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Kenny Burns, an industry veteran & former VP at Rocafella Records, understands the impact and advantages viral media carries with establishing an artist in today's music industry. Burns has worked with developing artists such as Monica, Mariah Carey, Kanye West and Wale, and has seen first hand the transition of how marketing and branding recording artists has changed tremendously over the last 15 years. Burns experience in marketing and branding has helped him crossover in creating viral media campaigns not only for recording artists, but also for company's such as Heineken, AXE, Sprite and Belvedere.
Creating effective viral media varies in a huge way from traditional standards of advertising. Traditional advertising (i.e.: billboards & print ads) depends heavily on selling a product, while viral media focuses more so on selling an experience. Burns believes that the key to maximizing the exposure of a product through viral media can be done through 7 simple steps:
- - Playing on the emotions of your consumer
- - Doing the unexpected
- - Never creating advertisements
- - Using sequels to keep your consumer’s attention
- - Allowing sharing of content
- - Never restricting access to members only
- - Reinventing your campaign before its too late
Playing on the emotions of your consumer
Target a strong emotion within your consumer. You have to express an opinion towards an idea with commitment and dedication. You want your consumer to be filled with love or hate, very happy or very angry, but never neutral. Your consumers’ excitement towards your viral media campaign is what will propel the word-of-mouth and energy behind it. Remember viral media is 100% about emotion.
Doing the unexpected
Consumers will always pay attention and notice what they never expect. The key is to be different, and never simply relying on promoting your product as the best or being great (because everyone does that). What can you do the grab your consumers’ attention that hasn’t been done?
Never creating advertisements
Viral media is more than gets advertisements placed online, and this is the biggest mistake many companies make in venturing into the viral media field. Traditional marketing is about promoting your product and giving it the center stage for consumers can see how great it is, but that boring and out dated. You want your consumers to buy into more than just your product, but also buy into your brand experience. Viral media is about experiences and exposing lifestyle that is associated around a particular brand, and never focusing too heavily on promoting the product directly.
Using sequels to keep your consumer’s attention
Your potential consumer has seen your campaign, it has triggered an emotion, and you now have their attention, but now what? You have their attention so use their interest in your brand in creating sequels or continuations to your campaign.
Allowing sharing of content
Sharing is what viral media is all about. Allow your consumer the ability to download, embed, and send links of your viral content.
Never restricting access to members only
Viral media is never about exclusivity; it’s about the ability of presenting content that everyone can see.
Reinventing your campaign before its too late
You should begin your viral media campaign with an endpoint in mind, because you always want to remain new and innovative in your consumers’ eyes. Overdoing the time span of a viral media campaign can be detrimental to a brand’s identity, and cause consumers’ to lose interest in the brand.
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