In the public relations & marketing industries, viral video campaigns are very rarely executed properly. Done right, these videos necessarily break all the rules of marketing: overt branding is a no-no; a call-to-action is a no-no; content with even the faintest hint of a sales pitch is a no-no. But breaking the rules can be scary, so most companies don’t.
The goal of viral video marketing is to pique curiosity and expand brand awareness – organically. The best viral video campaigns drive viewers to act without having to lure them in with puppies, cleavage & stacks, or request that they “come on down for the best discounts around.”
Take this Bike Hero video, for example. This emerged in November 2008 and has since generated over 2,500,000 hits on YouTube alone. Though initially indistinguishable from any other user-generated content, viewers soon came to learn that Guitar Hero actually had a hand in the production of the short. Sure, some scoffed. But most people agreed: it may be a commercial, but it’s still pretty cool.
The beauty of this video was that it (a) wove Guitar Hero into the fabric of our everyday lives (b) without a hard sales pitch or call-to-action. Had there been a sales pitch involved, this video would have backfired right off the bat, or at least immediately once viewers learned its true source.
But that didn’t happen. Well played.
