when a product goes viral is it because of the brand viral advertising or is it just luck well the truth is that this type of content usually has a well-designed viral strategy behind it but luck creativity and preparation also come into play so to better understand how to make a product or a brand go viral we'll break down the concept explain how a viral campaign works and show you some examples are you ready let's begin [Music] how does viral marketing exactly work viral marketing generates interest in a brand or product and therefore potential sales through messages that spread quickly from person to person the idea is that the users themselves choose to share the content due to their speed and the fact that they make sharing easy social networks are the perfect place for viral marketing a popular example is creating emotional funny or unique videos on tick tock or youtube which are then shared on facebook twitter instagram and any other channels now that you have a better idea of this technique let's see some examples of marketing campaigns that went viral number one ihop or ihob in 2018 with one single tweet ihop caused an online frenzy when they suggested that they were changing their name from ihop to ihop but no one knew what the b stood for for the next seven days the whole world was left guessing as to what the b could possibly stand for ihop's social media accounts played along with the speculation and fueled the fire online finally they revealed the hidden meeting b stood for burgers this caused ihop to receive over 113 million dollars in earned media and resulted in an increase in its burger sales while this campaign was slightly controversial at the time because some users felt that the reveal was overhyped there's no denying that it was a huge success two dumb ways to die in 2012 australia's metro trains wanted to find a way to encourage people to act safely around trains instead of going the traditional route of scary and off-putting ads mccann australia decided to let creativity fly and deliver the instant hint dumb ways to die in this animated video several characters appeared dying in different silly ways with a catchy song explaining the reason for each death [Music] i wonder what's this red button do dumb ways to die so many young ways to die and it's not until the end of the song that we see three train related deaths [Music] run [Music] place [Music] when the song finishes the campaign slogan appears and we see that it was a safety campaign around trains the video was shared worldwide and received over 60 million dollars in media impressions but most importantly the video's message caused people to be more aware of safety issues surrounding trains resulting in a 20 reduction in rail related accidents number three oreo some of the best viral content comes from seizing the moment perhaps the most famous example of this is oreo's dunk in the dark tweet during the 2013 super bowl if you don't know what this is about in the 2013 super bowl there is a crisis moment when a blackout happened in the middle of the game it lasted more than half an hour and when the power went back on the game had already finished so what does this have to do with oreo well oreo saw an opportunity and took it oreo's twitter account made a post saying power out no problem you can still dunk in the dark along with a picture of an oreo being what lightens the dark oreo has had the same slogan for many years twist lick and dunk so with this blackout incident oreo is able to put a twist in it with creativity as you don't have much to do during a blackout one of the easiest things you can do is enjoy your oreos with a glass of milk in the dark this became one of the most buzzworthy ads of the 2013 super bowl and it wasn't even a commercial the tweet went obviously viral and received thousands of retweets and likes both on twitter and facebook oreo also gained thousands of followers on different social media platforms and many users created content about it while content like this can't be planned it's the quick thinking and creativity that made this tweet so popular number four the ice bucket challenge a few years ago the als association launched the ice bucket challenge to raise awareness of the condition and funds for medical research the challenge consisted of filming yourself pouring a bucket of ice water over your head and then nominating three other people to follow suit you have 24 hours to respond you're gonna donate a hundred dollars to the als foundation here we [Music] good go guys let's do this [Music] millions of people around the world rose up to the challenge including celebrities like oprah bill gates and donatella versace besides the viral challenge that reached all the social media platforms including youtube what really matters is that the campaign was a great success receiving over 115 million dollars in donations however virality can be a double-edged sword it's important to remember that in this type of campaign a large part of the control falls into the hands of the users and there is a risk that the message can be misinterpreted on the other hand a successful viral campaign can work miracles for your brand you might have heard of guerilla marketing though it's similar to viral marketing it's not exactly the same thing while bioware marketing is all about users spreading your content organically and quickly guerrilla marketing is all about shattering conventional marketing methods and reaching users without using traditional outlets in other words the aim of gorilla marketing is to ambush the viewer and build publicity whereas viral marketing seeks to generate the organic and voluntary distribution of content from users how does a viral campaign work in theory a viral marketing campaign is very simple to carry out you create a video or other content that is attractive to your target audience put it on the internet and promote it from there all you can do is wait for the fuse to light and for users to start sharing like crazy in some cases virality happens by accident for example when a video is uploaded by a private user that all of a sudden becomes popular and begins to circulate all over the internet as for the dispersion strategy for brand videos there are two types visible and concealed in visible dispersion users are aware from the moment that they start watching the video that they are reviewing advertising or branded content from a specific brand whereas when it's concealed the participation of the brand is only revealed at the end if you apply concealed marketing techniques it is important to be very careful that the user does not feel tricked cheated or deceived no matter what strategy you choose remember to never become spammy or go overboard with your content instead of repeating your message over and over the best strategy is to find a good place in time and let the viral fuse light itself what are the main advantages of viral marketing one first of all the low cost what characterizes viral campaigns is that the users do a significant part of the work for the brand which drastically cuts down distribution costs it is unnecessary to buy advertising or media space if users are already sharing your content two it's potential to reach a lot of users a viral video on the internet has the ability to reach a huge international audience without having to invest a ton of money or make an extra effort due to this a small company or even a private individual can go viral three it is not invasive in viral marketing the social media user is the one making the decision to participate and share content so it lessens the possibility of the brand coming across as invasive because of this the perception of the brand and the interaction are significantly better compared to more typical forms of advertising four it helps build your brand if you are behind a creative viral campaign users will learn about you and develop a personal connection with your brand as you can see virality can't be controlled but it can be pursued if you want to create a viral campaign make sure to come up with new and creative ways to launch your product or brand and make people know about you if you like this video give us a thumbs up and leave a comment and subscribe to our channel if you haven't already see you soon [Music] you