Perhaps the most well known alternative advertising technique is the viral video. Short videos, usually humorous or controversial, are created. These videos are different from traditional commercials in that the goal is generally to entertain the audience, not to inform them about a particular product. While information transferal often occurs as well, the aim of the viral video is to amuse. The idea is that getting the product into the public consciousness is the best thing that you can do; if people are curious, they will look up the details themselves.

This model makes the consumer active in the process of advertising. The consumer seeks out the product, meaning that they are already putting forth more effort than the traditional television-watcher. Because the consumer has been active, the likelihood that the particulars of the product will stick with them is greatly increased, meaning that when the consumer does need to purchase something like the product, they will be more likely to remember the particular product that they viewed the viral video for.

Consumer-Generated Content

This active model of consumer involvement extends beyond merely making customers search out further information on their own. Many viral video campaigns seek out consumer-generated content. They ask people to create the advertising that they will disseminate virally over the web.

Take Converse, maker of the ubiquitous “Chuck Taylor” high tops, as well as athletic shoes of all stripes, which used online video promotion to collect 24 seconds films for use in a future TV campaign. Converse asked fans and filmmakers to create short works that embodied "the values and spirit of Converse." The grand prize was $10,000 and the opportunity to have one’s video used in a national, traditional television advertising campaign. The exposure for aspiring filmmakers was the main draw. Even if one’s video did not win the grand prize, all submissions were posted online at the ConverseGallery, viewable to anyone with internet access.

According to an article in the Boston Herald, Converse received 250 submissions within the first three weeks. The gallery, where the submissions are still viewable, drew 3 million visits within the first three months. The campaign's objective, according to Converse executives, was to facilitate "a conversation among those in our community." Given the age and mobile lifestyle of the brand's target market, placing the films online first made perfect sense. Submissions could be “road-tested” to see which ones had the greatest impact simply be keeping track of how often each one was viewed, and how great the penetration for each video was by keeping track of how often they popped up on other websites. All of this could be accomplished for a price still far below the cost of a television ad buy in primetime.

In another (slightly different) example, Georgia-Pacific used viral video techniques and user generated content to relaunch its Brawny paper towel brand. Brawny had a definite image, a strong, burly paper towel represented by a strong an burly man. However, the Brawny man was decidedly stuck in the seventies. To rectify this, Georgia-Pacific created a more modern, sensitive character that is now being promoted with an interactive ad campaign that includes tongue-in-cheek online videos designed to create consumer buzz, as well as more traditional television commercial and print campaigns.

The launch of this entertaining viral video campaign, in which the new, modern Brawny Man caters to a woman's every whim, demonstrates an understanding of the viral video market by Georgia-Pacific that few other large-name, traditional companies can boast. Developing a successful online video campaign is not as simple as creating a commercial and then offering it for online viewing.

Brawny's and Converse's online video efforts differ from unsuccessful attempts because they don't rely on re-purposed material or typical ad spot formats. They are perfect expressions of the “active consumer” model: the company kept it’s own involvement to a minimum. The consumer did the work of getting the word out about the product. In Converse’s case, the consumer created the ad itself.

The online video is an advertisement in disguise; it entertains within the context of a brand, builds enthusiasm by providing access to exclusive material, and reinforces the relationship between consumer and company through interaction.

Viral Penetration

Video may still be in its infancy compared to other Internet marketing methods, such as paid search, but it's gaining momentum, and fast. Broadband Internet penetration exceeds 55 percent in U.S. households, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. This rising access to high-speed internet coupled with television innovations like DVRs make online ad campaigns more and more attractive, even to the most traditional advertisers. DVRs allow viewers to simply skip over ads they don't want to watch, making passive delivery a losing proposition. The consumer must be interested in and excited about the product, and viral video campaigns both generate and prove this interest and excitement. Internet users are not wowed by ads that can be just as easily viewed offline. They're looking for originality, entertainment, and purpose. They don't want repackaged television ads.

Consumers may find rehashed material on the Web they missed on TV, but that doesn't generate brand excitement or word-of-mouth promotion. In many ways, online video that is little more than re-purposed television advertising represents a missed opportunity.

Video has been being pushed as the next big thing for years. There are increasing numbers of online video publishing formats, and new platforms better allow users to interact with video ads. The stage is finally set for traditional marketers to make the most of a medium that's been underutilized for far too long. Will these marketers innovate or continue to misguidedly use online video as a TV substitute? The answer lies in consumer reaction. If just a small number of advertisers lay the groundwork for online video campaigns that serve a definable purpose and show quantifiable success, many traditional companies will surely be persuaded to do the same.

Until then, let's hope Internet users don't start viewing online video as the desperate offline marketer's attempt to reach them. There's no telling how many Brawny Men it would take to reverse a reputation like that.