For marketers looking for inspiration on what to do on Facebook I can recommend taking a look at Facebook Studio. There you can find cases on Facebook marketing from all over the world.  And I am very proud that the agency where I work, The Viral Company, occupies the top spot among Swedish agencies with most cases accepted to Facebook Studio. Take a look at The Viral Company’s Facebook cases, or check out The Viral Company’s profile on LinkedIn.

This is both brilliant and gross at the same time, with a very close connection to the movie’s theme.

Via Brandflakes for Breakfast.

BlendTec has had some tremendous successes with their viral clips on the theme Will it blend? Among them the iPad, the iPhone and (imitation) Diamonds.

Here is the BlendTec predecessor it seems. And really, this Machine Destroys everything!

This is really, really well made!

Very impressive execution! Very nice integration of other brands, which did it for free in exchange for the free attention.

Of course you can challenge a friend via Facebook or email, or share your results on Facebook or Twitter. Great concept and brilliant execution! According to Dagens Media, the site got 50 000 visitors last night, from all, over, the, world, and they spent on average 8 minutes on the site. The creative was made by Lowe Brindfors, production by B-Reel and sound & music by Plan 8.

Love it!

There are always some SuperBowl-commercials that go viral. This year, my personal favourite is Volkswagens “The Force” featuring a tiny Darth Vader who all of a sudden realizes his powers in front of a new Volkswagen Passat.

A lot of people, from several generations, have seen the Star Wars movies and some kind of memories from them. Everybody recognizes Darth Vader and the music. It is in our collective memories, which gives this clip a kind of a dry forest to start the fire in. The cuteness and the humorous twist is probably the spark that sets it all on fire.

As a smart add-on, they have now also released an equally funny “The making of: The Force” featuring bloopers and deleted scenes.

Volkswagen seems to be on a roll when it comes to creating viral content. Their The Fun Theory (originally Rolighetsteorin, in Swedish) went viral late 2009 and the other recently launched SuperBowl clip, Black Beetle, have also gone viral.

Via: Laughing Squid.

All 2011 SuperBowl Commercials
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P.S. Dont forget to download “Viral Thinking – a “Viral Marketing Toolkit” – my ebook about how to maximize the potential for viral spread. D.S.

It is finally ready! Download by clicking the image or link below.

Viral Thinking – a “Viral Marketing Toolkit” is my ebook about how to maximize the potential for viral spread. Creating something that is viral is sometimes the goal, but it is not easy. In this ebook I have tried to cover the areas you can work with to improve the odds.

You could call it a “viral marketing toolkit”. However, just increasing the spread improves the ROI, even if it doesn’t go viral. So, my hope and belief is that it is helpful for anyone who works within marketing, PR or communications, whether online or offline.

I would like to thank the people who have generously helped me with feedback on this text and made it a lot better.

In alphabetical order: Valerio Franco (doublebblog.it), Anton Johansson (antonjohansson.com), Henrik Johansson (theviralcompany.com), Daniel Mencák (danielmencak.se), Patrick Möller (flavors.me/patrickmoeller), Cédric Rainotte (bwat.be), Niclas Strandh (digitalpr.se) Pere Tufet (tonterias.com) and Emmanuel Vivier (emmanuelvivier.com).

And of course, if you have feedback to give, do not hesitate to send me an email on kristofermencak[at]gmail[dot]com.

I hope you enjoy it!

And feel free to pass it on!

Not all companies can build their business on viral successes like the ones BlendTec has experienced with Will It Blend. Believing you can create something viral is pretty optimistic. However, I do believe there are tools you can use to make it more possible. I do think you can optimize for it, and that’s why I write posts like 12 viral content triggers, Some help with the viral loop and Network effects, game mechanics and stickiness.

But, something that might be even more important is how to use this thinking in the shift that is taking place today, where marketers have to fight for attention in a fragmented media landscape, on the user’s terms. Optimizing for spread becomes more and more important. I agree to what Niclas Strand writes in All marknadskommunikation är viral (in Swedish). Today, whether the goal is to create something viral or not, marketers need to understand a new way to work – and that is to participate and create content that is worthy of conversations. Content needs to involve and engage the consumers. And it must be easy to pass it on.

I believe “viral thinking” is important for any marketing efforts, in an online world as well as offline, through word of mouth. Creating and participating in conversations is fundamental for brands and businesses today. And that is why we need to optimize campaigns and use the same tools we use when trying to create something viral.

To illustrate why, let’s look at some numbers:

Say you manage to reach 100 000 people with a campaign that no one passes on.

What happens if the content actually makes people pass it on? Say someone who receives it passes it on to, on average 0.25 new people – that is, a basic reproductive number of 0.25. If this spread goes on, we multiply the previous number of people in the loop by the basic reproductive number, like so:

100 000 (first paid 100 000 people reached)
100 000 * 0.25 = 25 000
25 000 * 0.25 = 6 500
6 500 * 0.25 = 1 563
1563 * 0.25 = 391
391 * 0.25 = 98
98 * 0.25 = 24
24 * 0.25 = 6
6 * 0.25 = 1.5

As you can see, with every loop, the returns are decreasing. Adding it all up, we end up at 133 333 – a nice increase in effect by 33.3 %!

Performing the same calculation with a basic reproductive number of 0.5, with our example we would reach 200 000 – an extra 100 000. We get an increase in effect by 100 % – doubling the value of our money spent!

And, with a basic reproductive number of 0.75, we reach out to 400 000 people – an increase in effect by 300 %!

Yes, these numbers are hypothetical in the sense that there will be some saturation as the loop goes on.

And as Seth Godin writes:

The more people you reach the more likely it is that you’re reaching the wrong people.

So, there will be some saturation, you will reach some people who might not be interested (although I could argue that the ones who receive it from a friend might be even better targets), and it is not viral. But, looking at these numbers, the money is still much better spent!.That is why it is important to think about what can be done to incentivize people to pass the content on and make it really easy to do so, even if the result is not truly viral.

In addition to great content (12 Viral Content Triggers), there are several incentives you can play around with to make people pass your material on.

Network effects
If you can build in network effects in your campaign, built on incentives for the users or receivers, you can also create a campaign that goes viral. And, if you succeed to combine great content with network effects, you might just have one of those spectacular campaigns everybody dream about!

In short, a network effect is something that makes doing or owning something more valuable the more other people or other friends are using it. A classic example is the fax machine. If there is only one fax and one user, there’s nothing you can do with it. If there is another user and another fax, we can at least fax each other. If there are three, the utility doubles. The more people that have it and use it, the higher the utility. If you can create the same mechanics in your campaign, you’ve got a shot at viral success.

Challenges & Competitions (Game Mechanics)
If there is something we have learnt from applications such as Farmville and location based iPhone apps such as Gowalla and Foursquare, it’s that people like to compete. Feedback mechanisms such as points, badges, leader boards, and different levels can incentivize us to do things we otherwise might not do. In a way, you could say it is classical conditioning. The rewards we get for performing the action teach us to do it again. In viral marketing, game mechanics can form the rules and incentives that encourage a receiver to pass content on.

Stickiness
Here I am not really referring to the stickiness of the message, how long you remember it. But rather I am talking about how sticky the campaign material is. If you can create reasons to come back for more of the campaign material, there is a greater chance that users also will want to pass it on to just one more person. The chances for viral spread go up. Reasons to stay longer or to come back could be to get more information or a campaign in several steps, or maybe to get more points.

So, network effects, cliffhangers and game mechanics can be a great help. A recent example of something both sticky and viral is chatroulette.com. Whether you think it’s interesting or horrible, there’s no denying it is sticky. You never know what awaits you if you click “Next” instead of closing down the browser or going to another site. Just one more click…

Via ViralBlog I found a video for Hadouken! In short it is a compilation of people doing awesome stuff – things that have been posted on the Internet. Right now it is closing in on 4,5 million views. And, I must admit it is a pretty smart way of doing it.

I see a couple of reasons this video spreads:

• They have taken content that is already popular – great content – and put it together. It’s a compilation of great stuff. It makes it harder to fail.
• There is a lot of different clips in this video, with different sports for example, which makes it possible that a lot of different people can be appealed by it.
• There are clips that are fake in it, and clips that could be. Some people believe it’s real, others don’t. There is a pro and a con side to these stories. This sparks conversations.
• If they were smart, they have asked permission to use the clips, and also asked the owners of the original videos to post this on their platforms. These people, who already have an audience, have then acted as advocates to spread Hadouken!’s video.

All in all, a recipe that could spell success, and did in this case. The only thing that maybe isn’t optimal is that the music takes the backseat. I forget it’s a video trying to “sell” the music.

For a campaign to go truly viral, amazing content is often key. So, what kind of content works? What will make people want to pass something on? In my experience, you can put one word on it – “remarkable” – something worth remarking about.

The content should contain something that people want to tell others, something that sparks conversations, something to discuss. The content needs to build social value, tie people closer together or maybe even tear them apart a little.

Without great content, the campaign usually won’t spread. And if it doesn’t spread, there will not be any value created for the business behind it. Here are 12 different viral content triggers to try make use of.

Something funny
We like funny stuff. We like to be funny. And the easiest way is if we can free-ride on something that is funny. So, if we get the chance, we pass it on so that we are associated with that funniness just a little bit. Funny works, because we all love a good laugh. It is one of the best ways to connect with people. This is pretty funny.

Something spectacular
The best place to go to see something spectacular might be a circus. You can almost count on seeing something that seems impossible to do. Maybe it is this “mystery” that appeals to us, a wow-feeling. And if something “wows” us we want to share it, we want to talk about it, and we want others to experience it. Insane street soccer can count as pretty spectacular, even though it is faked.

Something sexy
Well, sex sells. There’s no denying it. And believe it or not, it is primarily men who are on the viewing end of this and women that are featured in the content. But, cases of the contrary also exist.

Maybe it is something very ingrained in the male psyche, something evolutionary, that makes men want to see naked women. To be very brief and clear, our sex drive.

I believe the sharing might actually often be smaller for something sexy than for other viral triggers. But the amount of views or interactions it gets once posted somewhere is higher, so the actual spread is still very high. Marina’s “Hot for words” could be an example of something that plays on sexiness to create interest and spread.

Something taboo
Yes, something that is taboo often teases us to pass it on. It is the forbidden fruit that we cannot taste. But, this trigger doesn’t work quite like something that is funny or spectacular. The funnier, the more viral. The more spectacular, the more viral. The more taboo, the more viral, up to a point! If it is a bit taboo, you can send it to your friends, but maybe not to your mom and dad. If it is very taboo, you only send it to your very closest friends. And if it is too taboo, you can’t send it to anyone, and there is no chance it will be viral. Diesel did a video that can illustrate this point quite well, but only if you are over 18!

A secret
Something secret is in essence “scarce information” and we all know what scarcity does to us. It tells us something has value. And if something has value, we like to pass it on. But, just as with the taboo trigger, if something is too secret, we can’t pass it on to everyone we know. If it is too secret, we need to keep it secret to keep the value, so we can’t pass it on. Too secret, and it will not be viral at all. Sorry, but I can’t tell you this one!

Something personal
If there is something we like to hear it is our own name. And if something is personal, targeted just to us, we tend to like it. With new digital tools, it is also very easy to create personalized campaigns. The kind that wows us just a bit, even though it can be very easy to integrate someone’s name in a little flash movie. When we are given the chance to give someone else this experience, we like to do it. So, personal campaign material has a good chance to spread if well done. This is a brilliant example from the marketing of TV series Dexter, highly personalised to me.

A “revenge”
I don’t mean revenge in the traditional sense. It would not go viral, just back and forth between two persons. I mean if you are maybe “fooled” by someone, realize your gullibility and then get the chance to get back. But, you get back on someone else. It wouldn’t work with the one who fooled you since they are already aware of the prank. You need to “get back” at someone else, or several others. Somehow, fooling someone else makes you get over that you got fooled yourself in the first place. It restores your self image. Sure, you got fooled, but you also fooled some others. If you’re a guy, you might feel fooled by this one!

Something controversial
There are several themes that we see over and over again in content that goes viral. Controversy is one of them. If you can build in some controversy, an issue where there is a “pro or con” or maybe something that even breaks the general consensus, you have a good chance to spark conversations and create something that goes viral. This is no doubt controversial to a lot of people!

A current event
Current events are great to tie your content to. It can be some event taking place, a national holiday, or a topic that is on the agenda in the news. The upside is that it can give the content a necessary positive momentum. The downside is of course that it is what it is – a current event. And with that the attention will usually taper out once the event is over. OfficeMax has at least made Elfyourself to a yearly recurring campaign. We’ll see what they come up with this year!

A cause
Causes circulating on the Internet is something we have gotten used to. Put simply, people want to be part of something greater than themselves, something that matters. It might be most relevant for organizations working for a better world, but businesses can also tap into this in for example CSR efforts. Causes like “Fight Animal Cruelty” attracts a lot of people.

Uncertainty
This is pretty similar to using “something controversial” in the sense that two different “camps” often appear, discussing the issue. But it feeds on uncertainty about something. Is it true or not? Is it possible? Can it be done? I think this one is affected to a certain extent by the Zeigarnik effect. Following tradition here, let’s grab a definition directly from wikipedia:

“The Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed ones”

We like to come to some kind of closure. We don’t like unfinished thoughts, and something that is uncertain creates an unfinished thought. It is kind of a cliffhanger. Until we have solved it and come to our own conclusion, we like to talk about it. And once two different camps appear, the discussion can rage for months. The Ronaldinho clip for Nike is a prime example.

Something new
It is always interesting to try new stuff, and being first with something creates social status. New things are often scarce, and scarcity makes it attractive. So, something that is new, that hasn’t been seen before, is often tried and often passed on. It is a quick way to let others know that you are “in the know”, the “go to”-guy.

Of course, something entirely new might be a bit hard to come up with. But, to be honest, getting the other triggers above right isn’t easy either. The good news is that you can combine the triggers. And there are other tools in your box! When the video Bad day at the office first spread, before Youtube even existed, video on the Internet was new.