CibbuanoThe Secret Behind Viral Videos
November 29th 2007 17:16
Viral videos are the ones that seem to spread through the internet like, you guessed it, a virus. They're so ubiquitous that everyone's seen it, all around the world. Even some random goatherder that you run into in Mongolia has seen Numa Numa.
They used to be brilliant... mostly, they were unintentionally funny and caused the star of the video to be shamed in front of the whole world, like the Star Wars Kid.
Others are simple fantastic videos, made with passion and spirit, like The Evolution of Dance and Lazy Sunday.
Corporations have no idea how to be cool and they usually struggle trying to identify with 'those crazy kids'. NBC went on a lawsuit binge trying to get people to stop watching Lazy Sunday.... but it's a ridiculous notion. Certainly, you'd rather have people watching your show, even if it's for free, rather than NOT watching your show.
Some corporations have tried to cash in on this marketing gravy train, using the viral video format to market their products. Usually shoes.
Dan Greenberg wrote a post that got picked up all over the Net, talking about how his company takes corporate videos and makes them go viral. While a video can have the potential to go viral, he tries to guarantee it.
From the post:
" * Make it short: 15-30 seconds is ideal; break down long stories into bite-sized clips
* Design for remixing: create a video that is simple enough to be remixed over and over again by others. Ex: “Dramatic Hamster”
* Don’t make an outright ad: if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share it unless it’s really amazing. Ex: Sony Bravia
* Make it shocking: give a viewer no choice but to investigate further. Ex: “UFO Haiti”
* Use fake headlines: make the viewer say, “Holy shit, did that actually happen?!” Ex: “Stolen Nascar”
* Appeal to sex: if all else fails, hire the most attractive women available to be in the video. Ex: “Yoga 4 Dudes”
"
And we're such suckers. Did you see the Yoga 4 Dudes short? It's such a stupidly simple idea, but one that I can't turn away from.
They used to be brilliant... mostly, they were unintentionally funny and caused the star of the video to be shamed in front of the whole world, like the Star Wars Kid.
Others are simple fantastic videos, made with passion and spirit, like The Evolution of Dance and Lazy Sunday.
Corporations have no idea how to be cool and they usually struggle trying to identify with 'those crazy kids'. NBC went on a lawsuit binge trying to get people to stop watching Lazy Sunday.... but it's a ridiculous notion. Certainly, you'd rather have people watching your show, even if it's for free, rather than NOT watching your show.
Some corporations have tried to cash in on this marketing gravy train, using the viral video format to market their products. Usually shoes.
Dan Greenberg wrote a post that got picked up all over the Net, talking about how his company takes corporate videos and makes them go viral. While a video can have the potential to go viral, he tries to guarantee it.
From the post:
* Design for remixing: create a video that is simple enough to be remixed over and over again by others. Ex: “Dramatic Hamster”
* Don’t make an outright ad: if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share it unless it’s really amazing. Ex: Sony Bravia
* Make it shocking: give a viewer no choice but to investigate further. Ex: “UFO Haiti”
* Use fake headlines: make the viewer say, “Holy shit, did that actually happen?!” Ex: “Stolen Nascar”
* Appeal to sex: if all else fails, hire the most attractive women available to be in the video. Ex: “Yoga 4 Dudes”
"
And we're such suckers. Did you see the Yoga 4 Dudes short? It's such a stupidly simple idea, but one that I can't turn away from.
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Comment by Mr Nice Guy
Pop Culturist
You're right.
You sucked me right in.
Nice . . .
MNG
Comment by Cibbuano
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