With the dawn of this decade advertisements have taken on a new twist, they’ve become viral. They don’t spread colds, but they have a few other things in common: they’re highly replicable, hard to fight off completely and are usually unexpected. Thomas Baekdal offers some good pointers about viral ads and their creation, but what’s the point of making a viral ad?
Let me show you a story. In it J.J. Abrams produces a viral cult prior to the release of “Cloverfield”, resulting in the best January release ever.
“Cloverfield” trailers were handheld shots of joy juxtaposed with pure chaotic terror with the purpose of drawing the viewer online. The main character is apparently having a birthday and then suddenly fire rains from the sky and the statue of liberty’s head is outside his building. Intriguing.
This was bold and new; it was an experiment. Audience interaction and cooperation is the foundation of the internet and J.J. Abrams and his marketing team hit it on the head. By seducing audiences online with twisting trailers, they then offered them the experience of hunting for clues online through various websites like Tagurato and Slusho!, which both appear in the movie. It was, in essence, a viral scavenger hunt that lasted about four months up until the release of the film. It was a grand success, one of the best January has seen (remember. most people are at home watching the tv series box sets they got for Christmas).
Aww, thanks Slusho!
Anyways, the point is that promoting something through viral advertising gives it the potential to grow exponentially. Duncan Watts, a sociology professor at Columbia University, challenges the strength of viral ads. He says they are targeted at a specific audience, which is usually smaller than the group of “easily influenced people”. By targeting a smaller audience promotion and profit are decreased.
These are perfect for low budget movies then, right? “The Dark Knight” is among the highest grossing films of all time and had viral marketing campaign.
Don't under-estimate him.
Brodesser-Akner, Claude. “‘CLOVERFIELD’.” Advertising Age 79.113/17/2008 58. 25 Mar 2009 .
Creamer, Matthew. “What’s plaguing viral marketing.” Advertising Age 78.287/16/2007 33-35. 25 Mar 2009 .
