TomTom's 'Attempt' To Go Viral Really Should Go Viral

 

What makes ads popular on the web? That is the ultimate question which brands and advertising agencies ponder over daily. Well, TomTom has (kind of) got the right idea, in their latest tongue-in-cheek ad.

We all know about the success Evian's Roller Babies had, and how Old Spice's The Man Your Man Could Smell Like was a huge hit. But why were they so successful? The only thing they have in common is that they are both extremely random (and a little creepy) in their own ways.

Maybe the answer, as TomTom has decided, is to combine aspects of every video that has ever been a success into one clip. Surely that will work?

The only problem is that TomTom apparently hasn't had the budget to really go all out. So, the result is a hilarious concoction of 'viral' clips, featuring one man who has tried to cover absolutely everything, from a T-Mobile-style flashdance (featuring only himself) to an attempt at Will It Blend (in a blender which just doesn't blend). 

Other highlights include the poor guy having a fist fight with himself in a rendition of TNT's Dramatic Surprise On A Quiet Square, and an attempt to teach a CGI baby how to rollerblade.

At least TomTom acknowledges its 'shortcomings', admitting that instead of spending money on improving the ad, the company has spent all the advertising budget on prizes for customers for the holiday season. 

Disclosure: Unruly is distributing this video on behalf of TomTom. This post is not part of the commercial plan and is written by the editorial team at Unruly, whose opinions are- always independent, sometimes scurrilous, and never knowingly under-researched.

Rise Of Sharing Culture Examined In New PBS Video

A new video created by PBS Arts: Off Book delves into the world of viral videos and social video advertising.

Starring Jonah Peretti (BuzzFeed), Kevin Allocca (YouTube), Brad Kim (Know Your Meme), Dan Gurewitch (College Humor) and Michael Learmonth (Advertising Age), it looks at how viral culture has revolutionised advertising and the way we communicate online.

It's what Peretti and Allocca call 'the rise in sharing culture'. They say, "We are entering an exciting new era in media is which you don't just serve your own needs, it's about finding things for your friends or people in your life.

"The web is maturing and social signals are becoming a bigger part of our lives."

The result is a higher bar for content creators and brands hoping to catch the attention of web users.

As Learmonth, of AdAge, says, "This is about brands making content that people really want to watch. It's really a revolutionary notion. I actually believe we are in a YouTube creative renaissance of content at the moment." 

Here at Meme Machine and Unruly, we heartily agree. We are very lucky to have been a part of some of the game-changing campaigns, such as Old Spice's Man Your Man Could Smell Like and T'Mobile's Life's For Sharing, which both feature in the video.

Oh, and sprinkled throughout the eight-minute clip you’ll find delicious nuggets of videos we all know and love, as well as, perhaps, a few you’ve never seen before.

Enjoy!

BA Spoofs Fenton Viral In Latest Campaign

Is it a dog? Is it a plane? Actually, it's both in the latest social video ad from BA.

As a teaser to their London 2012 campaign, the UK's flag carrier airline has created a stealth campaign based on the famous Fenton the Dog YouTube hit.

However, instead of the dog chasing deer around Richmond Park, it shows a young pup called Cookie running after a BA plane.

Of course, it is not the first time advertisers have tried to hijack existing YouTube memes to try and get noticed. Over the last seven days alone we have seen ASPCA's Hovercat and the Abercrombie's version of Call Me Maybe come to the fore.

However, meme spin-offs haven't always worked well in advertising, with campaigns such as Microsoft's Windows Live Photo Gallery advert being heavily criticised for featuring the Double Rainbow internet meme. 

Time will tell if this one pays off. The campaign was designed to generate buzz around a new London 2012 campaign from BA, released a few days later.

It features a plane taxiing through London, with an accompanying Facebook page allowing you to enter your postcode and see the plane pass your own street.

Disclosure: Unruly is distributing this video on behalf of BA. This post is not part of the commercial plan and is written by the editorial team at Unruly, whose opinions are always independent, sometimes scurrilous, and never knowingly under-researched.

The Top 10 Most Popular Long-Form Social Videos To Date

One video more than any other has proved the potential of long-form social video, Kony 2012. The 30-minute piece smashed online sharing records and proved that social media has rules of its own.

The video, produced in-house by a little know non-profit organisation, proved how powerful great content can be online. Kony 2012 proves that, with users sharing content between them, a video is not limited by its budget, but by the appeal of its content.

Traditionally content has to be kept around the 30-second limit due to the astronomical cost of TV advertising. But, the internet has changed the rules, great content is simply great content. A video can reach a worldwide audience if it can motivate users to share it.

To do this, a video has to wow an audience with funnier jokes, more impressive stunts or a stronger message. We've compiled a chart of the most shared videos which clock in at longer than 5 minutes. Some of the videos in the chart have become the most successful social videos of all time, which we featured in our interactive infographic - The Viral Spiral, which visualises the most widely shared videos of all time.

Notably Ken Block's Gymkhana series for DC Shoes appears three times with increasingly impressive car stunts. There's a flash of flesh in Peugeot's Interactive Experience ad and a healthy dose of 'wow' in A Day Made Of Glass...Made Possible By Corning.

There are moving moments in TAC - 20 Year Anniversary Retrospective and the uplifting emotion is triggered in Kindness Boomerang for Life Vest Inside.  

Topping the list is Kony 2012, of course, the most widely shared social video ad of all time, which fills its 30-minute length with the four key social video triggers - emotional, funny, shocking and uplifting.

So, the chart below contains some of the biggest stunts, best short films, and most heart-wrenching appeals seen online to date. 

Take a look below. 

Click to read more ...

Interactive Infographic From The Video Super Power That Is - YouTube

The video creatives over at YouTube have made a stunningly interactive infographic for us all to enjoy. 

The interactive visualisation looks into what defined YouTube last year, 2011. 

Scaling from left to right, (January to December), YouTube delves into what was trending on its platform throughout the year. 

You'll see plenty of familiar faces on the timeline, including Charlie Sheen, Nyan Cat, Ray William Johnson and even the late Steve Jobs. 

YouTube has come a long way in its relatively short life. Let's not forget the first ever video was posted to the site back in 2005. Oh, how things have changed over the past 7 years.

As of February 2011, YouTube had 490 million unique users worldwide per month, who racked up an estimated 92 billion page views each month. These colossal stats are just for the main YouTube website — they don’t incorporate embedded videos or video watched on mobile devices. Wow! 

So, now they have released their list of the year’s most-viewed videos. Check out the timeline below to dive in to some of the interesting stories that played out on YouTube this year.

Enjoy!

Ever Wanted To Watch 200 Viral Videos In One? Well, Now You Can

Trying to keep a track on all the latest videos and memes can be difficult.

Obviously, the Viral Video Chart is a good start. But thanks to this fantastic video mash-up, you can recap on a whopping 200 viral videos in just 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Nice!

The video was uploaded to YouTube by Zapatou a couple of days ago and uses an up-beat remix of a track by Kaskade.

Virals are videos that are shared at a rapid rate on the internet. So, a video containing 200 snippets of the most popular viral videos has got to be a big hit.

I think we will just have to wait and see with this one. In the mean time, enjoy this truly mega-mix of videos below.