Friday, May 10, 2013

Creating a Viral Ad - Luck or Talent


One point that Mojo Media makes about the Dollar Shave Club and the formula they used for their ad is that the ad wasn’t about the product, it was about the Dollar Shave Club culture. A razor blade is only shown at one point in the video; in essence the product really doesn’t matter. In addition the ad isn’t directed at any particular customer segment, if you shave then the ad is directed at you.



Wouldn’t we all love to produce a fun video like the Dollar Shave Club one, receive a widespread viral following, and find ourselves with $10 in venture funding? I love seeing videos and success stories like the Dollar Shave Club, but at the same time they frustrate me because they make me realize just how hard it can be to make an impact with your marketing ventures. Most of the marketing dollars I’ve spent over the years have generated moderate returns but never anything on the scale of a viral video or ad. 
Screenshot from Chuck Testa ad 
After seeing the Dollar Shave Club video and reading their story I searched the web for tips and advice on how one gets an ad to go viral. In general most of the tips were luck or right place at the right time. I did find one good website however that gave some good advice about the structure of a well-crafted ad. 

According to Mojo Media as well-crafted understands the internet culture and demographics. Typically the demographics are going to be skewed younger more tech savvy customer. The balance between a well-crafted ad with viral potential and an awful one is a fine line; it’s hard to communicate the value in your product while also entertaining your audience. I would make the argument that there is talent involved in making a viral ad, but at the same time there's luck. It's hard to know, as a small business person, how an ad will actually be received and what social networks it will spread through. 

I know it won’t be easy and there are no guarantees when trying to create a viral ad, but I plan to show the Dollar Shave Club video to my marketing team next week; I want to work on creating a number of similar ads. Since it's hard to guarantee success my best bet is probably to create several. 

A good example of another viral add, done on an even tighter budget than dollar shave club is Chuck Testa’s taxidermy Nope ad, check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJP1DphOWPs

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