RESEARCH INTO VIRAL ADVERTS

Ross Walker

WHAT IS A VIRAL ADVERT?

Viral advertising refers to when a product, brand, service (etc.) is publicised via theinternet, or via word-of-mouth. The concept of it is that the marketing itself starts offsmall by making a product known to a small number of people. Some, if not all ofthese people will then use pre-existing social networks (such as Facebook and Twitter)in order to inform others of the product. This leads to an exponential growth ofacknowledgement of said product. In a way, it can act as free publicity as a companyattempting to increase the awareness of a product doesn’t actually need to havemuch input. In a sense, the product will ‘advertise itself’ across social media.

The John Lewis Christmas ad (seen left) was very popular onthe internet, holding over 20,000,000 views on YouTube byJanuary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuz2ILq4UeA

WHY IS IT BENEFICIAL?

• Enhanced market – It allows brand awareness to increaseexponentially due to people spreading the word with their friends.

• Very efficient – While advertisements on the television or in anewspaper can be longwinded in terms of attracting customers, aviral ad will spread very quickly between different people (hencethe term ‘viral’, i.e. – a virus).

• Cost effective – Unlike many other forms of advertising, businessesonly need a small amount of input for a viral ad, in that it willmostly distribute itself. This means that this form of advertising ismuch cheaper, whilst still reaching a mass audience.

IN WHAT WAYS CAN A FILM BE VIRALLY ADVERTISED?

It is very common for upcoming films to be advertised virally in order to createa ‘buzz’ throughout social media. Depending on the marketing budget of afilm, this can vary from simply a few teasers on YouTube, Facebook andTwitter, to a new internet sensation.

‘Four Lions’ (2010) had a budget ofjust £2.5m, and mostly relied onviral marketing on the internet topromote the film. Its controversialnature also gained the film fameacross social media, which workedin the film’s advantage. The filmwas a success, reaching almost£7m at the box office.

MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF ‘THE DARK KNIGHT’ (2008)

The marketing campaign for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ was famous for being extremelyambitious; creating an internet sensation and a huge audience for the film. Although,the film still adopted some of the more traditional methods of marketing, such asthrough posters and trailers.

WHAT DID THE FILM’S VIRAL ADVERTISING INVOLVE?

In 2007, Warner Bros initiated the viral marketing campaignby setting up a “fake” newspaper named “The GothamTimes” - an interactive document online designed to seemrealistic. However in Chicago, the paper was actually givenout as hard copies, which helped to promote the film. Thiscampaign utilised the film’s iconic tagline: “why so serious?”.The site aimed to interest fans by having them earn whatthey want to see. Emails sent by fans slowly removed pixels,revealing the first official image of this incarnation of theJoker.

…CONTINUED

During the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con International, 42 Entertainmentlaunched “WhySoSerious.com”, sending fans on a scavenger hunt tounlock a teaser trailer and a new photo of the Joker. On October 31,2007, the film’s website morphed into another scavenger hunt withhidden messages, instructing fans to uncover clues at certain locations inmajor cities throughout the United States, and to take photographs oftheir discoveries. The clues combined to reveal a new photograph of theJoker, as well as a sound clip of him saying “…and tonight, you’re gonnabreak your one rule.”

Also, a website by the name of “ibelieveinharveydent.com” (Harvey Dentbeing a politician in the Batman universe), was set up dedicated togenerating a public interest in the film. “I believe in Harvey Dent”promotional packs (seen right) were sent to those who had registered onthis page.

As more images of Heath Ledger’s Joker became revealed, the websitebecame defaced (seen right) to reflect the villain’s anarchistic nature.