Commentary

The Pot Of Gold At The End Of A Double Rainbow

"Being viral, what does that mean?"

Great opening question from CP+B's Kristen Fox, who is about to give us the answer.

It's a double rainbow.

Well, the "double rainbow guy" is a good example of going viral. In case you don't know the double rainbow guy, he's a hippie who woke up one morning and happened to film himself euphorically observing a double rainbow in his backyard, and the rest is YouTube history.

Millions and millions of downloads later, Fox says it's not uncommon for clients to come into the agency and ask to do something like the double rainbow guy.

The problem, says Fox, is you can't make that, "It just happens."

Wat a dilemma for agencies, right?

2 comments about "The Pot Of Gold At The End Of A Double Rainbow".
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  1. Jimm Fox from One Market Media, February 2, 2011 at 4:44 p.m.

    Joe, I sometimes get asked to add a 'viral component' to the marketing videos I produce.'

    Viral is really, really difficult to do well. Asking for a viral video is like asking someone to write a hit record... except the hit record doesn't have to promote a brand (if it's a brandless, messageless piece of entertainment, what's the point?).

    And calling a video 'viral' doesn't make it viral any more than calling it 'amazing' suddenly renders it amazing. A million plus views is a probably a good place to start in defining what makes a video truly viral but even then you can go to uSocial and buy a million views.

  2. timo platt, February 2, 2011 at 5:02 p.m.

    Creatives earn their keep by conjuring the next Double Rainbow guy. Then they rely on new mobile marketing engines like Social Messaging(TM) to create the viral buzz, extend the pop of the creative video, and engage consumers in targeted direct messaging, no check-ins required

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About the Author

Joe Mandese is the Editor in Chief of MediaPost. You can reach Joe at joe@mediapost.com.

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