Marketing Team: We got this great, hip, new, fresh idea to help you guys sell a ton of SmartWater.
Vitamin Water: Oh that sounds great! I hear all the kids love "great, hip, new, fresh" things!
MT: We're going to create a video that will go viral!
VW: Oh that sounds great! We've always wanted to go viral!
MT: Totally. Going viral is awesome. So we've put together a list of the "top viral things" and made a video out of them. Its gonna go so viral.
VW: Oh that sounds great! We've always wanted to go so viral! What's the list?
MT: Lip-syncing to pop music on YouTube, dancing babies, puppies, the double rainbow guy, and celebrity sex tapes. But it'll be different because we'll be kind of poking fun at videos going viral. We're pretty sure no one, or not many people, have done that before.
VW: Oh that sounds great! Here's a lot of money! Can we get Taylor Swift?
MT: Naw, she's too expensive and booked. We'll do Jennifer Aniston.
VW: Oh that sounds great! We've always loved Friends!
Have you ever seen someone and though, "They're just trying too hard." People can easily pick up on actions that are less than sincere. The same goes when companies try and create something to "go viral."
The Old Spice commercials, Chrysler's Imported from Detroit campaign, and the double rainbow guy all went epidemically viral. But not because they tried to be. Because they were actually something people connected with and wanted to share. They were honest things. A series of commercials, that while cheesy, were very well put together and worked! A commercial that connected emotionally with an entire city. A dude's honest reaction to a beautiful natural event.
If double rainbow guy was faking it, we could tell, and no one would hit share on YouTube. The newest Old Spice commercials just don't hit the mark. They're forced and trying to go viral again. We can tell, so we're not tweeting or liking them. If DRG makes a video about the cool waterfall down the way to get some more TV appearances, we'll know, and won't laugh about it with our friends.
So instead of trying to go viral, try just creating a good spot that emotionally connects your consumer to your product. Its been working for a while now, keep at it.
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