BRAND-E.BIZ: Back to the Viral Future

By Simon Fuller

Future video. Recently we looked at how 2009’s stack of successful viral ads might impact the video landscape in this new decade. And with Unruly Media, which monitors the viral scene via its Top 20 Viral Video Chart, keeping a close eye on the latest developments, it seemed smart to ask them to make a few predictions.

“[We expect] a re-engagement with the new and the futuristic,” says Sarah Wood, director at Unruly. “[This follows] a couple of years of retro-fuelled viral culture [for example] 8-Bit [and] Star Wars. [Two thousand and ten] could include a greater use of 3D and augmented reality videos, text-to-movie techniques, campaigns with real-time, real-world integration as part of their DNA… oh, and zombies. We expect to see a lot of zombies entering this year’s Viral Video Chart.”

It turns out that technology might be quite the force this year. Creatives will no doubt be influenced by Barclaycard’s Waterslide, the branded iPhone app which was a runaway success last year, clocking up some 10 million downloads from the App Store. The game, in which players ride waterslides through a range of environments, was supported by a viral ad featuring an office worker nipping home from work, via a waterslide.

“Barclaycard Waterslide… set a benchmark for other brands looking for viral success in the mobile apps space,” says Wood. “[It suggests that] technological and platform developments introduced in 2009 will also determine the kinds of viral campaigns that are being conceived and executed in 2010.”
The success of other virals, such as Wilkinson’s Mow The Law and, of course, a certain viral from Evian featuring babies will no doubt also be front of mind of this year.

“The phenomenal success enjoyed by brands such as T-Mobile, Evian, and Volkswagen has already led to agencies taking the viral element of a campaign more seriously, both in terms of the size of budgets that are being committed to viral activation, and the quality of the content being produced,” says Wood. “And with online video consumption becoming a mainstream activity across different demographics, we’d expect to see more virals targeted at older audiences and women, following in the footsteps of cheeky 2009 ads such as Wilkinson Sword’s Mow The Lawn.”

Click here to read the original post on Brand-e.biz.