Some call it “virality.” YouTube Broker called it Viralaliscicy. Let’s call it “Viralacticy,” a play on viral and “elasticity.”

What’s the formula for viralacticy of a viral video advertising?

It’s simple. Punch x Message = Impact.

• Scenario 1: Let’s say for instance, that we had a viral ad that delivers a killer punch. (Punch is the ingredient that gets people to embed the ad in their psyche, tell others about it and forward it along). It’s so good it gets a 9 on the “punch-0-meter.” But the marketing message is lost. People can’t even recall what was being advertised. So it gets a 4 on the “Message-o-meter.” Total impact score: 36.
• Scenario 2: Now we have another ad that the marketing team loves. It drives home the intended message and is compelling. A perfect 10 on the “message-o-meter.” But the marketing committee and legal sucked all of the life from it. It’s flat. Dull. Doesn’t get seen or sent. It’s a low 2 on the “punch-o-meter.” Total impact score: 20.

As we launch the viral ad, the marketing team is feeling pretty good about the second concept. But they’re burrying the results when it’s time to measure and learn from it. And the agency is totally depressed, wishing they had sold concept one.

Remember that punch and message don’t have to compete but they often do. There’s an inverse relationship between punch and creative (and many elements of your viral video are tradeoffs), so it’s an exceptional campaign that can score high on both. More on that in the next post…