Word of Mouth

What is a viral video?

here is a quick compilation of the most famous ones

What do these have in common?

Most of them are shoot by amateur video makers, or sometimes just the average mom and dad with the family camera, or teenagers with their iPhone. They are usually not very long. But most importantly, they all show something so uniquely odd or funny or amazing that people want to share it with as many people as they can.

That is what captured marketers’ eyes. Publicity that is not only free, but also more effective than the pay-per-second commercials. Because the key about this method of sharing information is that it circulates between friends and family. it s from trusted sources and usually contain a topic that is universal enough that it has to power to travel around the world and generate the same authentic laughter from a mass audience.

some company had recognized the potential influence of viral videos. For instance, Nike especially published an ad online featuring the soccer star Ronaldinho done purposely to resemble the one of an amateur video.

but it has not caught the attention of viewers nearly as much as some of the dancing baby videos. What makes a video viral instead of being just a web video is still somewhat a mystery.