What is a viral
Viral: A self-propagating practice. It could be a video, image, text… any message.
And in that ‘self-propagation’ lies the excitement and the misery of a marketer. While a true online viral means limited marketing spends, it also means that netizens decide its worth and love or trash it at will.
No, a 2 minute video that a marketer believes is funny and releases to a bunch of netizens, is not a viral. It is a ‘viral-to-be’ and the power to make it viral rests with the viewer.
Not again!
While most marketers are yet to warm up to the idea of a viral, ‘do a viral’ is becoming quite a boring brief that keeps coming one’s way. Simply because not every brand can and should be viralled.
Why the viral will not die
- Virals are fun
They entertain. And considering how everyone around me is ‘so bored’ all the time, I guess virals help.
- They make people feel important
People love to be the ones who know things and can tell others about them (“Oh! You didn’t know that! Let me tell you.”)
- They make people feel like they had something to do with it
This is perhaps the best part of a viral. In the act of forwarding a viral leads the forwarder to believe that he/she had something to do with it. Forwarders almost believe that they play a part in the viral (and they do!) and it allows for the coolness or funniness of the viral to rub off on them.
‘Popular by association’ is the name of the game.
- Even the lazy ones can share
It takes just a click. Serves the lazy ones well.
What will die
1. Patience with poor virals
Show me one more annoying viral masquerading as an attempt at ‘engagement’ and I vow to not use your brand!
2. Marketers patience with the digital medium
They’ve only just warmed up to our medium and there we go giving them virals that never viral. Ladies and gentlemen say goodbye to your digital budgets.
The viral will not die (no matter how much we wish the ‘do a viral’ brief would).
But really, a viral needs to viral.
