The success of a viral marketing campaign lies in how authentic, emotive and unique it is. Gone are the days where a simple sales approach would be enough to generate serious word of mouth.
In recent years, with the rise in popularity on Social Media, has given power to the consumer to promote their own content, but also other brands content too. No longer do people need to check the TV for the latest live news bulletins. Instead platforms like Twitter and Youtube to go right to the source of the action, straight to the very first Tweet or first video post.
Westjet’s recent Christmas Miracle campaign created a magical experience for customers during the Christmas period. They simply asked people what they wanted from Santa and when they arrived at their destination, the baggage carrousel delivered all those gifts to all passengers. When I first saw the campaign it had 129,000 hits, 4 days later it had 32 million visitors and nearly everyone I spoke to had seen this video. The power of the video was in delivering a really emotional campaign that engaged hearts and minds. Everyone I know wanted a Westjet experience. We have to congratulation Westjet for being fearless in making the campaign happen, in what I would image was a hefty budget but something done well that clearly paid off.
Heston Blumenthal is another great example of someone that goes all out to deliver a magical experience. From his Mad Hatters Tea Party, Kid in Sweet Shop or Christmas Feast experience, everything is done to wow audiences and make them feel like a kid again.
Disney for years have been delivering magical experiences to kids and families from heartfelt movies to a wonderland of rides and activities at the parks, every child loves Disney and one of its many characters.
So what is the key to creating a great viral. Good content is a must. Good content comes from creating heartfelt and magical experiences delivered to a few, but shared by millions. Above all you need to be fearless and confident in the campaign you deliver. Cutting corners will ultimately impact on the magical experience created. For example; imagine if Westjet did the same activity but instead of giving them all the presents they asked for, they gave each a box of chocolate as they picked up their bags. People would have been grateful and surprised but it wouldn’t have been such as wow factor that people wanted to share it with friends and family. It ultimately would have been a lovely experience but not something that would go viral.
Hotcow is experienced at creating magical experiences for their clients that will lead to viral generation. For more information or a free consultation please call us on 0207 5030442 or email info@hotcow.co.uk
