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Viral Videos – If You Can’t Beat’em, Join’em
May 19, 2006
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal recently (5/11/06-Marketing the Unmentionable? Talk to the Web by Brian Steinberg) that spotlighted a recent video ad that is appearing solely on the Web. {I would normally insert a link to the ad here but this is a family Wagon and we prefer to stick to the straight and narrow in our musings.} We lovingly refer to these types of ads as Viral Videos. They do not necessarily cover topics that can’t be broached on network TV but usually they do and/or they are a bit longer than the average 30 second TV ad.
When I read the article my first thoughts were of how undervalued this type of advertising probably really is. I think of all of the money spent on TV commercials and the limited reach that they have because of stupid things like budgets and so on.
Now I understand the arguments from those who say that the web only reaches a targeted audience, and that only niche markets are served by the web. But, I also know firsthand the power of the forward button on all email clients, and most importantly the “hey have you SEEN this yet? It’s hilarious…� peer to peer networking if you will.
At this point my thoughts turn to some of the great “hey have you seen this� commercials/viral videos over the years and how they are still paying dividends for those bold enough to create them.
I won’t bore you with an exhaustive list but here are three of my favorites from different era’s:
Pre-Modern era
The Macintosh superbowl video.
The Modern era
Man vs. Bear
Post-Modern Inter-Active Era
Project Gotham Racing for Xbox 360 (if you want to see great digital effects mixed with real-life video you'll have to work your way through the inter-active part by repeatedly clicking on the up arrow and then on the “Film� menu twice and choose the green X video in the bottom right. Sorry to have to be so descriptive here but as we all know, flash looks great but doesn’t allow easy direct linking in most cases. But that’s a whole other topic…….[insert sound of outrageously loud throat clearing])
Of all the emails that I receive by far the most memorable are the one’s that say “have you seen this?� I think big advertisers are finally seeing the opportunity in viral web marketing, and you know why? Probably because as they review their computer logs they find their own employees flocking to these video’s themselves. And as the old adage goes, if you can’t beat’em, join’em.
see all posts by Brent Sharp
posted by Brent Sharp at May 19, 2006 04:17 PM
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