Viral Video In-Class Assignment

The two videos I chose to analyze were the Barak Obama campaign video and the eight bucks video starring Bill Cosby.

1. I think successful viral campaign videos are hard to make. Successful viral campaigns are a combinataion of interesting topics and humor. I think most people can relate to or get sucked into something humerous. If a company decides they would rather take a more serious approach they should try and work from an issue lots of people know about. The Barkak Obama campaign used this strategy with their video, apparently using an old commercial but putting new video into it to make their point. I think this was a wise way to integrate a new issue with an old issue. However, the campaign was lost on me because I did not see the old commercial so I had no idea what the video was about or why. This is something a viral video maker needs to watch out for. The Eight Bucks video was successful in my opinion because it was funny and interesting and caught the attention of the audience. It was easy to understand and had a clear call to action. It was fun to watch because it was random, and it was brilliant because of the opportunity for audience participation. I think it was a really great idea for them to post a video with a greenscreen so people could just go nuts with thier own version. Sometimes it is hard to tell if a viral campaign is successful. If there is no call to action, then there is not a real way to measure it. The eight bucks campaign's success can be measured because they did have a call to action and they can just tally how many people sent in eight bucks. The Barak Obama campaign did not have a call to action and I think measurement is harder in this campaign. It posts on youtube how many times a video has been watched, so someone can keep track that way, but it doesn't post the reactions. I watched the video, but the point was completely lost on me. A call to action would be good because it would measure not how many people were exposed to the message, but how many understood and were impacted by it.

2. As far as the two viral videos I chose to analyze, the Barak Obama one works because it takes something that is old and familiar (the commercial) and pairs it with something new (Hillary Clinton) to make its point. It draws attention to the new because the old is being used in a new way. What doesn't work about this campaign is that it doesn't make sense to people who have never seen the commercial. It was wierd and I didn't understand the point because I didn't see the original commercial. I wasn't sure if it was a pro Hillary or pro someone else until I saw the ending credits. The Eight Bucks campaign was a lot different. It worked because it was interesting, the scenery was changing a lot and it was repetitive, with Bill Cosby repeating the message several times over. It engaged the audience because you are allowed to create your own video using their template and greenscreened footage, and it had measureable outcomes with the call to action during the video. I can see a few things not working in this video too, though. If someone has an aversion to Bill Cosby they might not like it very much. Also, if they are not interested in funding the museum for slavery they might not like the ad.

3. I would not pass any of these videos on to my friends because most of my friends are not the kind of people who watch viral marketing for fun. It is okay to watch it in class when it pertains to an assignment, but you would not find me on my computer in my free time, watching viral marketing, and my friends aren't that type either. If I had to pass one on to a friend, I would pass on the Eight Bucks one because out of the five we watched, it was the most interesting to me.

4. There is not much prominent brand placement in the videos I chose. In the Barak Obama one, it showed his logo at the end, but until then you couldn't tell what the video was for. The eight bucks video wasn't really about a brand, but it did repeat several times that they wanted eight bucks. I think the strategies were good for the each of the videos I chose. If the branding were any less in each of them a person wouldn't be able to tell what they were for. If the branding were any more I think it would diminish the credibility of the viral video.

5. I found a viral video campaign online for Sony Playstation handheld game machines. Here is the link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0G0LlXv-nyI This was (in my opinion) a miserable attempt at viral marketing by the Sony company, placed on youtube. It was a man in his 20's in workout pants and a tee shirt with a Santa hat on dancing and singing. He was trying to rap and all he said was " All I want for Christmas is a PSP" over and over while doing rediculous dance moves and something on a ladder. This campaign was not funny and not well done. I thought it was a very unsuccessful attepmt at viral marketing.

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