In the age of the Internet, a new product promotion method emerged in the advertising industry, called, the “virus”. A viral clip is a video with an extraordinary and interesting plot that spreads over the Internet and gets thousands of views, reposts and likes.
Such method is frequently used in advertising, unlike standard video commercials, viral clips are distributed for free – by Internet users on their pages, resources and by “sharing”. Therefore, distribution expenses are reduced to zero.
A viral video can often be humorous, with a screenplay containing funny situations. A viral clip usually gains popularity at an exponential rate, as a result promoted product receives the audience that considerably exceeds preliminary estimates.
A good example is the “talking hamster” toy video, which literally “blew up” the Internet in March 2013. Made as a simple dash cam record of a dime production cost, the video was to promote an online shop. As a result, millions of people who watched this video “stormed” the company web site and decimated all the hamster supplies.
However, not only funny viral videos allow successfully selling the product. The most recent trend of modern viral advertising is practical jokes. During the whole year 2013, major companies and private individuals were trying to outdo each other terrifying the viewers and posting their emotions over the Internet. The devil baby clip and the telekinesis in a café video became the hits here.
Due to its young age, viral advertising is still weaker than the traditional promotion methods. According to marketing experts however, everything is changing now. For the past few years, the online advertising market has been showing only the growth.