Viral Guidelines
So now that I have summarized some of the well known viral campaigns, I will summarize the commonalities to close out this class project. Upon review of my previous blogs, I have narrowed it down to four key aspects of an advertising campaign that create a viral buzz. The successful ads are funny, unexpected, concise, and have an experiential aspect.
Humor breaks down barriers. Without even knowing it, we block out advertising because we see so much of it every day. Adding comedy to the mix makes it feel more like entertainment than selling. This also makes people seek out the ads because they want to hear the next joke that the campaign has to tell. Dos Equis has its one liners to keep you entertained, Got Milk has its funny commercial where the guy has his mouth full of food, and Old Spice's Mustafa makes you laugh with all of his random lines.
Going along with humor, being unexpected or random is a great way to break down consumer's advertising barriers. If you can catch someone off guard, you can catch their attention. The Breast Cancer Awareness campaign is a great example of this. With the "I like it on…" Facebook status updates, people were very caught off guard and therefore paid attention. Old Spice also played into this well with such comments like: "I am on a horse".
Brevity is important in order for a catch phrase to be passed along. If it is easily repeatable and people like it, people will say it again. Even if the person who originally heard the phrase does not buy the product, they repeated the phrase and helped advertise for free! Word of Mouth advertising is very valuable. Dos Equis lines are short enough that people quote them at bars (makes you want a Dos Equis when it happens too), Guinness had "To Arthur", and "Got Milk?" was altered to any situation where people could substitute out the word milk (which always reminded people of milk).
Lastly, and probably at the root of all viral success is the experiential appeal. If consumers can connect with the campaign in more than just a basic way, people will remember it. A connection to the product is created that cannot be gained just by mere repetition. Many wanna-be interesting men suddenly popped up at bars imitating Dos Equis. Got Milk? had their emotional appeal of craving milk which many people experience daily. An excuse to have another beer and providing something to toast was Guinness' success. Breast Cancer awareness has an obvious experiential connection as so many people have been affected by the disease. Lastly, Old Spice had its interaction online with Mustafa on Twitter and having him post new videos. They were very smart to create an experience with their campaign.
Some combination of all of these aspects would be vital to a campaign's viral success. Most importantly, building off of creating an experience to make an attachment for consumers to the ads. By connecting with consumers, breaking down their subconscious blocks to ads, and making it something easy to pass along, any campaign could achieve viral status and with social media we could see a new viral leader tomorrow!