Mike Stopforth

I received an email from Shelley Wilson, an honours student at Vega who is doing her thesis on viral video. She’s put together this ‘15 tips for viral marketing videos’ clip, with an accompanying article (quoted below) that she’d love your feedback on. I’m all for feedback, so let her have it!

We live in a world which operates at a rapid pace, people are consumed by the business of daily living. Consumers cannot process the masses of advertising messages which bombard them on a daily basis. Therefore, people tend to filter and ignore many traditional advertising messages. As a result, advertising to the masses is decreasing in its effectiveness and becoming less and less cost efficient. Brands need to use different methods in order to reach their consumers in this changing media environment.

Viral video is a phenomenon which is exploded in the online world with people watching hundreds of millions of videos a day on YouTube and uploading hundreds of thousands of videos daily. In fact, every minute, ten hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube. This has provided a huge opportunity for brands to communicate and reach their elusive consumers in a changing media landscape. In the United States many large brands are investing their time in viral video marketing. Well known brands such as Smirnoff, Nike, Cadbury and BMW have managed to use this medium to their advantage. Blendtec, a company which specialises in food processing appliances in Utah, has been highly successful in using viral video by creating a series of episodes in which Tom Dickson, their CEO, blends various objects like iPods and light bulbs (this is included in the video clip below). Blendtec has seen an explosive growth in sales of 700 % due to their escapades on Youtube and the publicity they have gained thereof.

In a South African context viral video sharing is in its infancy with many people and marketers being unaware of the benefits of this media platform. Although there are only 10 % of South Africans who have internet access there is hope offered by companies such as Neotel which are bound to bring about higher internet connectivity in the future. Youtube is the fifth most trafficked website in South Africa, following from Google, Yahoo and Facebook. Surely this provides a great opportunity for brands to communicate with their consumers in a more cost efficient, effective and approachable manner. Consumers can choose whether to seek out or watch your video clip via viral video sharing. People will be more open to let you into their lives when they are not being spoken at but rather engaging in a two way conversation.

The video clip below was created for professionals in the branding, marketing or advertising industry. It aims to inform and educate people about how to go about creating a viral video and using it as an effective means of communication. It includes 15 tips for viral video marketing and uses examples from existing viral videos produced by famous brands. This shows you the how to enter this crazy world of viral video in a light hearted manner. Learn, explore and go create. You can be the brand to gain the competitive advantage by seizing the day and taking hold of the power which viral video is offering you. Be the first South African brand to dive into this new and exciting communication medium.

So what do you think? Is she spot on or missing the mark somewhat?

Popularity: 18% [?]