth

in the future.

a survey of 40 executives at top U.S. ad agencies and media buying firms

reported that

of clients were interested in

using viral video as a part of

their marketing campaigns

72.1% 86%of clients had

created at least one video in the first eight

months of 2008

&

according to

nearly one third of all brands

worldwide have tried the viral

video approach

Lindstrom

In comparison, a paid impression has only fractional value.

The real media value of quality viral video is

unmatched by paid media for one reason.

It's time and attention the viewer has voluntarily given to the brand

versus the time and attention a brand has to pay for.

The quality of those two engagements are completely different.

Greg Andersen Director of Engagement Planning

BBH, USA

only 20% of clips

get more than 500 views

of those, only 1% get more than 500,000 views

which means that there’s plenty of room for failure

plus, consumers often don’t like

being marketed to

problemswith viral marketing

RICOthe first video went live in late 2010

his key purpose wasto promote Air New Zealand’s new sky couch 

the mascot earned himself over 51,000 Facebook fans  over a one year period, Ricoearned ANZ more than 4.5million Youtube views 

.

.

.

.

As a small airline at the bottom of the world we haven’t had the budgets to take a traditional marketing approach to gain awareness of these award-winning product innovations.  Thanks to Rico they have had fantastic exposure in our core international markets and beyond.

“

Global awareness about the airline is at an all time high due to is world-leading products and innovations…and its unique approach to gaining awareness through non-traditional marketing channels.

“

““

Jodi Williams Air New ZealandInternational Market Manager

Air New Zealand2011

ALEX DAYvlogs as "Nerimon".

he has 500,000 subscribers.

he posts one video a week, with each upload commonlygetting between 200,000 and 300,000 views each.

thanks to viral marketing on Youtube, the Brit’s first single debuted at #4 in the UK, selling over 50,000 copies in the week leading up to Christmas, 2011. He outranked Coldplay and X-Factor contestants.

the music video for “Forever Yours”, has nearly 4 million views.

..

.

.

.

Vlogger/Musician

JOHN GREENVlogger/Author

vlogs through the Youtube channel "VlogBrothers", with his brother Hank Green. 650,000 subscribers

their videos regularly get more than 200,000 views

the brothers upload at least twice per week

“The Fault in our Stars“

heavy fan involvement

.

.

.

.

..

Overall, viral video can be seen as a highly effective

marketing method, when used correctly.

it creates active viewers

it’s cheap

it gives independents a fighting chance

jumps in brand awareness don’t always turn into sales

and there’s plenty of room for failurebut..

the positives

far outweighthe negatives

viral video marketing is clearly a very cost effective and often

successful way to market to audiences in today’s media-saturated world