Views on famous viral videos
Viral videos! Forwarded mails that find their way into your inbox or spam so often but rarely do we give them any thought. Most are either banned funny commercials or videos caught on tape. But there's more to a viral than just the idea of being forwarded. A great idea partnered with as strategic a marketing tactic, riding the wave of a digital world.
I have selected some of my favourite viral videos done by some iconic brands. Engaging, humourous, and highly effecting viral marketing tactics make these virals a major success.
I start with a set of bold virals or may I had, pornographic ones!
1. DIESEL SFW XXX
This Diesel viral is a classic piece of video that aught to be forwarded. The Viral Factory collated clips of the 80’s porn in a humorous new viral to celebrate Diesel’s 30th anniversary. The viral uses animation to block out the rude bits, creating various cartoon interpretations of the actors’ movements. Actors are seen shaking maracas, playing the harmonica, riding horses and eating a banana.The viral is titled SFW XXX (short for “safe for work”), the opposite of NSFW or “not safe for work” - an acronym used to tag porn online and promotes a series of parties being held to celebrate Diesel’s anniversary.
Anticipating the audience's reaction to pornographic videos, Diesel was bold to flirt with the idea and establishing itself as a brand that challenges the taboo of the society.
2. TROJAN CONDOMS
In 2003, Trojan Condoms, a famous US condom brand, wanted to launch in the UK. Unlike any other launch ad, they created this viral to create an awareness of the brand. By 2006, they created the "Trojan Games" which was viewed over 300 million times. The strategy to promote safe sex through these sporting events, accompanied with an Olympic style landing page, the UK audience was undoubtedly more than pleased to accept this new entrant in the condom market.
The next set of virals are from gaming brands. Both use actual people instead of the gaming experience in order to increase talkability or "buzz" as they say in the advertising world!
3. FIFA STREET 3
A typical viral for a XBoX or PS game. It shows a bunch of Mexicans doing jaw dropping stunts with the football. In our lingo, it was really cool! A lot of people were wondering whether what they were doing is real or not and this viral created a lot of talkability. The truth is, all the stunts demonstrated by them are part of stunts that are available in the game. The moment a player reaches a certain level of energy in the game, it automatically enables him to do these fancy moves. The website is as entertaining as the video though there, as expected, they present the game characters. Click here to visit their official website and be ready to experience a really kick-ass gaming fun.
4. NFL FANTASY FILES
Much like the FIFA Street 3, this NFL viral went like wildfire with my friends on Facebook. It shows several NFL players displaying some unbelievable and almost superhuman tricks. As we know, football to Americans is like Cricket is to us. In order to further popularise the sport, Bill Winkenbach, Scotty Stirling and Bill Tunnell created this fantasy game way back in the early '60s. In 2006, NFL and Reebok came together and released 3 videos to drive traffic to the NFL website and play the fantasy game, and it got America in a frenzy. The military style start marks the stamp of an American creative team!
The next two are from iconic carmakers. The first doesn't showcase any of it's products and the second brilliantly does that with a well directed viral.
5. VOLKSWAGEN - PIANO STAIRCASE
In my opinion, an exceptional piece of CSR (corporate social responsibility). In order to encourage people to take the staircase instead of the escalator, Volkswagen converted a set of steps at the Odenplan subway station in Stockholm into working piano keys. The effort is just one stunt that appears on the carmaker’s Rolighetsteorin.se or “Theory of Fun” website, which showcases efforts to get people to change by simply making things more fun. The response was overwhelming. There was 60% increase in the number of people using the staircase. Habits are hard to die but when the killing is soft and tactical, one doesn't notice the change! The makers of the Beetle have again successfully changed perception of people by their wonderful piece of communication.
6. BMW - STAR
The BMW Films or "THE HIRE" as they are called, was I think a superb piece of marketing gimmick! It was the year 2001, BMW embarked on a journey to develop a non-traditional concept to show consumers what makes a BMW a BMW. Its sales were dropping. With no new cars in the making, they decided to showcase existing cars in a series of 10 minute short films directed by some of the world renowned directors. Each films have Clive Owen as "The Driver", and each films has a different style, genre, plot and includes big actors too. I picked this one, directed by Guy Ritchie. Not getting into too much details, this one stood apart by it's comic timing. A clear Guy Ritchie stamp on the film. It's humourous and has Madonna doing some self damage. Obviously, this was done prior to their break-up! The success of these films were huge. More than 10 million films have been viewed from BMWFilms.com. Nearly 2 million people registered on the site, with 60% of those registrants opting to receive more information via e-mail. An astonishing 94% of registrants recommended films to others, seeding the viral campaign, and more than 40,000 people voluntarily responded to a survey. BMW was selling DVDs with a compilation of their films and a series of 6 of them was sent to the Cannes in 2003, winning the Silver there. Magnificent direction. Superb marketing strategy. Excellent selection of actors and finally, an Ultimate Driving Machine.
The last one is totally a league apart. There is no story, no apparent link between the brand and the video, but that's what I think makes this memorable and a perfect viral.
7. CADBURY GORILLA
This one is by far my favourite. The sheer instant non-relation to the gorilla and Cadbury Dairy Milk is what makes this viral alive. In 2006, the UK brand Cadbury Schweppes was losing it's market share due to a series of PR blunders. Bacteria being found in the bars was the major cause. In order to retain their losing market share, the marketing team contacted Fallon to put the brand back on to the track. As brand oriented advertisements were doing no good to the brand, Fallon suggested a complete entertainment route, wherein the product is nowhere in the picture but just the experience. This full fledged campaign of the Gorilla had huge success and viewership and soon came to youtube receiving 500,000 page views in the first week. No doubt that even the Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight" basked in the success of immediate flooding downloads. Hats off to Fallon and the inimmitable gorilla. The music and the fashion in which the gorilla enjoys his drumming is a visual treat.
There are many more virals which are doing the rounds as I write this, but these were the ones that appealed to me the most.
I have selected some of my favourite viral videos done by some iconic brands. Engaging, humourous, and highly effecting viral marketing tactics make these virals a major success.
I start with a set of bold virals or may I had, pornographic ones!
1. DIESEL SFW XXX
This Diesel viral is a classic piece of video that aught to be forwarded. The Viral Factory collated clips of the 80’s porn in a humorous new viral to celebrate Diesel’s 30th anniversary. The viral uses animation to block out the rude bits, creating various cartoon interpretations of the actors’ movements. Actors are seen shaking maracas, playing the harmonica, riding horses and eating a banana.The viral is titled SFW XXX (short for “safe for work”), the opposite of NSFW or “not safe for work” - an acronym used to tag porn online and promotes a series of parties being held to celebrate Diesel’s anniversary.
Anticipating the audience's reaction to pornographic videos, Diesel was bold to flirt with the idea and establishing itself as a brand that challenges the taboo of the society.
2. TROJAN CONDOMS
In 2003, Trojan Condoms, a famous US condom brand, wanted to launch in the UK. Unlike any other launch ad, they created this viral to create an awareness of the brand. By 2006, they created the "Trojan Games" which was viewed over 300 million times. The strategy to promote safe sex through these sporting events, accompanied with an Olympic style landing page, the UK audience was undoubtedly more than pleased to accept this new entrant in the condom market.
The next set of virals are from gaming brands. Both use actual people instead of the gaming experience in order to increase talkability or "buzz" as they say in the advertising world!
3. FIFA STREET 3
A typical viral for a XBoX or PS game. It shows a bunch of Mexicans doing jaw dropping stunts with the football. In our lingo, it was really cool! A lot of people were wondering whether what they were doing is real or not and this viral created a lot of talkability. The truth is, all the stunts demonstrated by them are part of stunts that are available in the game. The moment a player reaches a certain level of energy in the game, it automatically enables him to do these fancy moves. The website is as entertaining as the video though there, as expected, they present the game characters. Click here to visit their official website and be ready to experience a really kick-ass gaming fun.
4. NFL FANTASY FILES
Much like the FIFA Street 3, this NFL viral went like wildfire with my friends on Facebook. It shows several NFL players displaying some unbelievable and almost superhuman tricks. As we know, football to Americans is like Cricket is to us. In order to further popularise the sport, Bill Winkenbach, Scotty Stirling and Bill Tunnell created this fantasy game way back in the early '60s. In 2006, NFL and Reebok came together and released 3 videos to drive traffic to the NFL website and play the fantasy game, and it got America in a frenzy. The military style start marks the stamp of an American creative team!
The next two are from iconic carmakers. The first doesn't showcase any of it's products and the second brilliantly does that with a well directed viral.
5. VOLKSWAGEN - PIANO STAIRCASE
In my opinion, an exceptional piece of CSR (corporate social responsibility). In order to encourage people to take the staircase instead of the escalator, Volkswagen converted a set of steps at the Odenplan subway station in Stockholm into working piano keys. The effort is just one stunt that appears on the carmaker’s Rolighetsteorin.se or “Theory of Fun” website, which showcases efforts to get people to change by simply making things more fun. The response was overwhelming. There was 60% increase in the number of people using the staircase. Habits are hard to die but when the killing is soft and tactical, one doesn't notice the change! The makers of the Beetle have again successfully changed perception of people by their wonderful piece of communication.
6. BMW - STAR
The BMW Films or "THE HIRE" as they are called, was I think a superb piece of marketing gimmick! It was the year 2001, BMW embarked on a journey to develop a non-traditional concept to show consumers what makes a BMW a BMW. Its sales were dropping. With no new cars in the making, they decided to showcase existing cars in a series of 10 minute short films directed by some of the world renowned directors. Each films have Clive Owen as "The Driver", and each films has a different style, genre, plot and includes big actors too. I picked this one, directed by Guy Ritchie. Not getting into too much details, this one stood apart by it's comic timing. A clear Guy Ritchie stamp on the film. It's humourous and has Madonna doing some self damage. Obviously, this was done prior to their break-up! The success of these films were huge. More than 10 million films have been viewed from BMWFilms.com. Nearly 2 million people registered on the site, with 60% of those registrants opting to receive more information via e-mail. An astonishing 94% of registrants recommended films to others, seeding the viral campaign, and more than 40,000 people voluntarily responded to a survey. BMW was selling DVDs with a compilation of their films and a series of 6 of them was sent to the Cannes in 2003, winning the Silver there. Magnificent direction. Superb marketing strategy. Excellent selection of actors and finally, an Ultimate Driving Machine.
The last one is totally a league apart. There is no story, no apparent link between the brand and the video, but that's what I think makes this memorable and a perfect viral.
7. CADBURY GORILLA
This one is by far my favourite. The sheer instant non-relation to the gorilla and Cadbury Dairy Milk is what makes this viral alive. In 2006, the UK brand Cadbury Schweppes was losing it's market share due to a series of PR blunders. Bacteria being found in the bars was the major cause. In order to retain their losing market share, the marketing team contacted Fallon to put the brand back on to the track. As brand oriented advertisements were doing no good to the brand, Fallon suggested a complete entertainment route, wherein the product is nowhere in the picture but just the experience. This full fledged campaign of the Gorilla had huge success and viewership and soon came to youtube receiving 500,000 page views in the first week. No doubt that even the Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight" basked in the success of immediate flooding downloads. Hats off to Fallon and the inimmitable gorilla. The music and the fashion in which the gorilla enjoys his drumming is a visual treat.
There are many more virals which are doing the rounds as I write this, but these were the ones that appealed to me the most.
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