Admittedly our internal marketing meetings can sometimes take, we’ll call them, creative detours. The most recent creative detour led to a conversation on viral videos, our guilty pleasure love of cat montages and someone’s concerning level of anger over Me Too Marketing. That last one is a post for another day.
So today over at Shout Out camp we celebrate the viral video. Today we raise a coffee cup, turn the volume high and hit replay on the viral videos stuck in our heads. Enjoy the following picks and insights from our team.
Luke Pierce
When I think viral video, I think Bed Intruder. While most “viral videos” feel pretty planned, this one feels a bit more genuine. The video wasn’t carefully planned by marketing masterminds over a long period of time. Two kids saw a funny interview and made a video out of it within 48 hours. The success that followed was enormous. The song made it to iTunes and quickly found its self in Billboard’s top 100, it was YouTube’s most popular video of 2010, and has since been viewed over 117 million times. Bed Intruder has always lead me to ask the question, can this genuine type of video and its success be duplicated for marketing purposes? Or are true viral videos something wild that can’t be tamed?
Gretchen Ardizzone
Beyond just being funny and worthy of sharing, viral videos can have benefits when the result is a memorable message that supports or makes you rethink a brand’s image. One of the most compelling viral campaigns I’ve seen this year is Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches.” The video takes a look at how women describe themselves and how others actually see them. It communicates an empowering message to women, “You’re More Beautiful Than You Think You Are,” reinforcing Dove’s goal to celebrate women’s natural beauty. The clip received 29.4 million views, over 35 related clips, 7,800 comments and over 660,000 Facebook shares after only 10 days, according to AdAge.
Shannon Blair
I am a fan of giving credit where credit is due, and therefore I chose a company doing videos right – because let’s face it, its hard to come up with a great ad campaign that gets millions of views and gets people thinking about your brand.
My pick is the HUMP DAAAAY commercial from GEICO. Now, I’ll be the first to say typically when bad insurance commercials come on I’m the first one to change the channel. However, after seeing this ad on television my face lights up like a kid on Christmas morning. Needless to say, my Wednesday mornings get a little bit better when I get to walk around quoting this fine piece of work to my cat. With their campaign marketing, “How happy are people who save money switching to GEICO?” “I’d say happier than a Camel on Wednesday.” I give GEICO a round of applause because turning awful insurance humor into something people appreciate has tallied up to 14,884,902 viewers who are remembering their brand.
Marsh Williams
It’s very hard to explain, but I’ll give it a shot. I’m currently on a much-needed vacation, well sort of because I still have Internet access and I’m writing this, and I’m on daily conference calls and I’m…
Looking out the window the other day I saw this incredible red fox walk by on the lake shore. When I texted that to my daughter she replied with “google what the fox said.”
That’s where it all started.
So I did and I watched. This is one of the reasons I love the Internet. The ability to see and share things from around the world that previously just would not have been possible. I love this video, don’t understand it, but I love it. It’s just fun and clearly was done tongue-in-cheek. Can’t explain it, don’t want to, it’s just fun.
Then the bummer came.
The next day I was looking for the video again in the search results I saw an article referencing the fact that Abercrombie had created their own cover of the video. WARNING: If you think Abercrombie is cool and a great brand stop here.
Just like watching a train wreck, I had to see it. I managed to watch for about seven seconds.
Really, really, Abercrombie with all of your resources and all of the money you spend on supporting your brand, that’s the best you can do? What an incredible example of Me Too Marketing. Nothing original at all just a blatant attempt to latch onto something that was created and took off as a viral video, really that’s the best you got?
Final Score:
Ylvis–over the top cool.
Abercrombie–a sad, sad attempt to remain relevant when the market moved out from under you and you didn’t realize it.
Nathaniel Seevers
Anyone who knows me knows my admiration for the art of sarcasm and dry wit. I’m not a flashy guy. I jump into my pants both feet at a time just like everyone else. I keep it simple and I like my viral videos the same.
The YouTubes isn’t a site I spend a lot of time on but the original video from Dollar Shave Club, let me tell you, I would choose to watch that over most programs currently on tv.
Creating a viral video is a social endeavor. It creates characters and lines and settings that echo in your head and push you to rebroadcast on behalf of that echo. Where the Dollar Shave Club video wins is in its ability to also give us a peek inside a relatively unknown brand. As a viewer and consumer, we immediately have someone to connect with behind, what is in all actuality, a pretty boring, closeout store, name. Instead of thinking that we think of Alejandro and a bear that doesn’t catch so well. Over 11 million views later and still shaving strong.
Have a great example of viral video you’d like to share? Let us know.
Photo credit: Lisa Omarali
Modified by Shout Out Studio
