We decided to find out what is the best viral content of 2019
Having a video go viral in 2019 is a great way to increase the reach of your video marketing campaign. Of course it all really comes down to luck to make your video go viral. But there has been plenty of campaigns that have gone viral this year, heres a few of our favourites.
Gilette ‘We Believe: The Best Men Can Be’
Gilette changed up their typical video marketing campaign in the January of this year, moving away from the typical style of TV advert Ising campaign and instead focusing on the social responsibility around negative behaviour of some men, more so sexism, bullying and toxic masculinity. Gillette also committed to donating money towards organisations that help men achieve their best.
The campaign gained a lot of traction online, with numerous news channels all over the world covering the campaign.
It had a lukewarm reception so to speak as it was applauded by some people for speaking out against toxic masculinity and other issues, while it was slammed by others for being unfairly stereotypical. The two minute content production has become one of the most disliked videos on the whole of YouTube. Gillette also created a mini site where they explain the inspiration behind the creative campaign –
“…turn on the news today and it’s easy to believe that men are not at their best. Many find themselves at a crossroads, caught between the past and a new era of masculinity. While it is clear that changes are needed, where and how we can start to effect that change is less obvious for many. And when the changes needed seem so monumental, it can feel daunting to begin. So, let’s do it together. It’s time we acknowledge that brands, like ours, play a role in influencing culture. And as a company that encourages men to be their best, we have a responsibility to make sure we are promoting positive, attainable, inclusive and healthy versions of what it means to be a man. With that in mind, we have spent the last few months taking a hard look at our past and coming communication and reflecting on the types of men and behaviors we want to celebrate. We’re inviting all men along this journey with us – to strive to be better, to make us better, and to help each other be better.”
The Egg
The egg on Instagram was an account called @world_record_egg. The account was started by Chris Godfrey a 29 year old advertising creative. He was joined by two of his friends, it started off with just a picture of an egg with the caption “can we make this picture of an egg the most liked photo on Instagram?” That worked incredibly well by smashing over 50 million likes eclipsing the previous most liked post by Kylie Jenner that had 18 million likes. Once it broke the record the account posted a few more pictures showing the egg with cracks in it. This was then followed by a short video showing how the egg had cracked and promoted a website for mental health and getting talking about your health. The campaign was taken universally well as it spread a great message. The mental health campaign was a productionby the streaming app Hulu. It is reported that at its peak the egg could fetch 10 million dollars in advertising money however this was claimed as false with a figure closer to the $250,000 mark being more realistic, this shows just how much money is in going viral these days. Since the egg account blew up it has had a partnership with the happy egg company USA which has bought in an undisclosed amount of money. The egg isn’t at its peak anymore but is still getting millions of impressions per post.
British Army
The British army recently ran a campaign inspired by the famous ww1 poster “Lord Kitchener Wants You.” But instead of using that famous slogan it was changed to “snowflakes, we want you!” and “selfie addicts, we want you!” this campaign was made to increase the number of british army soldiers. The Defense Secretary (as of the release date of the advert), Gavin Williamson, said
“a powerful call to action that appeals to those seeking to make a difference as part of an innovative and inclusive team. It shows that time spent in the army equips people with skills for life and provides comradeship, adventure and opportunity like no other job does. Now all jobs in the army are open to men and women. The best just got better.”
The creative agency knew the campaign would get a big reaction, but this was their plan, as only 10% of media spend was spent on that part of the video production. They knew it would go viral so it was used to their advantage, with the production company using this to increase the reach of the campaign, before releasing a set of TV adverts. The TV adverts have been produced incredibly well, with the videos focusing more on people abilities i.e. Perfectionist. The resultswere quite good with the army reporting 1000 more soldiers starting training in the following months of the campaign. Nick Terry from capita mentioned
“Both Capita and the Army have been working tirelessly over the last 12 months at least in terms of how we bring this overall recruiting effort to deliver the numbers needed to fulfil the Army’s requirements on its operations around the world,” he says. “All that effort has been in making sure candidates are nurtured through the process in the right way, reducing the time it takes on average. We’re now starting to see some really positive signs in terms of conversion from those that are applying to start basic training.”
Like the examples we’ve mentioned, having a video content campaign that goes viral has numerous benefits for your brand, not only in terms of reach and impressions, but your brand image. How do you go viral ? There’s no real formula as it just comes by chance, you can take a controversial approach but you could go viral for all the wrong reasons which isn’t ideal.