Viral Marketing Campaign
Oct 15th, 2012 by Siew Ying
I Learned about viral marketing in class this week and that in order to make an ad go viral, there should be 3 things. You need 1. surprise, 2. intensity and a little bit of 3. happiness.
I will analyze two videos that went viral online.
The first video is the one that went viral yesterday – Felix Baumgartner’s freefall action that is sponsored by Red Bull. He broke the world record by jumping from the edge of the space which is 39045 meters from the ground after flying to the altitude in a helium filled balloon. The news has gone viral for the whole day, now the recorded video is trending on Youtube and elsewhere on the web. I found out about the news yesterday when I saw many postings on my facebook homepage. This shows that Red Bull is doing a good job in being the sponsor of this stunt because the audiences share and like the links.
The stunt performed by Felix went viral because it has a high intensity and surprises in it. It’s not just jumping from a helium balloon but from a high altitude of around 24miles from the ground. This is a dangerous act because the helium balloon might break anytime if there’s air objects that pierces the balloon. Felix broke the world record and its free falling exceeded the speed of sound which makes it the hot topic in this coming week. Audiences are surprised by his courage in performing this action, also we all felt the nervousness and our hearts paused for him when watching him LIVE jumping in front of our laptop screen.
Everyone is talking about it, audiences ranging from young children to company CEOs. This shows the power of viral campaign, Forbes predicted that the sale of Red Bull is going to increase tremendously in the coming month. I personally think that Red Bull is doing it right in this campaign because the act matches the the slogan of the company. The slogan – “Red Bull Gives You Wings” greatly matches the stunt that was sponsored by them. This stunning act leaves a long lasting impression in my mind that will greatly associate with Red Bull’s brand. This enhances their brand association and customers can strongly relate to the schema that they have on Red Bull. Good job, Red Bull!
Another video that went viral was internet meme proposal by a Malaysian guy, Timothy to his fiancee, Audrey.
It went viral after the video is posted on Youtube from his blog. I have been following Timothy’s and Audrey’s blog for a while and it’s shocking to me how this video went viral on Youtube later. I watched it right from his blog and thought the proposal was simple and sweet, I then shared the video with my friends. The content of this video has a high level of surprise and dose of happiness which makes the video viral. People loved it, and we all love sharing and spreading happiness to our family and friends. Video like this makes me want to share it with my friends, who wouldn’t have a smile on their face after watching this proposal video? =)