by: David Armano
Timing as they say is everything. Agency.com asks the advermarketing community What is Viral Marketing? CBS asks the question: What is Viral video? So here is an interesting case study.
On one hand, you have the example of an interactive agency testing the waters by creating their own viral experiment. On the other, you have the Mainstream Media which surprisingly does a decent job providing a 30,0000 foot view of what Viral Video means to the masses.
Here are a few choice bits from the CBS piece:
“Average people talking about products they like—the ultimate word of mouth”
“You can’t just create a viral video—it needs to be organic. It needs to be grassroots. It needs to be real. The user will realize what’s real and what’s fake.”
“It’s really more of an art than a science”
“Sometimes they are going to laugh with you. Other times they’re going to laugh at you”
So do you agree or disagree with the examples on the CBS piece? Any thoughts about the Logitech case study and how it actually increased sales without Logitech lifting a finger? What about the Converse example vs. Coke?
And where does the agency.com example fit into this? Instead of raw, real, messy user generated content—the agency.com execution went with a more produced approach complete with editing effects, music, and it was branded Subway. The stars of the video were the employees.
A lot of questions here and I certainly don’t claim to have the answers. One thing is for sure, the viral video movement is big. It has an impact. And when you roll—big or small, brace yourselves for that impact.
Huge tip of the hat to Joseph Jaffe who is arguably the most well dressed man in our business. Nice going Joe. Now my wife thinks your look matches the voice that she fell in love with. *Sigh.
Original Post: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2006/08/cbs_what_is_vir.html
