YORAM (JERRY) WIND The Wharton School’s Future of Advertising Program
THE SECRETS OF VIRAL ADS
YORAM (JERRY) WIND The Lauder Professor & Professor of Marketing Director, SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management Academic Director, Wharton Fellows
THE WHARTON SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
#PASummit
WHAT ARE THE KEY DETERMINANTS of successful viral ads?
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT successful viral ads?
1. DO VIRAL STRATEGIES YIELD ACTUAL BUSINESS RESULTS?
No Unsure Yes
1. DO VIRAL STRATEGIES YIELD ACTUAL BUSINESS RESULTS?
Yes
• Fame is a more powerful strategy than emotional involvement, rational or combined emotional and rational1
• Fame campaigns achieve the highest results for profit, price sensitivity, sales, loyalty and penetration1
• “Fame” means WOM/buzz and turning consumers into brand advocates1
2. ARE EMOTIONAL ADS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN COGNITIVE ADS?
No Unsure Yes
2. ARE EMOTIONAL ADS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN COGNITIVE ADS?
Yes
• Emotional strategies are more profitable.2
• Emotional strategies yield stronger business results in terms of sales, share, price elasticity, loyalty and penetration. 2
• Emotional strategies build stronger brands in terms of awareness, fame (WOM), differentiation, commitment, image, quality and trust. 2
• “More positive or more negative content is more viral than content that does not evoke emotion.” 1
3. ARE POSITIVE EMOTIONS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN NEGATIVE ONES?
No Unsure Yes
3. ARE POSITIVE EMOTIONS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN NEGATIVE ONES?
Yes
• “Videos that elicit positive valence emotions (irrespective of arousal direction) were shared 20% more than those that elicited a negative valence emotion.” 2 – Positive High Arousal Emotions: Exhilaration,
Hilarity, Astonishment, Inspiration – Positive Low Arousal Emotions: Happiness,
Amusement, Surprise, Calmness • “Videos that elicit high arousal, positive valence
emotions were shared considerably more on average per day (at minimum 30% more) than videos within any of the remaining arousal/valence groups.” 2
• “Positive content is more viral than negative content.” 1
4. DO CREATIVE DRIVERS SUCH AS ENJOYMENT, INVOLVEMENT AND BRANDING PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
No Unsure Yes
4. DO CREATIVE DRIVERS SUCH AS ENJOYMENT, INVOLVEMENT AND BRANDING PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
Yes • “The three individual elements of
enjoyment, involvement and branding all had a significant positive correlation with our logged views per week measure..”
• “Involvement and enjoyment are clearly the more important of these measures, and will be the main mechanisms by which a film will have most of its effect online.”
5. DOES AD DISTINCTIVENESS POSITIVELY PREDIT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
No Unsure Yes
5. DOES AD DISTINCTIVENESS POSITIVELY PREDIT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
Yes
• “Distinctiveness is identified as a key determinant of viral viewing.”1
• Intriguing content that fosters the imagination is linked to increased viral diffusion online.2
6. DO LEVELS OF CATEGORY AND BRAND INTEREST POSITIVELY PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
No Unsure Yes
6. DO LEVELS OF CATEGORY AND BRAND INTEREST POSITIVELY PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
No • The study does not conclude
that levels of category and brand interest positively predict online viral viewing volume. (p-value > 0.1)
7. DOES CELEBRITY POPULARITY POSITIVELY PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
No Unsure Yes
7. DOES CELEBRITY POPULARITY POSITIVELY PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
Yes • Celebrity presence in ads builds WOM.1
• Celebrity popularity positively predicts online viral viewing volume.2
THE BASIS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE ON WHAT MAKES SUCCESSFUL VIRAL ADS
Berger, Milkman. (2011)“What Makes Online Content Viral?”
Izawa. (2010) “What Makes Viral Videos Viral?: Roles of Emotion, Impression, Utility and Social Ties in Online Sharing Behavior”
Field. (2011) “The Link Between Creativity and Effectiveness”
Porter, Golan. (2006) “From Subservient Chickens to Brawny men: A Comparison of Viral Advertising to Television Advertising”
Southgate, Westoby, Page. (2010) “Creative Determinants of Viral Video Viewing”
Teixeira. (2012) “The New Science of Viral Ads”
Peretti, Frumin. “Viral Marketing for the Real World”
Woerndl, Papagiannidis, Bourlakis. (2008) “Internet-Induced Marketing Techniques: Critical Factors in Viral Marketing Campaigns”
Nelson-Field, K., Riebe, E. and Newstead, K. “Emotional Drivers of Video Sharing: A Multi-Study Approach,” (working paper, forthcoming 2012)
YOUR EXPERIENCE
PLUS:
The WHARTON
Study
1. Identify the key differentiating characteristics of viral vs. non-viral ads.
2. Design new test and control ads based on these (and other) findings.
3. Test the new ads to validate our findings.
THE OBJECTIVE:
73 pairs of ads – high vs. low viral distribution for the same brand and if possible the same campaign.
THE FIRST PHASE OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN
SELECTION OF THE ADS
TITLE INDSUTRY AGENCY BRAND SOURCE VIEWS
VIRAL Live Young Beverages BETC Euro
RSCG
Evian Visible Measures 160,576,979
NON-VIRAL
Baby and New Evian Bottle Beverages Evian YouTube 352,542
TITLE INDSUTRY AGENCY BRAND SOURCE VIEWS
VIRAL Responses Health & Beauty Weiden +
Kennedy (Portland)
Old Spice Visible Measures 81,054,872
NON-VIRAL Farewell, Fabio Health &
Beauty Old Spice YouTube 332,401
73 pairs of ads – successful vs. unsuccessful in getting viral distribution
• Criteria for selection of the viral advertisements • Used the top 100 viral advertisements according to the Visible
Measures database • Eliminated videos that were no longer available online • Eliminated videos that did not have an appropriate non-viral pair
• Criteria for the selection of non-viral advertisements • If the viral ad was aired on TV, the matched non-viral ad must have
also aired on TV • Must have fewer than 1,000,000 views according to YouTube • Must have been released within 1 year of the corresponding viral
ad
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SELECTION OF THE VIDEOS
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INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN
Beverages Health & Beauty Automotive Apparel & Accessories Electronics Food Telecommunications Financial Services Insurance Software Household Products Energy Dining Sports Media Retail Other
Only 10 Brands had more than one viral video in the top 73.
TOP 6
1. OLD SPICE VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Responses* Title: Farewell, Fabio
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 81,054,872 Views: 332,401
Comments: 86,877 Comments: 886
*In addition to the video shown here this data refers to all the videos in the Old Spice Responses campaign.
2. VOLKSWAGEN VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: The Force Title: That’s what he says?
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 59,262,107 Views: 10,482
Comments: 36,720 Comments: 41
3. DC SHOES VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Gymkhana 2 Title: Epic Meal Time Presents the Reasons why Gymkhana 4 is the Best
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 59,169,659 Views: 337,685
Comments: 33,425 Comments: 896
4. MICROSOFT VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: 2009 Xbox Project Natal Announcement
Title: Kinect for XBOX 360 Entertainment
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 54,071,560 Views: 555
Comments: 198,987 Comments: 5
5. OLD SPICE VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Odor Blocker (campaign) Title: Jungle Wilderness
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 52,808,713 Views: 355,459
Comments: 51,112 Comments: 151
6. EVIAN VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Roller Babies Title: Baby and New Evian Bottle*
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 160,576,979 Views: 352,452
Comments: 55,111 Comments: 56
BOTTOM 5
69. KIA VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: A New Way to Roll Title: Night Court
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 7,944,479 Views: 239,683
Comments: 13,863 Comments: 23
70. LANE BRYANT VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Not What Mom Would Wear Title: 3 Truths
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 7,822,518 Views: 17,133
Comments: 8,643 Comments: 5
71. NIKE VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Today Was a Good Day Title: Don’t Fear the Sweeper Tour: Part One
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 7,520,772 Views: 153,880
Comments: 18,543 Comments: 591
72. CHEVROLET VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Misunderstanding Title: Transformers 3 ‘Getaway’
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 7,449,159 Views: 388,027
Comments: 2.931 Comments: 121
73. GOOGLE VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Gmail Motion Title: Google Chrome: The Johnny Cash Project
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 7,297,871 Views: 258,159
Comments: 16,527 Comments: 76
The ANALYSIS Content analysis by two independent coders based on literature review
1. CONTENT ANALYSIS BY TWO INDEPENDENT CODERS BASED ON LITERATURE REVIEW
2. CONTENT CATEGORIES BASED ON ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL VIRAL ADS
– Superbowl – Call to action – Cause – Co-creation – Mascot – Creative – Children – Animals
– Celebrities – Humor – Cute – Sex – Rational Appeal – Emotional Appeal – Facebook Likes – Twitter Followers
3. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DATA USING A TWO PHASE APPROACH:
• Univariate analysis of the pairs using McNemar test
• Multivariate analysis using logistic regression
The RESULTS
RESULTS (1): PAIR WISE MCNEMAR TEST
• The significant variables:
– Super Bowl.....................11 viral and 0 non-viral – Creative…......................35 viral and 4 non-viral – Surprise….....................18 viral and 1 non-viral – Children…....................18 viral and 8 non-viral – Humor…......................19 viral and 8 non-viral – Cute…..........................19 viral and 2 non-viral – Emotional....................15 viral and 3 non-viral – Rational…...................4 viral and 16 non-viral
RESULTS (2): MULTIVARIATE TEST—LOGISTIC REGRESSION
• Only 4 of the variables are significant – Surprise – Cute – Creative – Emotional
• These results in 60 out of the 73 (82%) viral to be above the “best” cutoff and 52 out of 73 (71%) non-viral to be below the cutoff.
Discussion and CONCLUSIONS
NEXT STEPS:
• Moving forward in designing ads based on the study and testing them for actual impact in the marketplace
• Encouraging every one of you to design viral ads and test their impact.
END OF STORY
YORAM (JERRY) WIND The Lauder Professor and Professor of Marketing Director, SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management
The Wharton School [email protected]
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