Who loves puppies? And, who is fascinated with drones? All of us. Now, combine both of these and the result is a puppy drone delivery system ad from the Humane Society. Or is it? This ad is one of the viral hits in June, promoting the dangers of buying pets from puppy mills. A little unusual, but very effective.
Every week, Advertising Age publishes a list of the week’s top performing videos. The weekly chart highlights viral video ads that appear on online video sites. Each ad measures viewership of brand-syndicated video clips as well as social video placements that are driven by viewers around the world. True Reach™ quantifies the total audience that has been exposed to a viral video campaign. There are three key factors for viral video success:
- Reaching the tastemakers.
- Building a community of participation.
- Creating unexpectedness in the video.
Regardless of the type of product or service, the country of origin, or the importance of the message, what matters is reaching the audience in a way the both entertains and informs. Check out this week’s top videos and discuss what makes them “go viral.”
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Bring up Ad Age’s weekly Viral Video chart: http://adage.com/article/the-viral-video-chart/viral-video-chart-051815/298678/?utm_source=digital_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1432656669
- Have students examine how the ads are measured by Visible Measures.
- Divide students into teams. Have each team select an ad on the top video chart and analyze the ad.
- What is unusual?
- Who will it interest?
- What is the key message?
- How effective is the ad at getting the company’s brand and message across to viewers?
- In teams, have students design a viral video for a product of their choosing. What are the elements that are needed to go viral?
Source: Advertising Age, Visible Measures – weekly update
