Many marketers tend to look at viral video the same way most of them look at social media - as a “free” media channel that they can jump onto with a cheap vehicle and get a million instant impressions at close to zero cost. The truth? While many viral videos originating from brands are crafted to look homespun and low budget, most good viral videos involve a significant investment in production. Sure, there are the many accidental triumphs that make their way to the top - typically those have no brand associated with them. Think Star Wars Kid (13+ million views, anyone?). But as for produced content, the videos that tend to make the cut are those that capture the imagination or tap into the social zeitgeist in a meaningful or funny way. Those are the ones viewers find worthy of a pass-along via blog posting, Facebooking or simply emailing the link. The Reebok/NFL fantasy football viral campaign is a noteworthy example - the YouTube posting below (showing all the campaign executions) is clocking over 1.5 million views since January alone. But I’ll bet it wasn’t cheap.
