how to make promotions go viral

How to Make an Ad or Promotion go Viral?By: Gautam Chawla and Sahaj Cheema MBA Students at Shulich School of BusinessSocial Media Enthusiasts

http://www.linkedin.com/in/gautamch http://www.linkedin.com/in/sahajcheema

“A guide for creating a successful viral campaign is as effective as a tutorial on how to win the lottery” Christian Haas (Designer & Entrepreneur)

3,000,000,000 Videos viewed on YouTube everyday

1,000,000 Links shared on Facebook every 20 mins

250,000,000 Photos uploaded on Facebook everyday

300,000,000 Tweets on Twitter every day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgX_IJPOifs

Jenifer Aniston’s Smart Water Ad

What is Virality?

Word viral means continuously duplicating

Content which gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing.

Virality = Compelling Content + Effective Execution

What Content?

Examples of Viral Content

NETNOGRAPHY

What gets attention?

Hilarious: Amateur videos, Parodies, Remixes, Memes, Bad dancers, Baby reactions, Expressive pets.

Unbelievable: Stunts ,Gimmicks, Supernatural

Emotional: Awe! Touching confessions, Parenting

moments, Proposals, Drama, Anger, Motivation.

What makes stuff go viral?

Offbeat: Honest, Original, Creative – Sony Bravia, Samsung LED, Johnny Cash Project, Best Job in the world.

Embarrassing: Bimboes, Celebrity Goof Ups!, Wardrobe Malfunctions, Falls and Mistakes!

Provocative: Attractive people doing Anything!

Any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence

Viral Marketing

Why it makes sense?

Low cost promotions that can garner high visibility Can be used for testing and experiments If successful can have reach a widespread audience Great way of getting back customer feedback

Return on Investment

Viral marketing is a way to get value beyond the cost.

Content that passes CMC sees benefit of Network effect.

Network Effect: Value of each potential sharer is proportional to the number, N, of other individuals he or she can connect to.

Tactics for Viral Marketing

Make it short: Break down long stories into bite-sized clips

Design for Remixing: Create content that can be remixed over and over again.

Don’t make an Ad: if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share

Use fake headlines: make the viewer say, “Holy shit, did that actually happen”

Appeal to sex: if all else fails, hire the most attractive women to be in the video.

Optimise the title: frame at the very middle is interesting

Strategic Tagging: three or four unique tags, control over “Related Videos.”

Process behind the promotionReach out to influential bloggers, gain access to readershipPay them to post your content Post in relevant blogs with option to comment on content

Start new threads and embed videos or photos Kickstart conversations by setting up multiple accounts

Person of authority tweets content to gain visibility. Ensure the content gets retweeted and shared by viewers

Share Share Share. Create event to announce video launch share with network. Tagging the video

NIKE HYPERDUNK KOBE BRYANT ASTON MARTIN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIWeEFV59d4

Kobe Bryant Nike Jump Campaign

The Jump Video

Attracted over 5 million views

Created a buzz whether the stunt was fake

Creatively leveraged all brands

Campaign was a success

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight Viral Marketing

Largest viral marketing campaign in Hollywood history

Fans participated to uncover more information about the movie

“Real live recruiting into Joker’s army via cellphones hidden in cakes”

Carefully planned and executed over a period of 6 months to maximize the buzz at launch

Dark Knight’s Promotional Campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD-HRI-N3Lg&feature=player_embedded#!

Our Attempt at Virality:“Sh*t We Say”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ikCkQvUNEw

Thank You and Keep Sharing