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by Julian Cole

on Aug 27

Viral rockstars - why ad agencies just don't get it!

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One thing that is really pissing me off at the moment is advertising agencies claiming that they created a ‘viral’.

Do you know how stupid this sounds? It is kind of like a part time musician claiming they are a rockstar! Maybe they need a video to show them how stupid they look ;-) Check out the clip below, and if you think you can do better, get filming and send it in!

Ad agencies don’t create virals, they create content. The people decide whether it will be viral or not.

What to do when someone says "Make me a viral campaign!"

If you are going to claim viral success to journalists, instead of talking about it being ‘viral’, why not concentrate on what makes the content so remarkable. If the journalist struggles to explain how amazing the content is, how is the rest of the population going to have any chance?

6 Must read articles on the topic of Viral Marketing

  1. Seth Godin on how to be remarkable
    http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/01/how_to_be_remar.html
  2. Simon Corbett on a Viral Rant
    http://sydnaked.typepad.com/naked_blogging/2008/08/viral-rant.html
  3. David Gillespie on creating remarkable social objects
    http://davidgillespie.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/one-bourbon-one-scotch-one-beer/
  4. Zac Martin on Viral Evolution
    http://www.iliketosneeze.com/2008/06/viral-evolution.html
  5. Marta Kagan the secrets to overnight viral marketing success
    http://bonafidemarketinggenius.com/2008/08/12/the-secret-to-overnight-viral-marketing-success/
  6. 10 of the dumbest lame and lamer viral marketing campaigns
    http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/08/12/lame-and-lamer-10-dumbest-viral-marketing-campaigns 

Thanks to Katie Harris for that hat tip
http://zebrabites.blogspot.com/



Related Video

Viral Rockstars - if you think you've got a viral campaign, think again. You don't decide whether it's viral, the people do!

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Click here to watch the video on YouTube

3 Comments

Jex
  • Wrote on 28 Aug, at 05:43PM
Hi Julian,

Can't say I agree. It seems to me ad agencies can create 'virals' . It is not in the hands of the 'people'. The nature of a viral is that it is so compelling in some way that people want to spread it around - so if the ad agency gets its content right, then it will have created the viral - sure, the people are the judges as to what becomes viral, but it is the content which matters.
  • Wrote on 29 Aug, at 10:57AM
Jex, you can have the best content in the world but if no one sees it, is it still viral?

I would presume not.

Ad Agencies create content, you have no control over whether it will go viral or not.

On the other hand

Ad Agencies say that they create 'Television Commercials’, they don’t say they create 'Gold Cannes Awarded Winning Ads everytime' (well some do but they are better known by a word that begins with the letter ‘w’ and ends with ‘ankers’).
  • Wrote on 5 Sep, at 03:04PM
Advertising Agency executives continur to be obsessed with Clio awards and the like. Luck for them brand merchants have big budgets. The real winners in viral marketing are specialsit internet marketers - Stephen Pierce, Armand Moran, Tim Brockelhurst,,, and our very own Brett McFall, Tom Hua and Marc Dussault to name a few. These guys are streets ahead in internet and viral marketing strategies.
Advertising Agencies, especially the Australian ones could do well to learn from them.

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