Viral fever yet to catch up: Do we really need it?

Exchange4media, a premier advertising and communication news portal, in its article states "India yet to catch viral fever, but the symptoms are very much there" . This must be taken with a pinch of salt. Although, most brand campaigns strive to create that big idea which will strike a cord amongst audiences and lead to exponential online word of mouth, the truth is very few hit the sweet spot.

Virals are considered to be at the top of the communication food chain online. At least my interactions with the industry suggest so, want to know what part of the communication program would most likely to go viral!

Here's the deal. We are still thinking in terms of 'hits' and not about the various niches that one must cater to in order to make the whole effort much more relevant and cost effective. [The Long Tail] A viral may get you eye balls, no doubt. But, IMHO, it lacks the engagement aspect, wherein we loose out on the insights that end users may have to offer about the product or service.

As a stand alone too, great for creating brand awareness and increasing brand recall amongst stakeholders.

But I suspect that deployed as the end and not the means, it would be stripped of it meaning in the holistic communication paradigm.

Here are a few thoughts from the article of web marketing honcho's on the phenomenon:

Atul Hegde, CEO, Ignitee, said, “Viral ads are certainly very popular. However, the challenge is that it needs to be a true viral and should not be created for the sake of it. Virals by nature are meant to be very disruptive and a lot more engaging to the consumers, and if done in the right manner, can be a very powerful tool, but again, viral needs to be used in a conjunction with a lot of activities.”

Rishi Khiani, COO, Web18, observed, “Viral advertising is very popular, especially for youth brands. Humour adds to the stickiness of the creative and creates traction amongst youngsters, who are keen to communicate with their friend groups. Successful examples are the ‘Ghajini’ viral for oktatabyebye, ‘Mahabharat 5 Pandavas’ and ‘Chevrolet Aveo’. ‘Pankaj Udhaas’ remains the pioneering viral in this category.”

Rahul Nanda, COO, Webchutney Studio Pvt Ltd, pointed out, “The popularity of the virals can be judged by the sheer number of virals being created these days. How effective they are is another story. In our experience, two-thirds of viral attempts actually do not succeed with the audience. Virals are definitely an answer for marketers to target an otherwise advertising saturated mind.”

Having a different take, Amar Deep Singh, Vice-President, Interactive Avenues, said, “Most virals in India have been restricted to creation of a film, typically a Bollywood spoof, so it is funny and advertisers feel that receivers of the viral will forward it simply because it’s funny. Quite a few people who receive such stuff do not forward them purely because forwarding such stuff is seen as ‘uncool’ and it really does not add any value to the person receiving it.”

Leroy Alvares, Country Head, Tribal DDB, noted, “Viral advertising has become pretty popular among the users and is the quickest way of getting across the brand message, thereby becoming a good tool for advertisers. It is the quickest way of getting a brand message in a very interesting fashion.”

Link to the article "India yet to catch viral fever, but the symptoms are very much there"[Here]