Five by Five

written by Mark Cox, Director, Five by Five

Over the past 5 years viral marketing has earned an unenviable reputation as a bit of a wild child. Astute businesses always recognised its potential, but few knew how to tame its more mischievous side.

During the next 12 months we will see viral come of age, as mainstream advertising campaigns explore new ways to exploit and control the medium. A clever and well-executed viral campaign can be phenomenally successful, reaching a global audience of millions with a modest production budget, and hardly any media spend at all. It can provide incredibly effective brand amplification, at a fraction of the cost per view of traditional advertising. However, harnessing such a subversive and unruly medium as part of an integrated marketing campaign will remain particularly challenging.

Here’s One I Heard Earlier…
The secret of a successful viral campaign is not difficult to understand – in fact it’s as easy as telling a good joke. Just like a joke, its spread relies both on the content, and also on the credibility of the ‘teller’. On a psychological level, the quality control factors are the fear of ridicule, and the desire to win favour with peers - keeping the quality of virals high as they’re passed from mailbox to mailbox.

There’s no better censor of content than friends and colleagues - their emails avoid your junk folder, and their ‘stamp of approval’ ensures your full, undivided attention. There’s a high probability that the receiver of a viral will, in turn, pass it to more friends – thus the email snowballs its way around the globe.

The Sting in the Tale
Like your best friend’s jokes, however, successful virals are invariably irreverent, subversive, rude, and downright offensive (example: Juiced, Bongo Babes, amBX). This is why so many are sent anonymously, and why they make mainstream brands so nervous. Once a viral is in the public domain it cannot be ‘pulled’, and its audience will probably be global, whether this was ever the intention or not. Border controls don’t apply to virals, nor how they might be used. Conversely, attempt to tone down the content, or overtly promote a brand to a web-savvy audience, and the campaign will sink like a stone.

Consequently, delivering an on-brand message within a voracious viral has become the ‘Holy Grail’ of online marketing - but it can be done.

Cool, Clever, and On-Brand
A new wave of cool and clever viral movies has started to appear on viral charts. Rather than schoolboy humour, these virals rely on the slick and timely delivery of sharp and engaging messages for their punchlines. Like the best TV adverts (Levi’s, Honda, VW Golf) these virals possess a certain kudos that’s difficult to define, but when you see one you know they have it. Some have, in fact, ‘jumped media’ and become television ads (and vice versa).

This ‘cool and clever’ approach provides an excellent opportunity for businesses that have so far failed to capitalise on the remarkable results that viral campaigns can offer. And with the number of campaigns allocating budget to viral production set to double this year (from 30% to 60%) there is no better time to exploit it. (example: Ordnance Survey)

To contact Mark click here >>

taken from the Prelaunch Edition of the Five by Five Review, Summer 2006