The Watercooler Effect
We’ve all seen them: viral videos that make it onto the news, appear in your emails, and get seen around the world.
There is the mobile phone clip at a company Christmas party where a woman is seen to be tipsy and being very rude about her boss…who is standing behind her. Turns out it was fake and was a unique advert for a recruitment company. It still made news outlets across the globe and people continue to rage about the behaviour of the woman/actress, unaware they’ve been had.
Then there is Jill and Kevin’s wedding day. Whatever your views on the idea of bridesmaids, ushers, groom and bride dancing up the aisle, the video has attracted over 66 million hits on YouTube alone. The happy couple have also appeared on numerous news shows in the USA.
There is no easy formula for making your video go viral, but it’s fair to say those that do, all demonstrate several key traits.
Firstly, they have to have the Watercooler Effect – in other words, they’ve got to be capable of getting people talking. That could be around the watercooler in the office when they’re taking a drink; shouting across their open-plan office to one another; or sitting down lunch.
Secondly, they’ve got to be easy to describe and explain. This is crucial to the Watercooler Effect. Virals depend on people being able to pass them on both verbally and by computer.
Thirdly, it’s got to be creative. ‘Dog bites man’ is not half the story of ‘man bites dog’. And if the current trend of virals is anything to go by, then you also need man and dog to be dancing to a European pop music hit!
Timing is the fourth feature of successful virals. Musician and singer Dave Carroll produced a video called ‘United Breaks Guitars’ which has achieved over 10.5 million YouTube hits and global news coverage. It’s about his unfortunate experience with United Airline baggage handlers. The fact that it tuned into a general anger with airlines helped. Can you imagine how well a viral poking fun at bankers would be just now?
Lastly, and don’t let anyone tell you different, your viral needs a big dose of luck. Millions of videos are uploaded to the internet every day, so standing out from the crowd needs a healthy piece of good fortune on top of a lot of good work. So in the meantime, meet you at the watercooler?
All of the films mentioned above can be seen in our Fave Films section.
Peter Kane is PR and Marketing Director at Lucid
Leave a comment