Going viral to stay competitive

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Wanted: CEOs from India

: To a certain degree, “viralness” is out of anyone’s control: that’s simply the nature of it. what people want to pass on, they will. However, this doesn’t imply that you should sling reams of content out there and let luck be your guide. while it’s hard to predict which content will ultimately be passed most from one consumer to the next, there are indeed some basic principles that can dramatically improve your chances of success.

Compelling content

Viral efficacy rests primarily on the quality of the content. Things that are interesting, entertaining, or informative (ideally all three) tend to get passed on. Those things that are hard-sell simply don’t. The blogosphere can be as chilly as outer space if you have boring content!

A big mistake that marketers make is to assume that funny gags alone make for good viral content. Or that having something funny is a guarantee of success. The world can absorb only so many gags or funny videos before they too become hum-drum. Marketers should look more deeply at what might be interesting and compelling (and yes, humorous too, if appropriate).

“Compelling content” can come in various forms. Almost all have a hook that is interesting and intriguing to the target group a hook that members of the target group agree will be of interest to their friends. That’s what gets the pass-along. a viral with a strong hook can build on communities that already exist. I know my team-mates will like this, so I pass it on.

Some companies realise they have historical footage or product information that is actually very interesting and relevant to the brand. For example, Dupont has created a Miracles of Science video series which tells the stories behind its different products and scientific developments. These product stories provide compelling content, without it feeling like a hard-sell.

Other companies are finding that “compelling content” includes giving people special access or sneak peaks to things they wouldn’t otherwise have seen. Brands that use star endorsements are shooting extra “behind the scenes” footage of these stars for use in viral videos. Motorola in China used a viral piece featuring the Back Dorm Boyz—two college students who have attracted a following on the web for lip-syncing to various popular artists. Increasingly, these micro-celebrities have sizeable fan bases that can be tapped to circulate viral content.

You should consider carefully what material you have—or could develop—to provide compelling content for viral marketing. Then give it the basic sanity check by asking “how will this viral piece help build my brand?” There’s no marketing advantage in getting hundreds of thousands of pass-ons of something that isn’t building your brand.

Lastly, viral content should relate to and amplify your DigiMarketing proposition. In other words, it should help you deliver on the basic “promise” you have made to your participants, via your Platform Proposition, about why they should engage with you.

Consider both function and fun

Another issue for viral marketing is whether you intend for the piece to be just for fun, or if you also expect it to serve a function. Is there a branded digital calendar or other item that combines brand relevancy and some degree of user functionality? Viral content doesn’t have to have a specific, ongoing function, but it definitely can have one.

Make it user friendly

One of the great benefits of viral marketing is that it is freed from the strictures of standard media units. If it’s a video piece, it can be as long, or short, as you want. However, you still have to comply with the basic “law” of consumer interest. How long will participants really be willing to watch before they get bored?

There are also some practical issues. While it’s viral, you don’t want people to think it’s a virus! So, you must make sure that it can get through the spam filters.

Prompt the viral pass-on

Most web participants today don’t need to be told they can pass on content; they just do. One recent survey found that well over 80% of adult US Internet users had shared content with other users, over 60% did so at least once a week and 25% did so almost daily.

Often, the chief purpose of a viral piece is to drive recipients to a website, microsite, or other digital destination where they can compete or participate in some form of promotional offer. This might involve rewarding consumers if their friends participate as well, so encouraging pass-on of the content.

Use viral distribution sites

There are websites that exist to host viral (or would be viral) content. These are natural starting places for your efforts—although you should definitely supplement them with email campaigns. As well as the (currently) definitive www.youtube.com, try www.viralmonitor.com, www.viralbank.com, and check for other viral portals (also known as vortals) that may be hot in your markets. Also use your own websites, or microsites, to make sure your viral catches the attention of the search engines. Pay-per-click keyword campaigns can help here too.

Give up control

Lack of control is often cited as a problem with viral marketing. The marketer can’t control who sees the clip, or receives the product recommendation, or the context in which it is seen or recommended. As noted throughout this book, relinquishing control is something to which DigiMarketes have to get accustomed. Remember? The customer’s in charge.

It does mean that if you use viral marketing you had better have a scalable enterprise whose geographic coverage may grow in bizarre ways. Unlike a real-life virus, which is usually locally transmitted by touch or close contact, a viral ad can leap continents. If recipients send your clip to their friends in Afghanistan, will you be able to serve them? If you can’t, the communication may be wasted. Of course, the reach didn’t cost you anything, but it may create dissatisfaction in markets that you intend to enter in the future, or intrigue potential competitors and encourage imitations.

It’s viral times

The potency of viral video clips is hard to overestimate. The most viral of viral clips have tended to be non-commercial, intensely personal, and typically extremely embarrassing for the “star”. Supposedly the most viewed viral clip to date—The Star Wars Kid—has been seen 900 million times. Made in 2003, it features a teenager using a golf ball retriever in imitation of a Star Wars light saber. The “star” later took legal action against his classmates who distributed it.

Viral all seems to have gotten started with the John West Salmon Bear Fight. This was originally an award-winning television commercial in the UK in late 2000. It then escaped to the Internet and has now been viewed online some 350 million times. This seems to have given marketers the idea that viral could be big.

Burger King certainly scored with its Subservient Chicken site (www.subservientchicken.com). The site featured a person dressed in a chicken costume who would respond to typed comm-ands by visitors (or at least to most commands). The chicken character also has emerged in subsequent Burger King campaigns.

It wasn’t me

Spoofs and deniable virals, which play off the brand’s real communications—usually in a politically incorrect way—can lead brands to controversial positionings. Even if consumers create spoofs, it can also provide brands with additional exposure.

Ford ran a television commercial in the UK for the Sports Ka: The Ka’s Evil Twin. The ad featured the car defending itself against a pigeon that alighted on its hood by spontaneously flipping the hood open and knocking the bird into the road. The spot drew complaints from the Royal Pigeon Racing Association and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A viral version then appeared in which the car’s sun-roof opens, a curious cat puts its head in, and when the roof rapidly closes the cat is decapitated!

Reprinted with permission from John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd

—Book: DigiMarketing

Author: Kent Wertime & Ian Fenwick