This is a brief look at what makes a good piece of viral media. Viral media is something which after it’s creation is then placed or baited on particular sites or means which enable it to be passed from one consumer to the next.. ie; e-mail chains or youtube videos. Youtube videos are perhaps the best example so I’ll use these as examples. For those who know I’m looking at creating a viral for non-profit, grassroots initiative dealing with prostitution and people trafficking in Bournemouth and Poole where I live. I’ve got a few friends on the side lines who put me onto this and help me run with it.. but as far as work goes at the moment it’s all me.. the trick with what I’ve noticed is with an issue with people trafficking and prostitution is it’s still a largely taboo subject.. and even then the vast majority of people suffer from apathy so how do you reach past that?
Successful virals are always one of a number of things..
Funny
This is the most obvious example people would recognise and I’m sure most of us have been involved in something like this even if we can’t remember the company behind it. If something makes us laugh we’ll probably want to pass that on to our friends. Why? I guess because it gives us some form of pleasure I guess. Better examples will perhaps feature a product within the viral linking the product in with the concept.. but since what I’m trying to promote is ideological and on a simpler level a click through onto the website suggested.. their isn’t at the moment a product to feature I wouldn’t think.
Given the subject in question (prostitution and people trafficking) it’d be a challenge how I could bring out humour from the subject.
Shock
Aside from Funny creating a sense of pleasure, some media use a shock factor to reach people or to even motivate a sense of fear in the participant.
Obvious the aim isn’t really to cause anyone to be happy, but the advert leaves an impression.. and in that sense works.. in the case of the first two videos there isn’t a product but a warning or a service. If mine isn’t offering a service (which isn’t neccisarily the case) this could be something to think about since the reason prostitution and people trafficking are largely taboo subjects is mostly because they are often associated with a moral viewpoint or take.. some sort of definition of right and wrong.. and that it’s generally uncomfortable and doesn’t directly connect to you and me. Obviously I want to make people realise it does affect them.. so there is the potential for this to be exploited if delivered properly.
Empathy
Videos which pull on the heartstrings of the audience tend to be the least effective of videos, these are ones which try to get users to ‘rethink their life’ because quite often people don’t want to.. to be honest. However this does work to some extent and can reach some audiences more than others it seems. An example of this is the ‘real beauty’ campaign which has gone some way to increasing the sale of Dove products or atleast raising brand awareness.
Innovation/Creativity/Wonder
‘New Language’
Of course the aim is to get the viewer to remember the product, raise brand awareness and eventually consumer and get others to consume aswell. With an issue like People trafficking and Prostitution at a glance the best response in terms of viral media is to use a mix of shock and empathetic approaches to drawing in an audience. An alternative approach is to use something potentially going with the same concept as the Sony Bravia TV adverts (or Honda/Levi) which instead just have a sense of creativity and playfulness.. and almost suggest a ‘can you guess what it is yet’ attitude which engages the audience i think to a greater extent.
Examples of existing video media on a similiar theme.
Do you think these videos are successful? If we couple this with a face, a locality.. to say “this is going on now” I think this would encourage people to perhaps respond and get involved. The videos all work on a shock basis as evident, they also then exploit an emphasis on creativity and elements of empathy showing that the sex industry is connected to more than just two people doing something. If we can place this instead of somewhere like germany, america.. romania but say.. in boscombe or even winton i think this would raise awareness and inspire people to act on it and raise awareness of the initiative. I think then if you could get local faces, or people who might be known locally to comment on this in camera you could then do something.
I think the real thing I’ve just realised is that the artefact can’t come first or things can’t wait for a website but that things need to be organised and awareness raised which the artefact as a medium can convey.. I need to work with people in order to build a community or network under this which i can then broadcast…? People who could do research.. do filming.. do interviews.. do events.. do gigs… do art.. do music.. do petitions.. do filming.. do drama.. do stuff.. namely because i need this to be grassroots to work.
Sex/Slavery Initiatives
Call and Response Website- http://www.callandresponse.com/
Stop the Traffik- http://www.stopthetraffik.org/
Love 146- http://www.jfci.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=21460
Open Source Activism- http://www.opensourceactivism.com/
Loose Chains to Loosen Chains- http://www.lc2lc.org/
Not for Sale- http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
Polaris Project- http://actioncenter.polarisproject.org/
