Fail. Learn. Succeed
Not enough people in business talk about failure.
One of our triumphant failures was the Wingsuit Water Landing viral we launched a few years back onto YouTube. We were obsessed with the idea of creating a viral video to put Wingman on the map - who doesn't want millions of eyes looking at your brand? We also had zero budget and couldn't afford TV advertising (although if we had the money we still wouldn't choose TV, but that's for another post!)
Watch Wingman's viral video here
Wingman's viral video has now been watched 4,880,793 times on YouTube and is still growing! Not bad when we created it on a shoe string budget.
But what have we learnt?
1) Views don't necessarily equal sales. Despite going onto major news channels across the world, the video didn't say much about our brand, our product, our story and who we are...two passionate individuals trying to shake up the men's grooming industry. Why would people go out and buy us after watching it, the reality is they wouldn't!
2) Make sure the content aligns with your values. All viral videos should provoke an extreme emotion, whether that be laughter, fear, sadness etc etc...that's what gets the content to be shared. If you want to be funny, the video must make a person instantly share it with 10 of his or her mates. If you want to be sensational, then do something unique that has never been done before...like land on water without a parachute?! If however the idea is disconnected with your brands values, the viewer won't make the emotional connection. In our case Wingman is about trust, reliability, quality goods and adventure. We were so hell bent on making a viral video that we didn't consider our values in the planning stages. So despite the video getting a lot of views, it didn't say much about us and had a token nod to the product (see Raphael shaving).
3) Don't piss off the internet. Our video divided public opinion. As the video raced to 100k plus views overnight we weren't prepared for what happened if it went viral!? We didn't think people would actually believe our poor CGI filmed in a green screen in London. We got it so wrong as 50% of viewers believed they were witnessing a world's first. We pissed off a lot of people (which is ok if the content aligns with your values) but our video didn't. We had a lot of negative comments, calling us liars and trying to pass the video as real and authentic. The reality is we had so much fun making the hoax, that this wasn't portrayed in the film...we really missed an opportunity to engage with our audience.
So before you think about launching a viral video, make sure you get the content mix right, be sensational, tread carefully but more importantly make sure it hits your key objectives and aligns with your values as a business...
Helping businesses achieve a competitive edge through professional visual communication and printing using my years of experience. | Logo Design | Brochures | POS | Branding | Printing | Flyers | Business Cards | Banners
2yStu, thanks for sharing!
wow. Crazy Wingsuit Flight -- Man Lands on Water Without Parachute? now at 8,195,655 views
Owner , designer , manager at ARTFashiontech Studio Gordana
8yFailures make you stronger to try again better and clever ! Persistence is the key of every success ! Never give up of your authentic life design and fulfillment.
Sales Director@Auber Packaging | PE & Laminated Cosmetic tubes #cosmeticpackaging #plasticpackaging #PCR #Ecopackaging
8yQuite true, thanks for sharing Stu. Cheers!