Jerry the EbizGuy and Coach Steve talked about viral marketing on “Virtual Superstars.” Viral marketing includes advertisements disguised as short, interesting vignettes about a product, person or service. Several factors must be taken into account before an advertisement can be classified in the category. First the advertisement must be short, about a minute or less. Also, it isn’t made for television, but is designed for web sites such as YouTube. It should be so interesting or controversial or funny or unusual that it incites the viewer to get others to watch it. “Viral marketing should promote something and offer really good tips about it. It should be funny or interesting enough so that people want to share it with their friends,” Jerry said.

Jerry talked about several well-known viral ads being viewed on the Internet currently. One of them was a blender commercial. The ad runs various items through a blender to see if they can be destroyed, pureed or otherwise beat to smithereens. The other viral commercial Jerry identified was one involving Diet Coke and Mentos candy. You can find both at YouTube for examples of viral marketing as well as many others. The common thread is the humor and the odd use of the products.

“Making a viral ad is very difficult,” Jerry said, as was proven on the April 5th airing of the television show, “The Apprentice,” with Donald Trump. Two teams were assigned to create a viral ad for a concentrated laundry detergent called, “All - Small and Mighty.” The best ad would be posted on YouTube and would be declared the winner. Jerry pointed out that the customer, the All Detergent Executives, wanted a commercial to promote their product that wasn’t offensive since they are family-oriented, but the consumer doesn’t want to watch commercials, so finding an appealing balance that satisfies everyone can be challenging. The ad for the detergent was supposed to be creative and meet the specific criteria for viral marketing. After the two “Apprentice” teams had completed their version of the viral ad, the detergent executives deemed both teams’ ads to be failures and declared that there was no winner. One ad was considered unappealing and pointless. The other was called offensive for it’s four-letter word usage and for referring to Little People as midgets.

Real Coaching Radio Network has encouraged its radio show hosts to make some funny videos. It’s important to create interesting content. The production must be good quality. Jerry suggested in the making of a successful viral video it might be worthwhile to consult an expert and invest a little more into it because of its challanging factor.

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