Viral Videos: Why Force Them?

By Eric Wiggins (MBA '12)

Within the last few years, the global phenomenon of YouTube has, in turn, given birth to yet another global phenomenon, commonly referred to as the “Viral Video.” 

As these videos are quickly (and often inadvertently) able to draw hundreds of millions of viewers to a single YouTube page, it is very easy to see the enormous advertising potential.  In a somewhat unnatural trend, large companies and corporations have begun attempts to create their own Viral Marketing Campaigns.

The surprise successes of spontaneous viral videos such as Tay Zonday’s Chocolate Rain (71 million views) http://bit.ly/4tzBuh, Judsy Laipply’s The Evolution of Dance (180 million views) http://bit.ly/p6gAoz, or Charlie Bit My Finger (375 million views) http://bit.ly/cehLPW have generated overnight celebrities from otherwise regular people who just happened to be caught on film.  As a result of their viral popularity, many are invited as guests on world famous talk shows, gaining instant worldwide face and name recognition.

The power of a single viral video has proven its ability to reach a global audience, and it has not taken long for companies to begin frothing at the mouth for their own piece of the viral pie.  Soon companies (some more successful than others) began to try and create their own viral videos.  In some cases, these efforts increased sales substantially.  While examples of some of the more successful companies include the Old Spice Man http://bit.ly/aMkmHc, as well as the Evian Roller Babies, http://bit.ly/Z9m3n, as well as the “Will It Blend?” Videos by Blendtec http://bit.ly/3nFqfp, most others have not been so successful.

But when is a company trying ‘too hard’ to create a viral video?  Part of the appeal of these viral clips is the unrehearsed, unintentional, spontaneous moments that either happen to be caught on film, or contain so much humor and entertainment value that viewers feel the need to share.

As a result, many of these “Forced Viral Video” campaigns have failed, for example Sony’s “All I Want for Christmas is a PSP” video, which backfired and left a bad taste in the mouths of viewers: http://bit.ly/PT750.  GM attempted to cultivate a Viral Marketing Campaign in which they challenged buyers to create their own advertisements.  Too bad they were completely unprepared for the environmentalists who began to submit negative ads! http://cnet.co/12zUyP.

While I realize companies will attempt to purposefully create more and more “Viral Videos” in the future (in fact this marketing survey shows the statistics here: http://bit.ly/20iHxX), companies need to understand that these types of videos rarely are successful if the public perceives the marketing as “Forced.”  The campaign could even backfire on the company when consumers sense a lack of honesty or genuineness to the viral ads.  Even if the goal is to make money, some of the most successful company-led viral campaigns have also shown a genuine interest in entertaining the consumer, or reaching the customer on a personal level, for example the Old Spice Man responding to user comments through his YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/aMkmHc.

Orchestrating the creation of a Viral Video can have high payoffs, but can also be risky to a brand.  As is the case with most high-risk investments, the payoff can also be high.  Companies just need to make sure they are not trying so hard that they lose touch of the core reasons a video becomes viral – viewers want to be entertained, and they want videos they can share with friends and family.  A message to companies out there: before jumping on the Viral Bandwagon, make sure you're being genuine with your customers, because they are smart enough to realize when you aren't.