Asked what the current industry "threshold" is for a corporate video to be deemed "viral," Feed Co.'s Josh Warner responded that it might be time to retire the term altogether.
"Viral is a
myth," he told an attendee at OMMA Social in New York. "I'm over viral completely and utterly."
Instead of planning for a viral result, Warner said he tells Feed Co.'s clients to "dig deep to
get quality engagements."
"You can go out and pound views through a [media] buy," he said, adding that ultimately that will just get you a paid media campaign. He even suggested that a popular
industry viral video chart should be re-branded as a "paid media chart," because most of the campaigns on top of it are actually paid media campaigns, not naturally occurring viral upticks.
He
said some naturally occurring viral video phenomenon continue to happen for savvy brand marketers - citing Volkswagen as a recent example - but said the devil ultimately is in the viral details, and
the spirit in which they are executed.
"If you make great creative you can have a great result," he said, adding, "If you make decent creative and execute greatly you can have a great result.
It's about executing creative marketing and really earning the trust of your audience."
Panel moderator Alan Wolk of The Toad Stool nodded in agreement, but also shook his head, noting that
few marketers seem to get that premise.
"I wish you were right," he said to Feed Co.'s Warner. "I think too many clients just want a number."
Warne's response: "Budget for a number
then." Whether it is organic or paid for, Warner said a successful video campaign ultimately is "earned" in some way.
Toad Stool's Wolk