There are many ways to produce an attention-getting video, but much of it still feels like alchemy.
Lucky for us, Stephanie Buck has pinned eight tricks for brands to try—ones that have made other vids big hits. “Today’s consumer loves quirk, something different that he can catchphrase or hashtag,” she writes. “The trick is finding that wacky hook that will turn your campaign viral.”
Here are three of her tips, but make sure you read her AmEx Open Forum article for all eight!
Tap into modern humor. Take a look at Chuck Testa’s “Official Ojai Valley Taxidermy TV commercial.” Buck credits the director’s treatment of the odd subject of taxidermy and Testa’s dry humor with the creation of a funny video full of irony—a favorite form of humor with today’s viewers.
Vary your delivery. Google’s “Parisian Love,” so successful online that the company decided to buy Super Bowl airtime, tells its story using only music and its search engine, inviting users to read instead of passively watching. They engaged in the search, which is at the heart of Google’s service proposition.
Go interactive. Remember this one? It’s one of the all-time winners. Tippex’s “NSFW. A hunter shoots a bear!” lured users with a provocative title, then captivated them with the unexpected: They could change the interaction between hunter and bear by typing into the video’s title, “whited out” with Tippex.
You can never tell what will get people excited enough to take your video viral, but you can start to capture actionable ideas from those who’ve already succeeded.
The Po!nt: Shoot like a star. Learning from video winners won’t just help your chances; it’ll help you build confidence as you learn to play online in brand-new ways.
