Search results matching tag 'viral marketing youtube'

Why pathetic campaigns always go viral

2228399 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:46:00 GMT

Whenever we're given a viral campaign to seed we have a bit of internal banter as how well we think it will do. And as a rule, opinion is always divided. Kirk'll like it. Ian won't. Rory will think it's a viral turd. Chris will think it's a viral work of genius . . .

And someone's always wrong. They're wrong because in each case we'll be judging it on our personal preferences. What one person likes isn't necessarily what another likes. And when it comes to the internet, there maybe a whole of community of "Kirks" out there - a tight-knit highly internet active community of (for example) dog lovers who like nothing better than seeing a dog dance to Gangster's Paradise.

Luckily we developed processes not to judge campaigns on personal preference. Three key factors in objectively predicting the virality of a campaign are understanding:
1) Does the campaign "have an audience"?
2) Is this audience also an active community online?
3) Is the content relevant community in a "pathetic" way (i.e. does it have pathos / does it connect in some way)

And once these three factors have been judged, we can plan our seeding strategy - making sure we approach the relevant audiences with the right "pathetic approach".

Sounds simple. Well, the theory is. However, the execution is a little more challenging - mainly due to the fact that you never 100% know where all these "community influencers" are hanging out. So for that reason our execution strategies normally include using our Viral Ad Network - which allows us to reach out to broad communities (and niche communities) at the click of a button, allowing us to flush out the lurking relevant influencer gorilla's in the mist. Pathos is a strangely unpredictable thing to judge correctly, and the unobvious route is often the best route to viral nirvana. (more on that later)

(+ N.B. I apologise for that terrible last gorilla in the mist mention. It's cheap I know. No more gorilla mentions I promise).

The year the media died

2228399 — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:34:00 GMT

As a digital boy this made me smile - especially the line "Algorithms got me crossed eyed"!

Adam's all time top 5 wuttufs

2228399 — Fri, 08 May 2009 08:14:00 GMT

There's an ongoing discussion around our office about the viral WTF phenomenon. There's no way of explaining what a WFT (or wuttuf) is - they just are, and have to be seen to be understood.

So, King of the Wuttuf - Adam - has kindly put together a list of his Top 5 wuttufs. WTFFFFFFFFF?!?!?!

WTF 1 - Pretty Ricky - Late Night Special

WTF 2 - Techno Viking

WTF 3 - Angel of death takes life

WTF 4 - edarem - Pretty Woman

WTF 5 - Chocolate Rain

Welcome film 2.0

2228399 — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:54:00 GMT

It was almost ten years ago that The Blair Witch Project first harnessed the power of viral marketing to elevate what was a low-budget indie film into a $248 blockbuster. Earlier this year, ‘Cloverfield’ made the most of the Web 2.0 zeitgeist with its use of fake YouTube clips, Myspace pages and blogging. Cloverfield highlighted the use of online content to not only market films, but also extend the viewers overall film experience by layering content before and after the films cine release – creating a “multi-layered experience”.

The latest, and perhaps most ambitious, example of web 2.0-styled multi-layered films is Paramount’s Tropic Thunder – a kind of Apocalypse Now meets Spinal Tap action comedy featuring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. as a set of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film.

Multi-layering is at the heart of Tropic Thunder – affecting its concept, plot, characters and marketing. Conceptually the film’s a Vietnam “making of” style movie – with a ton of Apocalypse Now references. Within the plot of the film, there’s also a “making of” (or should that be “making of making of”) documentary. On top of this, there’s a whole host of back-stories for each of the main characters, including actor’s microsites and fictitious film trailers.

Each of these layers are then given depth online using a mix of video, interactive and microsite content, creating a whole web of cris-crossing layers that the fan can get absorbed in – helping extend the film’s overall experience, and providing powerful viral marketing fuel.

As a quick guide, here’s a few of Tropic Thunder’s layers explained:

Layer tactic 1: Faux trailers of the main characters past films have been created and distributed on their own personal websites. Paramount spawned an official site for star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller’s character) as well as sites for some of his films like ‘Simple Jack’ (an action star going for an Oscar by playing a handicapped farmhand). Tugg’s favourite charity even has its own site - www.pandarelocationfoundation.org

There’s also a site for the fictional company that turned Downey’s character into a coloured man in Tropic Thunder.

Layer tactic 2: A faux trailer and blog for the mockumentary ‘Rain of Madness’ have been released as a parody of Apocalpyse Now's ‘Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse’ – a layeriffic documentary on the making of a movie within a movie.

Layer tactic 3: One of the greatest facets of the viral campaign is a star-studded attempt at the creation of a viral, which was originally aired during the MTV Movie Awards but can now be found on YouTube generating millions of views. The video showed the three lead actors on a mission to create a viral video for the Internet that could promote the movie. Cleverly it is also filmed with a mobile phone camera to give it an authentic look.

Layer tactic 4: Paramount has bizarrely reversed the conventional product-placement route by distributing a product that’s featured in the movie called Booty Sweat - an energy drink. They even went as far as making an ad for the product.

With all this layering and inbuilt “talkable content”, Tropic Thunder’s a really great example of how film-making and marketing can be integrated together to ultimately create a self-marketing “social” film. Welcome film 2.0.

[N.B. thanks to Rebecca @ Adfreak for Tropic Thunder commentary inspiration]

Formulae for viral success

2228399 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Having stumbled across two hugely viral virals in the last week I've come up with two simple formulae for viral success:

Finger puppets + Harry Potter = YouTube hit

Porny photo + XXX tag = Viral phenomenon

Guaranteed to work every time or your money back ; - )

(N.B. the above viral vids have received over 120 million views between them - now that's what I call ROI!)