PSA Cocaine Dandruff

PSA by Leo Burnett for anti-drug campaign in Columbia.

Ikea Vibrator

Get organized or face humiliation...

Coke - Film Student Contest

Nice job by film students from Columbia University for Coke sponsored contest.

Paddington Bridge

New develpoment in central London..


Horny Bridge - video powered by Metacafe

Toyota Air Conditioning

Wow, looks like Toyota's air conditioning works well...

Umbro Soccer Dog

Another disturbing animal ad. Again, I laughed - and felt guilty after...

Nutrigrain - I Feel Great!

A few years old. Rumor has it that this ad was NOT approved by Kellog Company, but managed to "leak" out anyways - Great publicity for product and agency. Getting huge response online...

Agency: Turnpike / L.A

Smartbeep - Blind Date

Bodily functions are great ways of getting attention..

Outpost.com - Gerbil Canon

Again, why is funny when we fling animals around? I don't know, but it always seem to make me laugh. This was made when dotcoms were buring through advertising dollars...

Big Jugs

Ad for Meteor Video Rental Company. Meteor claims you will not get the wrong video from them....

Spontex - Hedgehog Love

French ad for a curvy,sensous,sexy....kitchen sponge. Hedgehogs love em'

Agency: TBWA/Paris

This Land

A couple of guys decided to launch this simple political spoof - now doing ads for Verizon and other big companies...

Factiva.com Popcorn Rapper

Factiva is a business news web site owned by Dow Jones. Looks like the financial guys are joining the party...

Montana Meth Project PSA

Anti drug campaign from the state of Montana. Getting national attention for effectivness.

Agency : Venables, Bell & Partners

NEC Cocoon

An urban butterfly is born!

Olympus Distorted Dogs

Freaky big-headed dogs invade a kitchen...

Agency : Saatchi/Saatchi

GoDaddy.com

A wardrobe malfunction at a Congressional hearing...

Boneless Pig Farmers

Mcdonald's viral campaign to support the Boneless Pig Farmers Associaation of America (BPFAA). Eat more McRibs! Rumor has it that the BPFAA is not a real group...

Agency : Moroch Partners

Coors Light "Frank"

Coors light hires "Frank" and follows him around the office as he tries to fit in as a new emlpoyee....

Agency: Kramer / Krasselt

Berlitz Language Skills

Nice ad for foreign language school. Agency BTS Oslo

Charmin - A Bit Rude

Charmin, the toilet paper company, launched a viral campaign with a series of euphemisms for visiting the bathroom aimed at the European market. Among references are: "I’m laying cable”,“I need to sink this brown”“Just dropping the kids off at the pool”,pinching a loaf, and of course a brown trout.

Agency : Publicis U.K

Speed Control Bikinis

Mock news story launched online by The Danish Road Safety Council. The Danes are fed up with speeders, and are getting creative in trying to stop them.

Agency : Small But Global

Slob Evolution

It was just a matter of time before someone did a tribute to the Dove Evolution ad.
Client: Tuffsheet.com (European humor web site.)

Folgers Happy Morning

Created by Saatchi / Saatchi New York. Happy golden people gently wake and remind you that you can "sleep when you are dead."

Skittles Singing Rabbit

Originally for TV, now spreading like wild on internet. Agency TBW/CHIAT/DAY

Wife Or Computer Game

War games software company shows how playing their games make you behave..

Men With Breasts

Nice ad for breast cancer awareness.

Mammut Jacket

Story: An 85-year old British Lady by the name of Mary Wooldbridge, who takes her dachshund for a daily walk, buys a Mammut jacket to proctect herself from the wind and weather. This Jacket is obviously so good that the elderly lady believes that she can climb Mount Everest wearing it....`

Agency : Spillman/Felser/Burnett

Will It Blend?

Viral series by Blendtec (blender manufacturer). Super simple and EFFECTIVE concept.
Just blend a bunch of stuff..... Millions of hits later and sales are SOARING! This product type is perfect for viral advertising model.

Back To School

Enroll at The Viral Learning Center! I am not sure why this exists, I just like it.

Clotex

Promotional ad for viral ad agency, AddictAD.

Windows Messenger

Why is it it funny when animals get beat up?

Bad Apple

In addition to stopping seal harvesting, Greenpeace is out to alert the public about computer hardware waste. Yet ANOTHER Mac/PC clone ad....

Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream has designed an interactive web site designed to inform people about global warming. Visit the site, submit videos, and learn about the environment..

Agency: Abbott/Meade/Vickers

War On Drugs

The U.S government linked its video with the terms "war on drugs," "peer-pressure," "marijuana," "weed," "ONDCP" and "420," so anyone searching for those words on YouTube could find its anti-drug messages. All the videos were associated with a YouTube account named "ONDCPstaff" and identified as an 18-year-old living in Washington. The figure 420 is a popular reference for marijuana....

Zune vs Ipod

It was just a matter of time. It's Zune vs Ipod. Zune shows off how easy it is to share music with other Zune users - just point and click. What they did not mention was the fact that you need to find other Zune users.....

Jack Black Piracy PSA

Jack tells the Pirates "Don't be a douche". Nice ad about a real issue in the entertainment industry. I'm sure he does not mind this spot being "pirated".

Atari - Act Of War

Contraversial ad for the post 911 era. Atari UK steps forward with "Act Of War" viral ad. Video is creating buzz online - Will never see it on US TV.

Agency : Maverick Media

Alto Clothing Company

Alto is a clothing company for tall people....

VW Un-Pimp My Ride

By Crispin/Porter for VW. Germans are in the house...

Tiger Beer

Nice ad by Saatchi & Saatchi for Tiger beer. Taste it in this life...

The Flatmate

Time to start looking for a new room mate. Designed for real estate finding service.

Opel Astra

Man redeems masculinity after walking whimpy dog.. Nice ad by McCann Erickson for Opel Automotive

Bridgestone Tire

A sensitive ad about puppy love.

Mortal Combat

"Blood on the Carpet" viral ad created for Midway Games by London-based Maverick Media. This ad is getting quite a bit of buzz for excesive for use of violence.

Nissan Pathfinder

Effects of independent front suspension system on the new Nissan Pathfinder...

Men With Cramps

Proctor and Gamble launch viral video campaign based on newly discovered scientific facts......

Nokia Spinning Cat

Nokia claims this is an "unsolicted" concept ad from an outside agency. They claim no responsibility...

Ipod Dominos

Simple concept: Play dominos with Ipods - get publicity.

Time To Leave Home - Ikea

This ad did air somewhere in the world (not here). Ikea knows it will get past our FCC sensors via the internet anyways. Thank you!

Independent Cigar - Say Yes

Simple concept. Nod your head yes - get a free peek! (and a cigar).

Ron Kind Attack Ad

Of course politicians LOVE using the internet for "attack ads" against their opponents.

Attacker : (R) Paul R. Nelson - For Wisconsin 3rd Congressional District

Goodyear Flat Tire

A trio of spec. videos from Goodyear's ad agency for its "Run On Flat" Tire Campaign. Each was rejected as being too graphic. The agencies are having fun with these spec ads, buecause if they are rejected - they just end up leaking out on the internet and creating buzz for the client anyways.

Milwaukee's Best Light

Beer, & explosions set to music... very nice! Created by Milwaukee's Best Beer Company.

Chipotle

Consumer generated video. Chipotle puts the call out for college students to create video - Winner gets $5,000.00

Let The Party Begin!!

Published: December 11, 2006

WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- The Federal Trade Commission today rejected a consumer watchdog group's call for a full-scale probe of
The FTC rejected a call from Gary Ruskin of Commercial Alert to look into word-of-mouth marketing practices.
word-of-mouth marketing, the controversial practice that tries to turn ordinary consumers' affection for products and brands into free advertising.

The ruling could lead to increased spending in an area that's already growing in popularity with marketers, whose audiences are harder to reach in an era of increased media fragmentation. Today's consumers are also less likely to be swayed by traditional ad pitches, especially given the amount of unbiased feedback they can find on the web about any given product or service.

Obey The Suit

Nice viral ad for a Tailor somewhere in England...

Agency:St.Luke/U.K

Berthold's Grotesk Akzident

Viral for HP. It's fun to make fun of designers, especially when they are foreign!
We need a new printer.

Wayspa.com

Why will this not be seen on TV? Wait for the end.

Agency: Dentsu

Rolling Rock Beer Ape

Viral developed for web only getting good buzz on web. A bit of a controversy brewing, because it looks like someone in corporate or agency may have posted it "direct" to Youtube. Why is that not good?... because it is an alcahol ad and Youtube has a very young demographic. It would be O.K if a 3rd party had put it up there,but not the company! I guess it would be like putting a beer commercial on Nick Jr.

Agency: Ogilvy Mather

Bennetts Insurance Company

Yep, It's a viral ad for motorcycle insurance....

Agency :BBH

Fingerskilz / HP

What appears to be a bored office worker killing time, is actually a clever viral ad put together by HP's agency Goodby/Silverstein to promote World Cup Soccer. If you look closley, you can see the HP logo on the laptop in the background....

Ford Sportka

Ford says their agency (Ogilvy Mather U.K) made this video for concept spec. Ford says they REFUSED to use it, unfortunatly it "leaked out" Ford blames the agency, but car gets alot of buzz. **No amimals were harmed in this video - computer effects**

Agency.com / Subway Pitch

This video has created a lot of buzz, simply because viewers are not sure if they are serious, or just plain stupid! As of this moment they are looking pretty smart - people now know what Agency.com is. **Warning..long video 9:22**

Smart Kid Hypes Band

The Bastard Fairies (a rock band) hired a documentary film director, and a clever little 8 year old girl for their web viral - Getting lots of buzz online. In the video she slams Bill O'Riley - THEN BILL PLAYS THE CLIP ON FOX NEWS SHOW!!! free TV BUZZ for the band

Chevy Tahoe Campaign

Chevy's Ad Agency decides to use the consumer generated viral video approach. Here's the concept: Download the visual and audio elements, put together a video, send it back to Chevy and win a prize! .....


Here is a sample entry:

Axe - Quarter Toss

Fun viral of guy tossing quarters with his girlfriend. Very cost effective, creates nice buzz for demographic targeted (younger guys.)

Phillips Bodygroom Shaver

Very nice ad by Phillips for male grooming shaver for those sensitive areas...
Phillips even claims its product will provide guys with an extra "optical inch"!
I bet this product is flying off the shelves!!

Agency : DDB

Apple "1984"

This Ad ran ONLY ONCE on TV in 1984 during The Superbowl. Created by Chiat Day Advertising to promote the arrival of the Macintosh computer. It has since been replayed thousands of times ( at no charge to Apple)on television because of it's incredible quality and message. It continues to played and spread on the internet millions of times, 22 years after its ONE TIME RUN! - Considered by many to be the first viral video

Sound Effects Engineers

Saatchi & Saatchi German viral ad. "we do anything for sound". Showing true dedication for their craft..

Uship - Viral "Mocumentory"

Dotcom start-up Uship does spoof of "The Office" TV show. Using actual employees under obviously low budget, they pull it off. Sometimes painful to watch, it has a certain embarassing charm..

Viral Manifesto

Read and learn.....

Client:AdLand

Zune - Robot

Here's the idea: Proclaim your love for Microsoft's new MP3 player - The "ZUNE" by producing a short video. You post to a Microsoft microsite.

This video shows the wireless file sharing capabilities of the Zune

If your video is good enough, YOU get to advertise for Microsoft.

Classic viral buzz building - Say what you will about MS, they know marketing!

Zune - Birds

Another user created viral from the Zune Arts Campaign. Showing
with explosive results, the remote file sharing ability of the Zune.

VW Polo

Cotroversial topics are fair game. In this case an independent group put this together, submited it to VW's agency - it got quickly rejected. The video survives into eternity however online...

Agency: Lee & Dan

Monster.com

Parody of Monster.com's "When I grow up" concept. Custom Advertising Industry specific. Virals are great ways to make fun of your industry without having to pay big $$ for mass media!

T-Mobile Sidekick 3

Funny and simple

Adidas Adicolor Pink

Nicely done art-viral. Agency : Idealogue

Paris Hilton Car Wash

If you can afford to pay for a celebrity, go for it! Just make sure you portray them in fashion that will generate views to offset cost.

Agency: Mendelsohn/Zion

Napster

Strippers always get attention.

Agency: Venables/Bell

Bravia Paint Bombs

Very well done Sony ad for their new color TV - Bravia. Done in real not
post production.

Agency: Fallon

Small budget - no problem

Now even small companies with tiny budgets can play with the big boys.

It's Sony vs. Nintendo

Image is everything.........

Viral Marketing 101

Viral marketing (word-of-mouth marketing) is a really cool thing. Just think about it... instead of spending an insane amount of money on newspapers ads, TV commercials or banner ads, you spent nothing - and let your fans do all the work for you.

With viral marketing, your campaigns will suddenly get a life of its own - and start to spread like a virus. Everyone want to see it, and when they do, they all want to share it.

It is immensely powerful, usually having 500-1000 times greater impact than what you get from regular advertisements.

But how?
There are a lot of tricks to viral marketing. Here are 7 important ones:

1: Make people feel something
The most important trick of all is to create a very strong emotion. You need to have an opinion, to express an idea with commitment and dedication. You want people to:

be filled with love or hate.
be very happy or insanely angry
be an idiot or a genius
be deeply compassionate or an egoistic bitch
You want people's blood to be pumping of excitement.

Forget neutral, trying to please everyone, supporting several target groups or any of the many ways to be unbiased. Viral marketing is 100% about emotions.

2: Do something unexpected
This one explains itself. If you want people to notice you campaign, you have to do something different - something unexpected. Forget about trying to promote your products as just being great - everybody does that. Forget about trying to make it look cool - everyone else has "been there, done that".

Remember the bear being attacked by a man? That was unexpected - and it is one the most effective viral advertisements ever.


...and above all - never be a copycat.

3: Do not try to make advertisements (that sucks)
One of the biggest mistake companies make is when they think viral marketing is just advertisements that people share - it is not. Traditional marketing is about promoting your product, showing how good it is, giving it center stage - and generally being incredibly selfish (and possibly using supermodels or movie stars). But guess what, nobody cares about you!

Viral marketing is all about a good story. When BMW put out BMW Films, the main ingredient was not the cars, but the story. Replace the car with another one, and it would still be great. When Sony made their Bravia TV ads, the product was not even seen - yet everyone remembers it.


Forget about you, your product or your company. Focus exclusively in creating a good and interesting story. Sure, you can add you product into the mix, but it must not be the most important thing.

4: Make sequels
People have just seen your campaign. They think it was interesting, unexpected and their emotions has reached a high level - you have their complete attention.

Now what do you do?

If you do like most companies you will simply do nothing... and that is a big mistake. When you got people's attention you need to act, and one the best ways of doing that is to give them more - make sequels. This can be many things;

It can be extra movies similar in concept to the first one - like BMW Films and Nissan did.
It can be a behind the scenes look
Bloopers
A blog about the process (like Nissan did)
Extra material, goodies etc.
...or all of the above
Never leave people standing with nothing.


BTW: Forget about countdown releases - i.e. releasing a new episode every 2 weeks. People's attention span does not last that long. Give them everything now!

5: Allow Sharing, downloading and embedding´
Sharing is what viral marketing is all about. Everything you do to make that easier is going to improve your campaign. That means that you need allow people to:

Download the content, in a usable format (videos in MPG, pictures in JPG etc.)
Allowing them to easily embed the content on their own sites (Note: remember bandwidth issues)
Sending it to friends, either using a link or by sending the content directly.
Publishing it on varies social networks - Digg, YouTube etc.
Allow people to add it the bookmarking sites
Note: This also easily be overdone. You do not want to clutter up your page with a zillion "share me, dig this etc." icons.

6: Connect with comments
Another important element is to connect with your audience. Remember you got their attention, they are excited and now they want talk. Comments is one of the most effective ways to do this.

Keep in mind that the best viral marketing campaign is one that creates a strong emotion. This means some people will really like it - while others will get very angry. You have to accept both in your comments, and you have to welcome both opinions. But, at the same time you must prevent individuals to wage war against each other.

It is not a sin to delete comments from people who attack another person, or if the comment is off-topic. But, it is a sin to delete comments from people who just have an negative opinion.

And, most importantly. Connecting with people through comments means talking back. Do not add comments if you do not want to participate yourself.

7: Never restrict access!
Viral marketing is also about your campaign getting a life on its own - spreading like virus. In order to do that, in order to become "viral", it needs to be free.

Never add restrictions to the mix.

Do not require people to register
to become members
to download special software
to enter "unlock" codes
...or to do something in order to get the right link.
Viral marketing is never about exclusivity. It is about getting it out there for everyone to see.



There is a common message in all of these tricks. It is that you need to make it right - or not do it at all. Only the best viral marketing campaigns make it - the rest literally sucks.

From "7 tricks to Viral Web Marketing"
by Thomas Baekdal

The Mentos Guys

Two guys just out having fun whith candy and pop. The next thing you know they are hired by Mentos to pitch their product, according to the company "sales have spiked"

Ikea Euopean market

I guess a bit too adult for the US market - Very well done shows a lot of product in short amount of time.

Honda Accord

Honda / Weiden Kennedy

Very well done ad by Honda Motors. Has become a classic and shows no signs of slowing down.

Yuppie Gangsters

Smirnoff / BBH

Straight outta Cape Cod - Yo!

Becel Health Escalator

Becel Health /Ogilvy Toronto.

Dove

Viral video

Firefox

User made video showing their thoughts on browser.
Why pay for advertising when your customers will do it for free?