As consumers we’re over stimulated every day with images, either entertaining or for marketing, but often they’re both.
There’s a constant struggle in the integrated marketing world to be the first and to get your stories to go viral. The best viral stories have boosted brands, TV shows, celebrities, and even social channels. They all have us thinking, “why didn’t I come up with that?”
Here are some of our favorite integrated marketing campaigns that we can’t stop talking about:
Jimmy Kimmel’s Twerking Fail:
The world couldn’t stop watching – or sharing – a video of a woman twerking and then unexpectedly setting herself on fire. Then TV host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel revealed that the twerk fail was a stunt set up by him and his team along with a stuntwoman. While relieved the woman is OK, it was a bit of a let down for the audience to learn that the viral video was indeed a fake.
Lena Dunham & Jemima Kirke’s Real Life Friendship:
Lena Dunham broke out onto thescene with her indie film, Tiny Furniture, starring her friend Jemima Kirke. Dunham went on to create, produce, and star in HBO’s hit Girls, bringing Kirke along with her as a co-star. The two are public about their real-life friendship and screenshots of their text message conversations were such a hit on Dunham’s Instagram account that the PR team behind Girls would use the photos through the social marketing for the show. Plus, most of the media created around the new season has been developed around the real-life friendship.
Walking Dead Zombies:
The PR team behind the popular ‘Walking Dead’ show let a lot of zombies loose in cities around the country. They sat back and enjoyed everyone freak out as zombies staggered through the streets.
Honey Boo Boo’s Scratch, Sniff, & Tweet:
The reality TV family who are self-proclaimed rednecks have stolen the hearts of America with their antics and hard to understand one-liners. The TLC show, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” keeps fans engaged through scratch n’ sniff advertisements in magazines such as People. Grab the magazine, pull out the ad, and when prompted during the show just scratch and sniff for a special scent during a scene! Plus, live tweets from viewers pop up during the show, such as during the recent commitment ceremony between Mama June and Sugar Bear. To be honest, we were too scared to try any of the scents.
Arrested Development’s Banana Stand Tour:
It was a big moment in TV history when the cult-favorite “Arrested Development” sitcom was brought back to life by video streaming service Netflix. The original FOX series was cut short in 20006 and its comeback was hyped up by Netflix with a tour of the famous Bluth banana stands making appearances in major U.S. cities. On the show, the banana stand was owned by the wealthy family and was even used to hide their cash. Fan photos of the Bluth banana stand, along with the frozen bananas that were being handed out quickly went viral on social media – just what Netflix wanted.
To get your brand’s story to go viral, you not only need to understand the brand’s message, but also have a good story that your audience will catch onto. Sometimes a little bit of luck helps, too.
What are your favorite viral stories that stuck with you? Tell us in the comments!