I have been in too many meetings, where someone suggests that as a promotional tool, the organisation should create a viral video. Why didn’t I think of that? What gives a video its viral nature? What makes one commercial any more exciting and newsworthy than another? Sure any organisation, person, or smartphone can create a video, but an extra special amount of luck, intelligence and finesse is required to create a video whose popularity grows to unimaginable size, that news agencies feature it in primetime, show it on the evening news, or perhaps feature it on their homepage. The best way to demonstrate the components of viral videos is to first watch the videos. While watching these videos, as yourself the following questions:

• How does the video make you feel?
• Have you seen anything like this before (before the first time you watched it)?
• What was the motivation behind the video?
• Who else would feel this way about the video?

The Wedding Dance, 53,000,000 views The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, 11,000,000 views Charlie Bit my finger! 216,000,000 views Evolution of Dance, 148,000,000 views The T-Mobile Dance, 22,000,000 views What is it about this list of both corporate and genuinely sincere videos that make them so popular? How was it that Dove and T-mobile were able to get such media coverage and an unthinkable number of web hits for the cost of producing the video? How is it possible that a video of a kid biting another kid’s finger is one of the world’s most popular and most seen videos?

1. Emotion

What do all these videos have in common? Emotion. In many instances videos that are funny get shared, while videos that are heartwarming become a sensation. The best example of the sensational potential is The Wedding Dance. I’m sure that when the two lovebirds decided to get married they didn’t consider how they could make the biggest worldwide splash- they were just genuinely trying to have a wonderful wedding day. What’s emotional about the T-mobile dance? I just watched it again and it made me cry, again, even though I’ve seen it at least ten times. I knew what was going happen- but this clever ad for T-Mobile does what most talk-shows aim to do, show genuine audience emotion. Fifty strangers performing choreographed dances in the middle of the day doesn’t make me cry, but the genuine, heart-warming reactions from the crowd as they dance, certainly does make me tear up. These innocent bystanders are actually excited about being there to capture and share the moment (on their T-Mobile phones) and then we see that lovely unsuspecting older ladies are just having a great time dancing- something that would never happen by chance in Liverpool Station. Who doesn’t love a cute kid who sticks his finger in his brother’s mouth, while his younger brother can’t help but bite on something that’s been put in his mouth, and they both have a laugh?

2. Something Unexpected

Anyone can make the equivalent of a T-Mobile dance these days but no one can ever be the first again. No one can ever deliver something so heartwarming, so close to home and so unexpected- because from now on it’s just a copy.

Everyone knows that models and celebrities in magazines don’t actually look like that. Because we never get to see models and celebrities up close, with only 10 minutes of makeup as they are running to catch a bus or a train we never really know how close they actually look to the pictures we see of them. The Dove video shows us that the people on billboards aren’t necessarily any more beautiful than we are. It is revealing the truth, which is very unexpected. This video also just happens to support an ad campaign that is running concurrently…

3. Human Nature

Having been watched more than a 148,000,000 times, I honestly cannot explain why The Evolution of Dance is so popular. It’s so popular perhaps because in six minutes it relives decades of dance, decades of experience, for many viewers. I don’t think I’m in the target audience, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on why you think the Evolution of Dance is so popular. What other videos do you think should be on this list?

The key thing to remember when suggesting that your organisation make a viral video, is that to have very low expectations. Unless you have something unexpected, or can show your product alongside genuine emotion in a way that has never been tried before, you will have just made a commercial. There’s nothing wrong with commercials the difference is that people choose to watch and share a viral video without realising at first that it has a hidden agenda.

Good Luck!

Unbelievably this is a fully functioning bus stop situated in Ventura, California. An interesting concept from designer Dennis Oppenheim who has been producing conceptual land art, body art, video, and sculpture since the 1960s.

It certainly achieves stand out! But, does having such a landmark bus stop guarantee that the number 52 will turn up on time!

See more of his interesting creations at http://www.dennis-oppenheim.com/