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what people are talking
about.
That’s the problem with creating content that is unrelated to the product or idea it is meant to
promote. There’s a big difference between people talking about content and people talking about the
company, organization, or person that created that content.
Evian’s famous “Roller Babies” video had the same problem. The clip shows what appear to be
diaper-wearing babies doing tricks on roller skates. They jump over one another, hop over fences,
and do synchronized moves, all to the beat of the song “Rapper’s Delight.” The babies’ bodies are
clearly animated, but their faces look real, making the video remarkable to watch. The video got more
than 50 million views, and
Guinness World Records
declared it the most viewed online
advertisement in history.
But while you might think that all this attention would benefit the brand, it didn’t. That same year
Evian lost market share and sales dropped almost 25 percent.
The problem? Roller-skating babies are cute, but they have nothing to do with Evian. So people
shared the clip, but that didn’t benefit the brand.
—————
The key, then, is to not only make something viral, but also make it valuable to the sponsoring
company or organization. Not just virality but
valuable virality.
Take Barclay Prime’s hundred-dollar cheesesteak that we talked about at the beginning of the book.
Compared with dancing babies and bottled water, an expensive, high-end cheesesteak and an
expensive, high-end steak restaurant are clearly more related. And the item wasn’t just a stunt, it was
an actual option on Barclay’s menu. Further, it directly spoke to the inferences the restaurant wanted
consumers to make about its food: high quality but not stuffy, lavish but creative.
Virality is most valuable when the brand or product benefit is
integral
to the story. When it’s
woven so deeply into the narrative that people can’t tell the story without mentioning it.
One of my favorite examples of valuable virality comes from the Egyptian dairy company Panda,
which makes a variety of different cheese products.
The commercials always start innocuously: workers talking about what to have for lunch, or a
hospital nurse checking in on a patient. In one spot a father is grocery shopping with his son. “Dad,
why don’t we get some Panda cheese?” the son asks as they walk by the dairy aisle. “Enough!” the
father replies. “We have enough stuff in the cart already.”
Then the panda appears. Or rather, a man in a panda suit. There’s simply no way to describe
adequately the ludicrousness of this moment. Yes, a giant panda is suddenly standing in the middle of
a grocery store. Or in a different commercial, an office. Or in another, a medical clinic.
In the grocery-store video, the father and son stare at the panda, obviously dumbfounded. As a
Buddy Holly tune plays, the boy and his father look at the Panda cheese on the shelf, then back to the
panda. And back and forth again. The father gulps.
Then, pandemonium ensues (excuse the pun).
The panda slowly walks toward the shopping cart, calmly places both hands on its sides, and flips
it over.
Food flies all over the aisle—pasta, canned goods, and liquids everywhere. The stare-down
continues as the father and the panda stand on opposite ends of the cart. A long pause ensues. Then the
panda kicks the overturned food for good measure. “Never say no to Panda,” a voice intones as a
panda hand flashes the product on the screen.
The commercial and others like it are impeccably timed and utterly hilarious. I’ve shown them to
everyone from college kids to financial service executives and everyone laughs until their sides hurt.
But note that what makes these videos so great is not just that they’re funny. The commercial would
have been just as funny if the guy was dressed in a chicken suit or if the tagline was, “Never say no to
Jim’s used cars.” Someone dressed in an animal suit kicking groceries is funny regardless of which
animal it is or what product it’s for.
They’re successful—and great examples of valuable virality—because the brand is an integral part
of the stories. Mentioning the panda is a natural part of the conversation. In fact, you’d have to try
pretty hard not to mention the panda and still have the story make sense (much less get people to
understand why it’s funny). So the best part of the story and the brand name are perfectly intertwined.
That increases the chance not only that people telling the story will talk about Panda the brand, but
also that they will remember what product the commercial is for, days or even weeks later. Panda is
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