I AM RANTING. PLEASE MOVE ALONG
Following the I hate viral(s) posting on Crackunit I have decided to stick the boot in too…..
“Virals” is a brilliant way of condensing what is a rich and sophisticated phenomenon into a single phrase and format like the TV spot, or the DPS. The term suggests a discrete package, that by its’ classification alone and a send to friend button becomes a pervasive underground siren calling out to the youth who have long since traded their tellies and lad mags for a rich diet of pirate MP3s, porn and funny corporate virals.
Most virals fail either by just not generating any real pass on or worse, despite getting massive traffic fail to convey anything useful on a part of the brand or product behind it. As luck would have it though there’s a lot of wool around to pull over undiscerning eyes.
And why should this fuck me off? The answer is simply that by missing the point we’re in danger of never opening up the potential underneath what virals are only scraping the surface of.
If as Iain says ‘viral’ as a quality (not effect) can easily be exchanged for the word ‘good’ then what we’re really talking about is good stuff prevailing in the networked world rather than the boring voids of imagination in the lions share of advertising that still ultimately buys its audiences. Thus the great and worthy challenge of this area: how to power up our creative muscles and create ideas, phenomenons, experiences, whether they’re films, applications or t-shirts, that challenge, excite and engage, compelling each user to share and advocate this good stuff, just like the DJ wants the world to hear their records.
There is a meaningful way that brands can participate in the free networked arena that is not spitting twenty second clips into the ether. There is a universe of possibility to contribute something interesting and valuable that sells products, engenders loyalty and advocacy. But a virals alone ain’t gonna do it.