Viral+video

=**Viral Video**=

The term //viral// in this sense is the equivalent of electronic word-of-mouth. //Viral video// operates on the same premise - it is a short video created by average people that spreads electronically, usually very quickly, by being passed along from user to user through the Internet. At the same time, because of its content, the video itself is creating “buzz.” The ability of a viral video to spread comes down not only to its homemade, real, and grassroots feel, but because it is quirky, weird or politically incorrect.1 In other words, it doesn’t look like advertising. Free online forums and [|social networking websites] like [|YouTube], [|MySpace] and [|Facebook], where users can upload, view and share [|video clips],  have profoundly increased the ability for anyone with a [|video camera] or [|video phone] to upload and broadcast videos. The content of viral videos includes anything from home videos to commentary from the maker on his/her favourite, or most disliked, products or companies. For companies that are the target of such videos, it can be a blessing or a curse. When 17 year old Melody Oliveria posted a homemade video about the special effects of her new [|Logitec videocam], more than 200,000 people watched it on YouTube and online sales of the product doubled.2 On the other hand, [|Apple] wasn’t so lucky when one of its customers created a video about the company’s policy not to replace dead or defective iPod batteries, instead advising them to buy another iPod. The video, entitled [|iPod’s Dirty Secret], received national media coverage on [|Fox] and [|CBS] news, in the [|Washington Post] and [|Rolling Stone Magazine], and eventually resulted in Apple changing its battery replacement policy. There are so many new videos online every day that there are now hundreds of websites dedicated to posting the top viral videos each week.3 For example, among the top 20 videos for November 8, 2008 are seven videos about [|Barack Obama]and the [|2008 US Presidential election], two concert videos, and a one and half minute homemade video of a cat playing in a box.4 Viral Video Advertising ** Because viral videos can spread so fast and reach millions of people, marketing and advertising companies are anxious to tap into the phenomenon. “An agency or marketer who figures out how to get its ad adopted by the // viral // community gets an ad that appears in inboxes upon the recommendation of their friends.”5 This perceived third party endorsement is key to getting noticed. Viral video advertising costs relatively nothing in paid advertising space and is now considered an innovative and necessary part of the marketing mix for brand awareness. The competition is fierce as video advertising is expected to increase ** 400% to $5.1 billion in 2013 **.6 Some companies have used viral videos very successfully. As part of its [|Campaign for Real Beauty], a global effort to promote positive self esteem in women and young girls, [|Dove’s] [|Evolution] video generated 1.7 million views on YouTube and received millions of dollars of free airtime on TV talk shows [|Ellen] and [|The View] and [|Entertainment Tonight].7 media type="youtube" key="iYhCn0jf46U" height="344" width="425" D espite the campaign’s success, it has generated criticism against its parent company, [|Unilever], “for simultaneously trotting out its own endless stream of buxom, scantily clad, sex-crazed women in ads supporting [|Axe],”8 a cologne for men. The hypocrisy has generated numerous blog mentions, and a re-creation of the Dove and Axe ads which alters the original tagline “Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does” to “… before Unilever does.”9 Ethical Considerations ** Public relations campaigns around viral video advertising often include “seeding” which includes ways of getting videos viewed on YouTube and other video sites which contributes to whether or not it becomes viral. While the practice itself is very much aligned with what PR professionals do, getting the right message to the right audience, most of the ethical concerns are around the concept of viral video advertising itself.10 Viral video ads are often intentionally created to look homemade. As a result, viewers may not always be aware that the videos they are watching are selling something. For example, Unilever produced a viral video showing a soon-to-be bride flipping out just before her wedding after getting a bad haircut. The video, called [|Bride has Massive Hair Wig Out] received six million views, is over six minutes long and doesn’t ever show or mention the product for which it was produced, [|Sunsilk] hair spray. Two weeks after the video was posted, Sunsilk revealed it was behind the hoax. The story was covered on [|CTV], [|CBC], and [|Good Morning America] garnering millions of dollars in unpaid media coverage for the product and [|Capital C Communications] in Toronto, the advertising agency that created the video.11 [|Gary Ruskin], executive director of Commercial Alert, believes viral videos should be labeled as advertising so consumers are not deceived. “//Viral // //videos // are akin to social networks, which can be deceptive because users don't know with whom they're interacting.”12 [|Jeff Chester], executive director of the [|Center for Digital Democracy] in Washington has another concern. He argues viral videos violate consumer privacy by tracking viewer habits. To prove how valuable the viewer data is, [|Google], an Internet search engine company, is now tracking YouTube views as it offer advertisers the ability to take advantage of the viral marketing capabilities of YouTube. “Users and policymakers should expect their online viewing will be private–and not to be spied upon.”13 // While there is very little scholarly research on viral // //videos //, like video news releases, they are blurring ethical lines. Earlier this year, a //video // produced by TaxBrain, an income-tax preparation service, aired as real news on local news broadcasts in 125 markets across the United States.14

References

1, 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE6SGhsQ5pU 3 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2006-06,RNWE:en&q=top+viral+videos&start=0&sa=N 4 http://www.viralvideochart.com/ 5 Advertising Age (2006). 77(6), 46 6 http://www.viralblog.com/2008/08/11/video-ads-gain-22-static-search-ads-lose/ 7 Advertising Age (2006). 77(44), 43-45 8, 9 Advertising Age (2007). 78(47), 3-28 10 http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/19358.asp 11 http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/marketer/article.jsp?content=20080922_145059_9184 12, 14 Advertising Age (2006). 77(37), 44 13 http://www.democraticmedia.org/jcblog/?p=624