Virals – Always a good thing?

Viral is regarded as something of a swear word at PN Towers, and most people who have mentioned it in front of the digi team have been forced to join in the mantra of ‘viral is not a strategy, it’s a tactic’. We also have this handy sign pinned to the wall to remind people of our stance.

One of the reasons that we dislike the word viral so much is that making something viral is actually not that easy. There’s a lot of content out there, a mere 20 hours of content is uploaded very minute to YouTube, and that’s just on one video platform, albeit the biggest. Another thing to bear in mind that there is a myth around user-generated content going viral, have a quick peak at the the current top watched videos of all time on YouTube and you’ll see mainly music videos, some extracts from Britain’s Got talent and a a couple of videos that can truly only be described as WTF? Achieving cut through is often difficult, and normally expensive, which is why we were impressed when we first heard about the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) video which apparently had gone viral, with over two million views in a month.

A review of the case study on Direct Traffic Media claims that it has been showcased at TED in front of James Cameron and Bill Gates, and that there have been calls from around the world to have it shown on national TV in the USA, Brazil and others. So a roaring success all round?

A discussion on Twitter today with some social media peeps, including ex-PNers Mat Morrison and Brendan Cooper concluded with the thought that perhaps, while a very worthy campaign, Embrace Life, had been chasing the wrong goals. Turns out we were being overly cynical as this interview with Neil Hopkins, the communications manager for SSRP reveals, on Osocio.

Was it meant to be local campaign?

Originally, yes. The creative brief stated that we wanted the PSA to run at shows/events, on our website, in training sessions etc, all within Sussex.

This is because we are limited by our geo-political boundaries and can only really develop something for use within our own borders in order to justify the spend.  We were all aware that the campaign might grow and become something bigger, but had to concentrate on our local market initially.

Reassuringly, Hopkins also states that:

We will be evaluating Embrace Life locally through face-to-face surveys, online polls and questionnaires etc. In the future, we will be monitoring casualty statistics to see if there has been a decline in the number of people killed and seriously injured through not wearing a seat belt.

Which means SSRP is evaluating the success of its strategy and not of the tactic, something that’s easy to get carried away with – particularly when you have a very successful video. What’s also refreshing is the inclusion of offline elements to drive the campaign, which mainly took the form of graffiti and banners around Brighton. Again SSRP will be asking people how they came to know about the campaign, and gives one anecdotal account of the success of the offline tactics.

One person I spoke to had seen the first artworks created and visited the website (when the website just showed the logo and a countdown timer).  He then revisited the site later and saw the logo at the end of the PSA, which reawakened the recognition of the artworks.  He told me that he sees them everywhere now and they act as a reminder to the message of the campaign.

It also created great images for use by the traditional media, and obviously the story of how the video has gone global is quite news friendly too.