Will Video for Food » Seven Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video

Seven Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video August 24, 2006

Posted by Nalts in : Future of Online Video, Making Videos, Online Video, Revver, Video Advertising, Video Business, Video Contests, Video Sites, Web 2.0, YouTube, advertising, popular videos , trackback

Show me a marketer without “viral” on her marketing plan and I’ll show you an online video site that’s profitable. Advertising offline is getting harder with time-shifted television and declining viewership, and online advertising is getting more complex with paid-search prices rising and banner click-thru’s dropping. Given the low variable cost of viral, it’s natural that advertisers would want to experiment with it. “I want a piece of Web 2.0,” they say.
Advertisers beware. Getting people to promote your product by forwarding a viral video is not as easy as it appears. Save you and your clients some money and consider the “7 Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video.”

1. Make a white and brown cow. Seth Godin has a term called “Purple Cow,” which refers to marketing that is “remarkable” and worth paying attention to and talking about. Your viral video better be Technicolor Purple if you actually expect it to break through an increasingly crowded space. What is remarkable? Take a look at the Volkswagen “Fast” series featuring Jim Meskimen. (Jim is a comedian and impersonator, and you’ve heard him as the voice of Messing With Sasquatch” series. Would you view this content more than once, and show it to a co-worker or forward it to a friend? I would, and have.
2. Pretend you’re not advertising. Nothing quite irrates a consumer like being secretly persuaded. “Al Gore’s Penguin Army” is a classic example of a “funny video” that was exposed as having a PR agenda. Transparency is a ticket in the viral video door, friends. No ticket, no ride.

3. Spend a fortune on production. It pains me to see companies throw around huge production budgets on online video. I’ve seen it payoff only once. Here’s Smirnoff’s Ice Tea Partay (which was featured yesterday as one of YouTube’s top 3 on Good Morning America). Clearly this cost north of $300K to produce. But even if you pay that much, you might be better off giving it a “rough around the edges” look. Improv acting, sloppy camera moves and poor production can actually give your video that “consumer generated video” feel. There’s going to be a huge market for individual directors that can shoot viral videos for around $20-$50K, and it makes it much easier to get an ROI on viral video when you’re not having to recoup a big fixed-cost investment in production. When Yahoo featured on its homepage my “Lay Me Off” video (which I’ve temporarily pulled down at the request of some of the actors), I got a number of e-mails from people asking how much I’d charge for a viral video for their clients. Since I have a day job and I do videos as a hobby, I declined. But they’ll find someone who is quite happy to take a low fee for a video that’s powerful. Of course an advertising agency will probably mark up the director’s fees by 500%.
4. Tell consumers instead of engage them. Don’t think of your viral video as an adaptation of a 60-second spot. Obviously it’s got to be irreverent, weird, funny and different. But more importantly, the web has the ability to make the viral event a dialogue. Contests are a good example. There have been plenty of online video contests, but Mentos Geyser Contest is already shaping to be one of the most successful. Check out all of the consumers creating buzz around a candy that was a 7-11 relic 6 months ago. Seventy to date! Production costs for Mentos on those videos? Zero. (By the way, vote this Mentos Jet Pack one 5 stars and I’ll send you some cheese). BarterBee’s contest created buzzz for a CD and DVD exchange. The CEO wore a bee suit to promote it. Brave.

5. Do a video contest because everyone else is. This online-video “contest fad” will continue, and it will become more difficult to activate consumers to promote your product. Do a search for “video contest” on Google and you’ll see four or five different ads for contests. The David Chappelle video contest is a good example of a nice idea with some executional flaws. First, it didn’t initially promote the contest on its own website because it wanted to focus people on buying the DVD. Second, it petered out. Contest winners weren’t announced and insufficient media budget promoted the contest. To give you an idea of how abused contests are getting, there was a summer promotion for a mayonnaise manufacturer looking for videos about may recipes.

6. Set unrealstic conversion metrics. After someone watches your video, what do you think they’ll do? Will 30% come to your site? Will 10% buy your brand in two months? Give me a break. Viral video is one of the most difficult-to-measure parts of your marketing mix. Sure you can count views. But none of the online video sites are yet able to track the viewers so you can conduct your DynamicLogic unaided recall and awareness study. And very f people will take an immediate and measurable action. Sorry to sober you.

7. Throw in the towel and decide to just advertise around viral videos. Please don’t give up and decide that it’s easier to simply advertise around videos. There are certainly products and services that can do well through this, but it’s the lazy way to approach online video. The online video sites are mostly new, and there is an unlimited possibility for creative partnerships. Even YouTube (which has been slow to embrace commercial interests) has a homepage advertising feature for advertisers. As I write, it’s a trailer for Beerfest. Yesterday it was Paris Hilton. Revver has run a few contests, and has married EepyBird to Mentos in probably the best case study for viral video marketing yet. For best results, don’t think you have to decide between getting your videos seen on sites for free OR advertising on them. Do both in partnership.

Comments»

1. Marquisdejolie - August 24, 2006

Wow. Thorough. It’s almost as if you were in the biz yourself.

2. Marquisdejolie - August 24, 2006

You did ‘glutony’ great here, but were a little thin on ‘lust’, I think. Can you do ‘the lust factor’ in a future post?

3. nalts - August 24, 2006

Oh- you’re so right. I should have attached each one to a real deadly sin. That post actually took and hour to write this morning- unlike my typical 20 second post.

4. Awesome Jim - August 24, 2006

Great points. We’re using cheaply made videos with a humor (hopefully) factor, but we’re not trying to really “sell” them, they’re just there as a part of our overall site experience.

We’ve found that the best videos are the ones we do in one take, fast and aren’t planned. You can see our creations here:
http://www.awesomemillion.com/videos.html

5. mark day - August 24, 2006

I’m baffled. Drink Smirnoff Raw Tea and you too can be a dickhead? I know advertising is, at best, a hall of mirrors, but still.

6. Marquisdejolie - August 24, 2006

It’s true! And drink Three Feathers and be an abnoxious curbdweller. It’s all in where one’s ambitions lead.

7. nalts - August 24, 2006

Jim- I want to be awesome but I’m afraid of the “truth in advertising” thing.

Mark- funny you should mention that. I couldn’t decide if the brand was trying to appeal to the masses by spoofing preppies or try to go after the high brow market. But it cost a lot to produce and YouTube/GMA featured it. So you’ll buy the Spirnoff tea and LIKE it.

8. Emergence Media :: Reality Check on Social Media Marketing and Virals - Social Media, Search Marketing, SEM, SEO - August 25, 2006

[...] “Seven Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video” via WillVideoForFood.com [...]

9. Viral Advertising’s Seven Deadly Sins « the ideas by number weblog - August 25, 2006

[...] There is much truth to be found in this list. And AdRants suggests an 8th: Don’t call it a “viral” until it goes viral. Posted by ideasbynumber Filed in Uncategorized [...]

10. Awesome Jim - August 25, 2006

nalts – It’s ok, you don’t have to be really awesome. Our (fake) research has shown that there are only 1 million really awesome people, places or things on the Internets.

Obviously, you’re just not one of them I suppose!

I like your site, you have a new reader.

11. matt - August 25, 2006

I gag every time I see a terrible attempt at a viral video… and it’s becoming more often.

Only a few sites (YouTube, Heavy.com, MySpace) actually have a big enough audience to make sure a viral video is even SEEN enough to become passed around at any impressive rate from my experience in planning these things out.

12. nalts - August 25, 2006

Matt- I want to agree with your gag comment, and challenge your second. While it’s true that YouTube and MySpace DOMINATE share, it’s wayyyyyyy more easy to get a video seen on a 2nd tier site. Sure the BoobTube gets 10 zillion viewers a day. But there are eleventy gazillion videos completing for mindshare, and the viewers only look at the really popular stuff. Try submitting to the smaller sites and you’ll be surprised how much more traffic you get.

13. pelotonjim - August 25, 2006

Matt, in response to your first comment. Nalts and I have debated that point before. I think the production value will improve over time as we get better at it. If you look at blogs, while there are more of them, they are more focused. I don’t see too many that are “I woke up today. watered my plant.”

Nalts thinks they will get worse before they get better.

14. Marquisdejolie - August 26, 2006

Some people expose the creative efforts of their hands while others fold their hands in superior indignation at those efforts.—Mudhead

15. Marquisdejolie - August 26, 2006

Point taken?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBaKvJAFqYs

16. 7 videosyntiä « Toista maata - August 26, 2006

[...] Netissä leviävien viraalivideoiden narkkariksi tunnustautuva Kevin Nalty kirjaa blogillaan mainonnallisten viraalivideoiden tekijöiden 7 kuolemansyntiä. [...]

17. nalts - August 26, 2006

I think they spelled narkkariksi tunnustautuva incorrectly.

18. PixelThoughts » The pitfalls of viral video - August 27, 2006

[...] There are some obvious traps to avoid – however the real trick is getting a client who appreciates what a viral is good for, and that will give you the freedom to deliver. Seven Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video « Will Video for Food [...]

19. Mark Baratelli - August 28, 2006

I heard about your list on “Across the Sound.” Great work. That Tea partay video is a nod to Lazy Sunday, right? It basically copies Lazy Sunday’s entire premise, don’t you think?

“…Improv acting, sloppy camera moves and poor production can actually give your video that “consumer generated video” feel.”

This statement caught me off guard, as it kind of is at odds with #2 a little. If you’re a huge company and you try to get “that consumer generated video feel” won’t that smack of falseness? Your thoughts?

20. nalts - August 28, 2006

Actually that’s a really good point I hadn’t considered. I suppose if you spend a lot of money trying to make it look like you didn’t, it is a bit deceptive. For the time being, my feeling would be “when in Rome do what the Romans do.” Keep them low budget and fun- and they’ll blend. Candid camera stuff is particularly underexploited to date. Eventually all of this will tire and be as awkward as those intentially bumpy camera commercials we saw in the 1990s- remember those?

True that Lazy Sunday did probably “inspire” the “Tea Partay.” Immitation… or rip off?

21. Shannon - August 30, 2006

I tend to disagree. The point of advertising is to be different. If you blend in too much you get lost. Successful viral advertising doesn’t copy pop culture it creates it.

You guys might think “Tea Partay” had an over inflated budget but lets face it, it’s gotten national exposure without paying for network airtime. That’s a huge expenditure cut from the budget. Not to mention, that it has created a ton of PR for a brand that is still being tested in limited markets.

Branding is bigger than immediate ROI. What viral videos do–when they are successful-is create an emotional connection between the consumer and your brand. If you can develop a relationship with your consumers eventually you will have brand loyalist who will increase your ROI for you.

22. Seven Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video: at ViralMeister - August 30, 2006

[...] Seven Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video: [...]

23. G.B. Veerman - August 31, 2006

I like Shannon’s points and take issue w/Mr. Baratelli: I see no contradiction, as he does, between Sins #2 & #3. This key is this excellent point Nalts makes: “Transparency is a ticket in the viral video door, friends.”

Transparency saves the DIY/faux-home-grown shill (but it’s also essential in any social medium, isn’t it?).

To wit: Ted Fergusen, Bud Light Daredevil; a totally consumer generated look — that worked not because of the “rough around the edges” style, but because there was an actual idea there.

Exhibit B: the new OK GO video — the freakin’ definition of “rough around the edges.” You think they made that for the sheer joy of viral? Their “A Million Ways” video put them on the map; this one puts them over the top. They’re moving product, brethren, and growing a commercial brand — no doubt to the delight of Capitol Records.

Both were transparent. Both sold without pretending not to sell. Both worked because the content/concepts/executions were brilliant. So I find Sins 2 & 3 perfectly compatible. Great convo; thanks for stirring the pot.

24. Web advertising beyond the pop-up « What’s New Media? - September 2, 2006

[...] Read this article from BBC Technology News and compare it with Realities of Online Video Advertising posted on Clickz in 2005. More viral video advertising from MarketWatch and from the blog Will Video for Food. [...]

25. Flying Cars Debut in GM Viral Video Campaign « Will Video for Food - September 15, 2006

[...] WillVideoforFood gives this “5 stars” for moving the viral-video “advertising revolution” forward so well. We’d like to know the agency behind them. The campaign avoids the 7 Deadly Sins of Viral Video Advertising, and has some new tricks worth featuring: [...]

26. thad - September 20, 2006

Fuck viral advertisements. Im about the real aristocratic rap shit. Check this stuff out. it blows tea Partay out of the water and they’ve been doing it since 2000. Lord T adn Eloise baby!

http://www.myspace.com/lordtandeloise

Thad

27. james r. smith - October 12, 2006

what do you think
http://www.bigfix.com/softwaretruth

28. yaltun - ki?isel blog » Blog Archive » Ba?ar?l? Viral Marketing Çal??malar? ?çin Ne Yapmal?? - November 8, 2006

[...] Allbusiness.com sitesinin editörlerinden Robyn Tippins, 12 Ekim’deki makalesinde markaların başarılı viral kampanyalarından bahsetmiş ve “başarılı viral videonun 10 temel kuralı”nı güzel özetlemiş. Benzer bir çalışmayı Kevin Nalty’s’ın blogunda da bulabilirsiniz. [...]

29. pete - January 3, 2007

This is not the first time anyone tries to tell someone how to do something in this business. And everytime this happens, creative solutions proves otherwise.

Never underestimate a genuinly good idea.

Whats next ? “Viral videos for dummys” ?

30. Billy Chuckfist - January 13, 2007

Funny you should say that….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51×73_7_elI

31. chadisrael - January 24, 2007

good article…you touch on a lot of great issues…we did an online video submission campaign for airborne…learned a lot from the experience & you hit on all the aspects we grappled with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZdFGFxGe4M

32. Adrian Lee - February 20, 2007

Thanks for the pointers. Might take note of them on my next production.

33. Pat - February 27, 2007

After reading your article I know I am in the dark ages when it comes to advertising. I am so lost these days with everything on the internet I feel old and I am still only in my thirties,

34. Pat - February 27, 2007

Ment to say great site aswell have been here a few times before.
Trying to promote my own site these days but do not know where to start. Any suggestions.

http://www.freebigad.com

35. HipHipUK » Blog Archive » Viral(l) - March 5, 2007

[...] “Show me a marketer without “viral” on her marketing plan and I’ll show you an online video site that’s profitable.” From “Will Video For Food” [...]

36. Viral Sins « Alternative marketing thinking - March 13, 2007

[...] to create anything meaningful that will catch people’s imagination and turn viral. Here are the Seven Deadly Sins of Viral Marketing as postulated by the Revverberator. Speaking of virals, don’t forget to visit the shrine of [...]

37. links for 2007-03-18 : Narrow Blog - March 18, 2007

[...] Seven Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video « Will Video for Food (tags: viral video advertising marketing blog ads online) [...]

38. Todd Dickerson - March 31, 2007

All good points. You need to simply keep in mind when you’re doing viral videos everything that you should be keeping in mind when you do everything in your business. Tell a consistent story, be authentic.

39. Success Online.IN » Using Viral Videos to get Traffic - April 1, 2007

[...] are to make it highly probable that your video is passed on virally, visit this page , seven deadly sins of advertising via viral videos and this article on the USWeb [...]

40. Alison - April 13, 2007

Hi, I just want to say that I found this post very interesting and informative, thanks for taking the time to post this.

41. imparare - April 15, 2007

Interesting comments..

42. Brian Ankner - April 18, 2007

The visitors after viewing numbers are closer to 1 visitor in 1000 views, conversion is pretty lame too. The people viewing dozens of online videos every night are simply looking for the entertainment value.

Do I make sales when I post a video at the popular hosting sites….yes. But, for the time it takes to create and upload a video to the top 20 sites I could write 2 articles and software submitt them to the top 20 directories.

Sales results, needless to say, are far greater from the articles for the same amount of effort.

43. Toma e Embrulha :: Teaser viral :: April :: 2007 - blogging about advertising and everything else - April 20, 2007

[...] vivamente a leitura dos 7 pecados mortais da publicidade viral antes de se porem a fazer um viral (isto é que é serviço público). Mas qualquer googlada sobre [...]

44. Zack Fogarty - April 24, 2007

Mr. Veerman has the most plausible explanation. The reason the low-budget stuff is associated with funny/brilliant/fresh is because it tends to be idea-driven stuff, on the whole… as in not profit-driven.

Nobody sits around dreaming up a cool new video or spoof ad wondering how they can sell a product with it (uh, except us).

It’s wonderful to have a strategic anchor that somehow actually sells the product too… but diffusion of mind yields diffusion of idea = ehh.

I actually think Smirnoff blended the two fairly well. But they have some legendary minds at the helm.

P.S. But does their target audience even realize Smirnoff is a bottom-shelf liquor? Me thinks not. So… props on a big score.

45. 3 Rules For Managing Viral Marketing - What Every CMO Needs To Know at ExperienceCurve - April 25, 2007

[...] Seven Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video [...]

46. Earl - April 29, 2007

The Taxcut video’s that were done in a rap fashion seemed to do pretty well. Obviously it is hard to measure if these corporate sponsored videos really add to their bottom line.

If they are just simply “branding”… I guess it is a cheap way for them to do so. But in a situation where you need to show immediate returns and you measure that by the dollar – it is another story.

Great site… I’ll be back often.

Earl

47. slot machines celebrex - June 7, 2007

Great site! Best wishes!

48. Viral Marketing Buzz » Blog Archive » Beware of these 7 Deadly Viral Video Sins! - June 19, 2007

[...] 7 Deadly Viral Video Sins [...]

49. video - August 10, 2007

thanks for video

50. 1-18-08 - A slight overview ‘viral advertising’ « A private Blog from Michael Jung. - August 22, 2007

[...] 2006/08/24/seven-deadly-sins-of-advertising-via-viral-video/ [...]

51. L. Blaine - September 11, 2007

Thanks for the data. Just started in on internet video after doing infomercials for three years. I think I’ll leave the crew at home and just set up in a half-lit basement! LOL!

Just started helloworld and it seems that it is the saving grace for those over 35 who didn’t trade their pacifiers for a mouse and keyboard as far as making digital media. Looking forward to learning more. Anybody doing helloworld and getting great responses and sales? Love to see what you’re doing so that I can know what I’m doing.

52. micky - September 15, 2007

what do you think of this spec i made?

53. micky - September 15, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTxe1fi1ll0

Seven Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video August 24, 2006

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