In a time of vast viral potential through various social media channels since the development of Web 2.0, enabling the ease of creation of user generated content, it is by no means a formality to create a marketing campaign that reaches or indeed impacts the target market whom you wish it to.
Berger and Milkman (2012) completed a study to identify why certain pieces of online content go more viral than others. The results showed that content often went viral when a science was applied, rather than just hoping, the key characteristics being:
- It was positive, dwelling on positive issues or topics.
- It evoked a strong emotional reaction.
- It was practically useful.
For any Ad Campaign the most important and powerful tool to efficiently utilise is emotion. Harvard Business School professor Thales Texeira (2012) expresses the importance of instilling strong emotions in video advertising and keeping branding to a minimum. She states adverts that maintain a stable emotional cycle without emotional fluctuations aren’t as effective at engaging viewers for very long. Therefore, for effective engagement there should be alternating tension and relief, creating a feeling of going on a journey.
Possibly the most recent example of appealing to an individuals emotions is the Dove Real Beauty Sketches, which has achieved over 65 million views on YouTube. Women described themselves to a forensic artist from which he drew a portrait, detailing how other people might see that individual. The realism of the advert creates a story which can appeal to many women, Dove’s primary target market, that many could relate to, provoking potentially powerful and moving emotions. This coupled with the ambient lighting and subtle music contribute to the visual success of the campaign. The advert can be viewed below.
A further avenue to explore is the way companies can focus on psychology when wanting an advert campaign to go viral, rather than the technology used to share content (Texeira, 2012; Schawbel, 2013). Phelps et al. (2004) examine which particular emotions can be focused on to appeal to human psyche and achieve viral content, revealing that inspiration, humour, sadness and fear are the most likely quartet that will achieve this. Research agrees with this, Berger & Milkman (2012) suggesting that content of a happy nature is more likely to be shared and go viral, whilst sad content is less likely to go viral but may be more likely to be emailed to colleagues.
Other studies have been conducted to find a correlation between the content of a video and the likelihood of it going viral. A decision tree has been developed by Botha and Reyneke (2013) demonstrating the decisions a user has to go through before deciding to share the content.
Considering Texeira and Berger & Milkman’s studies, it seems that marketing divisions should attempt to include the following in their campaigns:
- Create a form of audience interaction, which will aid when communicating the adverts underlying message.
- Create something unique or unusual, it will be more successful, especially when combined with the right music and lighting.
- A campaign that takes the viewer on an emotional journey will be more memorable, thus more likely to be shared.
References
Schawbel, D. (2013). Jonah Berger: How to Make Your Marketing Campaigns Go Viral. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/04/25/jonah-berger-how-to-make-your-marketing-campaigns-go-viral/ [Accessed 25 April 2015].
Texeira, T. (2012) The Harvard Business Review. The New Science of Viral Ads <http://hbr.org/2012/03/the-new-science-of-viral-ads/ar/1> [accessed 25 April 2015]