Catch the News About Viral Video Ads

It’s the dream of retailers to have video ads go viral, with viewers driven to forward the link to friends on and on, in the process, more and more people exposed to the marketing message you’ve produced.
     Researchers at Harvard University have identified a set of factors that make an ad more likely to spread its influence in this way. Here’s my adaptation of that list:

• Make your store name and logo informative, not intrusive. Using eye-tracking cameras, the researchers discovered how the viewer’s attention is drawn to a store name and, even more, a well-designed logo. However, if the name or logo are too prominent, consumers will feel like they are being manipulated. One alternative is for you to weave your store name and logo into the ad, showing them repeatedly, but not continuously. A better alternative, in my opinion, is to put the name or logo in the lower right corner of the video, where it serves as information for the viewer without getting in the viewer’s direct field of vision.
• Produce joy and/or surprise right off. Television ads have often been designed to build toward a laugh or a revelation. The rules are different with the online video format. The Harvard researchers analyzed viewer’s facial expressions to spot smiles, frowns, and signs that the viewer had stopped paying attention to the ad. The conclusion: Dropout happens real fast unless there’s a jolt of emotion promptly after the start. The best emotions to use are joy and surprise. Best of all is to use them in combination.
• Change the pace. You don’t need to pump out a constant stream of surprising jokes. Actually, it’s better not to do that. It’s an example of what psychologists call habituation. Consider the massage therapy category of services retailing. Masseuses report that the client generally likes the massage more when they’re rubbed for a while, pounded for a while, kneaded for a while, and then rubbed again, than if there’s no change. The speed of habituation is related to age. Deliver the pitch in brief segments with changeups, especially for younger audiences.
• Give viewers substance to share. The Harvard researchers suggest targeting ads to people exhibiting two personality characteristics associated with forwarding video links to others: Extroversion and egocentrism. In my opinion, a more realistic suggestion is the most basic rule for propagating a virus: Give people something they’ll pass around.

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