Business Week did a story on the omnipresent “The Viral Video Factory.” Found via Adriana’s FURL.
Here’s the quote I found of interest:
Clients, nevertheless, are willing to play with higher sums. Advertisers will spend more than $1 million for a viral video campaign now, says Smith, a far cry from the $10,000-$20,000 he and Robinson charged for their earliest projects. “The market is maturing,” he says. “It has been a little bit slapdash and little bit adolescent until now. As budgets grow, there needs to be more rigor and professionalism brought into the process.”
This is a little missleading because earlier viral videos were covering production only. Now some deals are involving media dollars and larger payments to known creators.
My favorite quote from that piece is: “Anyone can produce a piece of footage that is so funny that it goes right around the world,” says Robert Campbell, managing director of Outsider TV.
Dear Robert,
You’re so full of it I can smell what you had for breakfast all the way down here in east Texas and it’s not your breath I’m smellin’. They actuall PAY you to talk out your ass? You’re one lucky theoretical “expert”. Show me one of these hilarious videos you made that zipped across our planet. Stop trying to make me feel dumb by saying that something I haven’t been able to figure out yet is ‘easy.’