Viral Marketing Research

The brief states that eBay wants a viral that “communicates how eBay delivers shopping worth talking about.” I though that this was interesting, and then begun to look at the definition of a viral. Below is a snippet taken from wikipedia.

“Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, e-books, brandable software, images, or even text messages.”(1)

I began to look into viral campaigns that obviously represented companies in a direct attempt to increase sales. Below is a small selection that has been gathered.

Heineken - Walk in Fridge



This viral is aimed at men aged between 18-35. It depicts the female characters being ecstatic with the walk-in wardrobe. However simultaneously the men in the other room are also acting in exactly the same way to the walk-in fridge, which has an unlimited supply of beer.

What I think is very successful about this particular marketing campaign is how it takes an original concept and then flips it on its head. It leads the viewer to think one way then pulls out the rug beneath their feet.

Dove Evolution Ad



This viral is aimed at females aged between 16+. This video shows how a very average looking woman is photographed, and with the introduction of digital effects, and lighting tricks she is made to look stunning. This viral is very popular due to the fact that it has the shock factor.

Women are always trying to buy the latest in skin and hair beauty products in order to achieve “perfection” and by perfection, I mean the flawless models seen in magazines, films billboards etc. This clip demonstrates that the models portrayed are never as perfect as they seem.

Gorilla Ad for Cadbury Dairy Milk



has the slogan “a glass and a half production” with the Cadburys logo. The gorilla, nor the music of Phil Collins have anything to do with the concept of Cadburys, however it gives people something to talk about.

This advert plays on the different side of creating a viral video. The concept could be completely different-or in direct contrast with whatever I wanted to promote, simply to get people spreading it around and talking about it.

I have found this research into viral video very interesting. The techniques that have been used by the various companies have broad and raging from funny, to the shock factor to the simply strange. I will continue to further my research not simply looking into viral videos but other forms of art and media that will give me inspiration.

Sources used within this post

(1)- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing