Category Archives: viral

Online viral campaigns are the obsession du jour of advertisers and marketers alike. Remember when they used to say: ‘I want you to PR that!’ Now another phrase has entered the marketer’s lexicon: ‘I want this to go viral.’

With the growing popularity of social media in Australia, viral campaigns present the potential to reach millions on the cheap – a marketer’s dream come true. Viral advertising can be all that – pure sweetness and massive sales (see our latest post on the Three Wolf T-Shirt for an example of viral done right). But viral has a dark side too. Consumers can hijack your brand (see GM’s original foray into YouTube for classic viral stuff up) – and make you stand out for the wrong reason.

And of course, there’s no guarantee whatever you try will go viral. Friends sending it to friends, who send it to their friends, and so on – that can take a long time… and who knows if it will catch on at all.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at this week’s top viral campaign and see what makes it so… infectious!

Chk-Chk Boom!

Our top viral campaign this week comes courtesy of reviled ‘Kings Cross bogan‘, Clare Werbeloff’s less than candid eye witness account of a shooting.

If you were living on Mars and somehow missed the video, check it out here:

Even though it turned out she didn’t even see anything, it didn’t stop Clare from becoming one of the biggest news stories of the week.

But what was it about this video that made it go viral? Was it:

• A (possible inebriated) pretty girl
• A bogan
• The use of racist epithets
• The use of a catchy slogan

Maybe, for your next online marketing campaign, a combination of these tactics will provide you with a winning viral campaign… or not.