Tasha Harrison

There is a huge misconception that you can make a fun video, post it on Youtube and it will be watched by millions of people, possibly even making it onto a ‘Best Youtube Videos Ever’ programme. Sadly, it is extremely difficult to create a video that actually goes viral. There are an estimated 24 hours of video uploaded to Youtube every minute, so it’s incredibly easy for your video to get lost.

Creating a Viral Campaign

However, it is still possible to create a viral campaign if you have a greater plan. Volkswagen have created a viral campaign called ‘The Fun Theory’. Run in Sweden, the campaign sought to prove that you can change people’s behaviour by making things fun. It then invited people to submit their own ideas as part of a competition. The competition took place at the end of last year, but today I stumbled across one of the videos on Youtube, using StumbleUpon (a social bookmarking site).

Below is the video I stumbled:

I came across the campaign by accident, which is the result of a viral campaign. This campaign was paid for by a large business. They put money into the videos, they built a site and, no doubt, spent a great deal of money on advertising. This gave the campaign the impetus to become viral, it was given a huge shove in the right direction.

It also doesn’t seek to explicitly sell cars, it appears to be done simply for the sake of doing something fun. It associates ‘fun’ with ‘Volkswagen’. This is a very effective brand building campaign!

This fantastic video by vm-people, based in Berlin, is a great little animation showing how viral marketing works and explaining what it is.

It’s Christmas everyone! You know when it’s Christmas when the adverts start. The ‘Holidays are coming’ Coke adverts used to actually make me dance a little inside when I was a kid, such was the power of advertising. Now I am more cynical I can’t help but cringe at all the cheesy nostalgia. M&S have won my prize this year for the most painful Christmas advert, but is it actually quite enjoyable at the same time?

Just when no one thought technology could move forward any quicker Apple launched the iPhone. The effect of the iPhone on how we live can already been seen. It is crazy for me to think now that I looked online at Google Maps and printed out directions to where I was going. That’s almost as insane as me carrying an A-Z about all the time. Now I just happily type the destination into Google Maps on my phone, which tells me exactly where I am and guides me to where I need to go.

If I’m going to a party or a gig that I have been invited to on Facebook I don’t even need to remember the address, I can arrive at the nearest tube, vaguely in the vicinity and Facebook will conveniently link the address on the event page to Google Maps.

I’m off to see a new client and I never bothered to write down their telephone number, but I’m running late (not going to get lost because of Google Maps) so I simply visit their website and there is their number.

In fact, I never need to remember anything ever again. Aeroplane tickets are sent via email – on my phone. Train tickets – email me a number to use at the station to pick them up. Event tickets – soon to be bar code on my phone. Voucher coupons for my supermarket shopping – barcode on my phone. The possibilities are endless.

The most important point I’m trying to make is that my phone is now the centre of my entire existence. And thanks to apps (applications to download onto your phone) people are adding functionality to my phone everyday. This, plus the ridiculously easy to use interface, makes the iPhone probably the most useful item I have ever owned, by miles.

This is why we need to all take notice of how businesses can tap into this emerging market. How can marketers use this information to connect with consumers? By integrating mobile into every campaign and moving it to the centre of all of our thinking.

For further reading see:
Mobile Platform Status Report
Mary Meeker on the iPhone and Mobile Marketing

Every year certain ad campaigns come under fire for pushing the boundaries for what society finds offensive. Famously, the government’s anti-smoking campaign in 2007 was banned for it’s use of shocking images of people with a fishing hook in their mouth.  At the time I was working for a design agency in Leeds and I remember the office being in complete outrage at any advert being banned. The fishing hook was designed to be shocking in order to have an effect on smokers and encourage them to quit smoking.  That people were offended by it is a real shame, since it could have been a really effective way of helping people to quit.

It was to my great surprise yesterday, then, that I discovered a horrific advert that is truely shocking.  It is the kind of ad that gets suggested in a brain storming session and everyone quickly moves on, knowing that it is a great idea, but also that it is incredibly offensive and insensitive. Here is a link to the video:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/sep/04/ddb-brasil-wwf-twin-towers-ad

It is an old debate when advertising crosses the boundary between shocking/effective and shocking/offensive. I think this advert may just have shown where that line lies.