What Does It Take for a Video To Go Viral?

Making a corporate video go viral might be a little harder than you think. After all, if it were easy, every corporate company would be doing it.

The recipe for viral corporate video marketing isn’t an easy one to follow. We hate to break it to you, but oftentimes something going viral depends on the timing/state of the world (i.e. piggy-backing on to a trending social topic), appealing emotionally to the masses, or creating something so outlandish that ignoring your content simply isn’t an option.

However, this also doesn’t mean that companies should be seeking out ‘clickbait‘ tactics, either. Being strategic and specific enough to your brand makes for a more relevant video. After all, when the dust settles, you want your viewers to be able to identify the video content with your brand.

So what makes a video go viral, anyway?

Well for starters, one might consider the aforementioned.

Cultural or social statements are a great way to get online attention. These types of statements, however, (especially those that play into your company’s services or products) can be tricky. Making viral videos that not only advertise but take a stance can backfire if not done correctly. PETA learned the power of social media when they took a stance against sheep wool shearing. Ideally, you want to create something with a strong message that points out the error in an injustice in a non-offensive way.

Yeah. We didn’t say it’d be easy.

Consider the notorious Dove campaign when talking about appealing to human emotion. What Dove did was interesting. It didn’t piggyback an existing trending topic, but rather revealed something about our society’s undercurrent in an engaging, fresh way. If your message is strong, heartfelt, or poignant enough, it will cut through the noise.

Another thing to keep in mind is your target audience. Most importantly, your video should interest them. After all, most corporate companies would agree that the point of a viral video is to sell, sell, sell. Exposure = profit and, well, you get the rest.

With that being said, it’s equally important to not “preach” to your audience either. Consumers shouldn’t feel like they’re being swindled, talked or sold into anything. Rather, your viral video or campaign should be a moving train that customers will want to get on.

Another thing to consider is speed. Your audience will most likely consist of the Millennial demographic. With that being said, it is necessary to put out content in a timely fashion in order to get and remain relevant.

One last thing is creativity. It goes without saying, but giving an otherwise boring, monotonous product or service an exuberant online uplift will not only attract people to your brand, it will show you are willing to remain current with the times! After all, you’re trending – ride the viral wave for as long as you can.

Here at Key West Video, we help our clients create the compelling, enticing and gripping content they deserve. For more information on how we can help you, visit our website for a quote today.

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The post What Does It Take for a Video To Go Viral? appeared first on Corporate Video Blog.

Kickstarter Do"s & Don"ts

We’ve had the pleasure to work on a Kickstarter campaign in recent months, and wanted to share the top Do’s and Don’ts we have discovered for creating an attention grabbing video

Kickstarter is an awesome way to make a great idea come to fruition. There have been numerous products which have gone from small start up companies to having millions of dollars in backing money donated from individuals across the globe. However, Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler reported that 56 percent of the site’s projects fail to meet their funding goals. Why is this we wondered?

When taking on the challenge of producing a Kickstarter video for one of our amazing clients, we looked into what others had to say about what to do, and what to avoid when putting together a great Kickstarter video, and overall campaign.

DO:

Have Confidence

In an article on fastcolabs.com Jennifer Elias quotes a source which emphasizes the need to be confident about what you are saying in your video. Even the minute wording differences can have an impact on how viewers perceive you and your product.

“Mitra says confidence is key. Researchers found that even the slightest hint of desperation is backer repellent. Don’t use these three words: “even a dollar.” Researchers found that phrases “even a dollar short” and “even a dollar can” resulted in a failed project. They team said it reads as “groveling” for money, which is a big turnoff.”

Look Professional

Todd Anderson on 99U.com explains why a professional looking video is so important for your Kickstarter campaign.

“If you look at the videos that do well on Kickstarter, almost all are professional, or near-professional, quality. This is no time to give a speech to your webcam. Designer Frank Chimero, stresses the importance creating a “stand-alone” video, that’s fun to watch outside of its connection to the project. Whatever your approach, don’t overlook the importance of showing yourself as someone others can relate to and support.”

Keep it Personal

The whole point of Kickstarter is individuals deciding to invest in a person. Not a flashy brand, or a world renowned company. Just you, and your great idea. So give them what they want. Be genuine, be personable, and show them the face behind the genius that is the next big product to hit shelves. Kickstarter itself lets us know on their blog,

“And don’t be afraid to put your face in front of the camera and let people see who they’re giving money to. We’ve watched thousands of these things, and you’d be surprised what a difference this makes.”

DON’T

Forget About the Basics

You don’t want to spend all your time creating a fancy looking video and forget that you need to tell your viewers about what really matters. The video should be a way to highlight and showcase you and your product, not just your production skills or budget. On Kickstarters own blog they too reinforce this point by listing off the basic things you can’t forget to mention in your video:

No matter how bare-bones or creative you want to get, don’t forget to:

• Introduce yourself


• Tell your story


• Ask for people’s support and explain why you need it


• Tell people what they’ll get for their money (i.e., your rewards)


• Say thank you!

Good luck! And don’t forget to contact Keywest Video if you are interested in learning how we can help bring your Kickstarter video to the next level.

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Kickstarter Do"s & Don"ts

#LikeAGirl : Viral Video of the Week

With over 20 million views in one week, Always #LikeAGirl campaign is challenging what the ‘like a girl’ phrase means, and how young girls see themselves.

A powerful video, an intriguing concept, and an embarrassing realization for many. Feminine care brand Always is changing the way we use the phrase #LikeAGirl. The video showcases several young women, from pre-teens to young adults, in studio, in front of a panel of producers, and being asked to act out various actions – run, fight and throw – #LikeAGirl.

Inevitably, and unfortunately as you see from the video, the young adults play out the actions with over-exaggerated movements, pouty faces, and a lot of arm flailing. While the pre-teens perform just as they would out on the field, in the gym, or playing with their friends. They run across the set, and don’t ever second guess the assumption that performing an action #LikeAGirl has any meaning beyond doing it exactly as you normally would.

The video is quite inspiring, and as Skeleton Productions puts it in their posts about the Always #LikeAGirl campaign, in their Videos Worth Sharing list, “It’s an inspiring piece that really asks the question – when did ‘like a girl’ become a bad thing?”

Skeleton Productions also references the fact that this video and subsequent #LikeAGirl campaign is based on “a recent study that found more than half of the girls surveyed claimed to experience a drop in confidence at puberty.” So the message is clear. There seems to be this underlying message in society, even today in the 21st century, that girls are fundamentally different than boys. And while our genders do have their uniqueness, so do humans in general. Being of a certain gender does not define us. Nor does it dictate what we can or cannot do, or even how we do certain things.

This video and overall campaign is meant to empower young women. And get them thinking about the ways we might limit ourselves based on these views in society, that after we take a second to think about they do seem quite silly. Always #LikeAGirl video is a great piece of branded marketing, but above that it is a great video with a solid concept and a clear message. Their competitors better watch out!

If you haven’t already seen it take a look at the video below.

And here is just a bit about how the campaign is kicking off:

Using #LikeAGirl as an insult is a hard knock against any adolescent girl. And since the rest of puberty’s really no picnic either, it’s easy to see what a huge impact it can have on a girl’s self-confidence.

We’re kicking off an epic battle to make sure that girls everywhere keep their confidence throughout puberty and beyond, and making a start by showing them that doing it #LikeAGirl is an awesome thing.

Tweet all the amazing things that you do #LikeAGirl to us @Always!

 

 

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#LikeAGirl : Viral Video of the Week

Second a Day – Save the Children

The Second a Day fundraising campaign by the relief organization Save the Children includes this striking video depicting a crisis like the one in Syria happening in England in an effort to raise money for Syrian child refugees.

The video tells the story of a year in the life of a typical English girl in a series of one-second “days,” a format popularized by parents filming their children. But this year brings conflict, war, famine, and flight to a family much like the ones Save the Children is targeting in its fundraising pitch.

The Second a Day video starts with a child celebrating her birthday and follows her moment by moment as war and conflict develops in the UK. The hard hitting clip shows London being turned into a war zone where rockets are fired at buildings in broad daylight and children wear gas masks. The powerful video ends with a moving shot of the young girl celebrating her birthday once again, but instead of being surrounded by family and friends in a happy scenario as the clip begun she is in a war shelter crying next to her mother.

Second a Day – Save the Children

The video was produced by Save the Children to highlight the Syria crisis and how such a scenario could affect Britain. After the video finishes the message appears: “Just because it isn’t happening here doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.” The clip was uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday with the title ‘Most Shocking Second a Day Video’ and received more than 700,000 hits. The video has been commented on by almost 1,000 people with users saying how moved they were by the Save the Children video.

As it stands, the video has amassed more than 12.5 million YouTube views and generated buzz across the web for its cause.

What did you think of the Second a Day video?

Interested in reading more? Take a look below:

• Save the Children


• Express


• The Washington Post

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Second a Day – Save the Children

Old Spice Commercial: Behind the Scenes

Ever Wonder, How Do They Do That? Let’s Take a Look Behind The Scenes Footage From an Old Spice Commercial to Find Out!

Old Spice rocked back into the modern age, with their now infamous “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercials in 2010. The ad agency Wieden+Kennedy were the masterminds behind this devilishly clever advertisement. The ads targeted female purchasers, who were shown to be the decision makers when it came to buying hygiene products for their male counterparts.

The initial commercial was an instant success. As the title implies, the copy poked at the fact that anything is possible… just as long as your man smells like Old Spice. The concept was simple, clever, and reached into every woman’s fantasy. If you have been living under a rock and have yet to see it, check it out below.

Senior social media and marketing manager for Cisco Systems, Tim Washer once stated,

“Humor, when executed properly, helps cut through the noise and helps you stand out. If you can make someone laugh, there is an emotional connection with them. And anything you say beyond that is going to be more meaningful.”

There are many elements that made this commercial, and all the others made in a similar vein to come, as popular as they are. Arguably, in addition to the handsome actor who stars in all of the ad spots, the great direction provided by Tom Kuntz, and of course the concept itself which can make even the most cold-hearted grinch laugh, it is most importantly the way it was flawlessly executed, which make the advertisement such a masterpiece.

After the success of the original spot, and the subsequent ones to follow, the team who created these ads allowed us to go behind the scenes in one of their shoots. In another stroke of genius, they allowed viewers to really understand just how they were able to pull off their hilarious, and very technical commercial. In the video below you will be given a behind the scenes glimpse into the set, the crew, and the way that it was all pulled together.

http://www.wimp.com/behindscenes/

This was a great technique to allow viewers behind the scenes, to see how it was all created. It gives audiences a sense of importance and privilege in order to be allowed to view their secret formula for success. In addition, Old Spice went even further asking viewers to provide questions for the star of these commercials, in which he then responded with a series of youtube videos furthering the brands reach. Stan Schroeder from Mashable wrote,

“His answers were a key mix of coolness and the stuff Internet memes are made of. The actual brand — Old Spice — was never shoved down viewers’ throats. Most importantly, all of it was incredibly fun to watch.”

And that is the key to the success of these videos, and the brands overall marketing strategy.

Old Spice Commercial: Behind the Scenes

Xmas Jammies: Some Holiday Cheer

At Keywest On Christmas Eve: In My Xmas Jammies

Because some of us are at the office on Christmas Eve I thought I would share a little fun to brighten up your day! If you haven’t already seen the adorable video Christmas card that went viral this year, check it out below.

This family sure knows how to grab attention; catchy song, adorable kids, some funny commentary on the family’s year, and of course a set of ridiculous matching xmas jammies.

In just over a week this video has garnered 12.6 million views on YouTube!

What do you guys think of this new video Christmas card tradition?

Xmas Jammies: Some Holiday Cheer

SAMSARA: The Power of the Visual

Attention has been recently brought to the stunningly beautiful documentary entitled SAMSARA. Samsara actually means ‘continuous flow’ in Tibetan, and refers to the repeating cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. The film, which debuted in 2012, was shot on seventy-millimeter film, over a five year period, and in twenty-five different countries. It documents the beauty and horror in our world, and at times, the beauty within the horror.

Such is the case with the recent clip of the film which went viral online. The film has no narrator or commentary at all. The visual imagery is meant to speak for itself. In the six minute clip, which has been cited as ‘quite possibly the most eye opening six minutes ever on film’, we delve into the world of mass factory farming.

In those six minutes, we are shown scene after scene of monotonous, and often grotesque practices which are used in order to prepare meat for human consumption. The slow pan, and long shots tell viewers we aren’t allowed to look away. The film is not meant to quickly show us what is going on around the world, but to allow us to feel, if even for a short period of time, what being in that moment might actually be like.

The creators of SAMSARA, Baraka and Samsara, Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, had this to say about the attention the clip has been getting:

“We are happy this clip has struck a chord with so many people, and we hope that the interest in this clip will lead viewers to see SAMSARA in its entirety. This clip represents only 6 minutes from a 102 minute long film, which was photographed in 25 countries and explores many other diverse aspects of the human experience. We would love for viewers to experience SAMSARA as a whole.”

Unfortunately, with a price tag of around $4 million, the film only grossed just over half of the filming budget. Hopefully though, with this renewed interest in the film, movie-goers and fans of the obscure will take the time to find it in theaters or legally download and watch this film.

One viewer on IMBD had this to say about the film,

“For the first 10 minutes I thought it was a mistake to buy the ticket. It was first time for me seeing a documentary without commentary. The images are so beautiful and interesting, but I expected that I would get bored in a few minutes. And in fact I did. But after a while, somehow I gradually got absorbed in the movie again. Watching gorgeous images lead me to a kind of meditation. And in the end I ended up impressed. Watching this you will experience something different from an ordinary documentary.”

So if you are looking for something different then what you normally would watch, and are interested in seeing how visual imagery can affect our emotions and consciousness, then take a look at this film.

SAMSARA: The Power of the Visual

Intertextuality: Funny or Failure?

 Are Viral Videos that Utilize Intertextuality a Good Idea or a Cheap Cop-out?

The greatest hope that any video producer can have is for their video to go viral. That magical word which suddenly makes it seem like your work has paid off and your content is special in some way. It must have been funny or heartwarming, or something that no one has ever seen done before.

With such buzz around this word, this type of video content finds a way to attract the masses and spread like a disease, and everyone is trying to figure out the recipe. What is it that allows one dancing cat video to garner the attention of millions and another to go to the grave with only a few views from friends and family? That is the questions that media specialists have been trying to pinpoint for years, with some guidelines being helpful and others failures.

The concept of intertextuality (shaping the meaning of something through another text) has been popular for several decades now. Shows like the Simpsons and Family Guy commonly reference items of pop culture, and often look inwards openly mocking their own genre or plot lines.

Over the past few years video producers have started using preexisting viral videos and re-working the content, parodying, or utilizing the video’s star, in hopes of making their own videos go viral. But is this method a legitimate style or a cheap gimmick with no real substance or creativity? Check out this video for Smart Water starring Jennifer Aniston below.

The video employs all the common tricks and tips in order to make a video go viral. Clearly a parody of the ways videos do become popular, it in of itself was a cheap way to garner attention. Unfortunately for Smart Water the video, now three years after it’s debut, has still only attracted 70,000 views on YouTube.

Other videos that parody or mimic preexisting viral videos do become hugely popular all on their own. Take for example the news clip of Antoine Dodson which hit the internet by storm in the summer of 2012. Once it was re-mixed and auto-tuned shortly thereafter, that video received double the amount of views than the original.

Therefore, while intertextuality can be successful, the use of elements from one video to make another go viral doesn’t necessarily mean it will.

What are some of your favorite viral videos that utilize intertextuality?

Intertextuality: Funny or Failure?

Prank Videos for Promotion

Prank videos are the newest marketing tool for advertising companies!

Many companies are utilizing the prank element to make their videos go viral, and in turn promote their brand.

The Carrie video is one of the most recent of these undercover prank videos to go viral, garnering over 46 million views since October 7^th. Using telekinesis, the creepy talent Carrie is known for, the video shocks and disturbs not only the viewer, but the patrons of an unsuspecting NYC coffee shop. To show just how social media can work for your brand/company, the prank video even features one patron using her phone to record the incident while screaming and running away. What makes this prank video so impactful is the uninhibited reaction of the patrons involved. The well-executed prank took a great deal of planning and technical expertise to flawlessly unfold.

An earlier prank video was used by Pepsi in order to promote their PepsiMax product. Similarly to Carrie, Pepsi incorporates the brand into the prank video by using the Pepsi can as a hidden camera within the vehicle. This element of disguise is repeated not only with the slogan “A zero-calorie cola in disguise,” but also in the fact that NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon is disguised as a test-driving civilian.

These videos are fun, playful, and get people talking – but the core of this marketing tool relies on the fact that the companies tie in their brand within the prank. The videos wouldn’t have been as effective in garnering brand awareness if they were simply entertaining, yet did not relate to the product/brand/service. For example, the Carrie prank used telekinesis, which is the main element of the film, and Pepsi used disguise to illustrate that consumers can’t tell the difference between Pepsi and PepsiMax.

Keywest Video – Corporate Video Blog – Prank Videos for Promotion

 

Prank Videos for Promotion

Online Ad by Motorola: Lazy Phone

Online Ad “Lazy Phone” – Touchless Control

The new online ad campaign by Motorola “Lazy Phone” – Touchless Control has received a staggering 15 million views over YouTube. Which is almost 15 times more views than what the latest HTC ad received.

Actor and stand up comedian T. J. Miller stars in several of the online ads for Motorola’s new Moto X phone campaign. The latest “Lazy Phone” ad –Touchless Control has gone viral. Check this video out to find out why.

It’s funny. Very amusing. But was it all just humor that garnered that many online views, or was it the fact that it starred someone famous, like T. J. Miller?

There was another ad released recently starring Robert Downey Jr., for the mobile company HTC.

After watching this ad,  I realized that it didn’t mention a mobile phone at all, let alone list any new and innovative features. During the whole video (which had many special effects to keep us entertained), they really only word played HTC, which at one time stood for “High Tech Computer Corporation”.  Thus, having someone famous star in your ad isn’t the only element required to garner millions of views and turn a video viral.

What made the Moto ad excel was the creativity in the script. They had written out a humorous main character, an anthropomorphized lazy smartphone played by T. J. Miller, and used this innovative character to illustrate the Moto X’s new features in comparison with many of the popular devices available. This video wasn’t just humorous, but informative as well.

Their message was clear, any smartphone out there compared to the Moto X is basically a lazy phone.

After watching this Moto ad, I can’t help but see many available smartphones as lazy phones.

After watching these two ads, which phone do you want?

Keywest Video Inc. -Corporate Video Blog – New Online Ad by Motorola: Lazy Phone

Online Ad by Motorola: Lazy Phone