• Adweek, Friday, March 19, 2010 1:11 AM

The Holy Grail for many marketers is having their big-budget TV spot become a viral hit online, providing millions in free exposure and publicity from consumer pass-along. The bad news is the chancesare slim, and even if it does happen, there's a good chance the spot won't do much to persuade viewers.

That's according to a Millward Brown study of TV commercials posted online. The researcher found that less than 15% of 102 ads studied were viral hits. (Millward Brown defines a viral hit as a spot that generates more than 1,000 views per week in the United Kingdom market or 5,000 in the U.S.) In other words, for every Old Spice "The man your man could smell like" spot that has generated more than 4.5 million YouTube views, there are five duds. Worse, even if the spot clicks, consumers don't always get the intended message, per MB.

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