Viral viral viral. If you read my blog, you know I hate the term. It isn't a term anyone agrees on, other than "viral marketing agencies" who are trying to sell it like special sauce. For the most part, that sauce is brown, lumpy and unpredictable, like the "gravy" you get at Applebee's. Marketers like the concept of 'viral', because to them it means "cheap media" (make a video, or app, or whatever, and distribution is FREE!), or it lets them say they "get social media" to whoever is checking off the boxes on their annual evaluation form. But nothing is viral that PEOPLE DON'T LIKE, and figuring out WHAT PEOPLE WILL LIKE is a game everyone can play, but few play well. Which is why most advertising SUCKS.
We've had some good hits - the Kobe jumps Aston + snakes, the
FIFA Street 3 spot, etc., but it is, to a degree, a gamble. Like a good date.
So a video folks are talking about is this one for Stride gum, found by Melissa Sconyers on the NY Nokia Search team.
It's worth a look for two reasons: (1) it shows the power of participatory community, which is actually more interesting than the concept OR the execution, and (2) it shows how jumping onto a popular video may or may not be right for a brand. At the end of this video, do you get that this is actually a marketing vehicle for Stride gum? I didn't. And I knew it before I watched, then I even clicked through to Matt's site, looking for a logo or brand mention (the logo is there, at the bottom of the page, looking very Dad at the disco).
The story of the video as Matt tells it:
He has friend shoot video of him dancing badly in Hanoi. Stride gum
sends him around the world to do the dance in a wide variety of places
(normal "YouTube-viral-type-web-2.0-3.0" thing). But AFTER that video was made and
posted, people sent him their own. And that gave him an idea. He
re-pitched Stride with a new idea. He traveled the world again,
inviting those people to join him. Participatory viral goes global.
Read more here:
http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/about.shtml (the website is sponsored by Stride)
And please practice safe viral.
super subtle. i love it. and i want to chew their gum now. seriously. i respect that. it's not advertising at all. it's not sponsorship. it's support, scholarship, community service...it needs a different name.
Posted by: Mark Jacobs | 2008.06.30 at 14:30