7 Viral Videos That Can Inspire Your Own Viral Success

I like viral videos, they can be a lot of fun – that’s usually the reason they go viral. Either that or they are shocking, interesting, inspiring… Many viral videos are not commercial, there’s no company behind it, just regular people that caught something unique on video (although some people try to monetize the views once the video goes viral). But sometimes companies/organizations make a video hoping that it goes viral.

Here are 7 videos (in no particular order) that made me smile and have gotten millions of views. Maybe they’ll inspire you to create your own viral video :)

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008 version)

Over 45 million views

Matthew Harding has made a few of these “Where the Hell is Matt?” videos and they’ve all been very popular. So popular that Stride (the gum brand) offered to sponsor the 2006 version as well as this one.

(Video link)

Make It Count

Over 8 million views

Apparently Nike paid this guy (Casey Neistat) to make a movie promoting their Nike+ Fuelband. Instead of making their movie he spent the entire budget traveling around the world with his friend Max. They kept going until the money ran out :) It took 10 days.

The preview image (thumbnail) for this video is no coincidence – it has probably attracted a lot of extra views ;)

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Piano Stairs

Over 18 million views

The Fun Theory is an initiative of Volkswagen – it’s dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better.

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A Dramatic Surprise On a Quiet Square

Over 43 million views

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=316AzLYfAzw

TNT created this fun and creative video revolving around their slogan “We Know Drama”.

(Video link)

Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Over 44 million views

This video went crazy viral very fast – currently it has over 44 million views! It’s short and funny. Old Spice has continued to create a lot of other videos that have also been very popular.

“I’m on a horse” :)

(Video link)

The T-Mobile Dance

Over 37 million views

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM

T-Mobile tapped into the popularity of flash mobs a few years ago and orchestrated this fun event :)

(Video link)

The Landlord

Over 79 million views

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay created this brilliant video to launch their site Funny or Die. It was a huge success and they are still creating funny videos with celebs that go viral.

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Inspiration & Your Own Viral Video

It’s interesting to watch these kind of creative videos that go viral – you can get inspiration for your own videos or for other projects. Some viral videos are meant to promote a specific product (Nike+ Fuelband, TNT channel and Old Spice shampoo) while others are more just for awareness/branding/good will (Stride, Volkswagen, T-Mobile and Funny or Die).

I was at a lecture recently about customer experience and marketing where Bernd Schmitt said (I might be paraphrasing):

If you make people happy it’s likely that they’ll become loyal customers

So, that’s another reason to create fun videos that hopefully go viral – people associate this nice feeling (from watching the video) with your brand :)

These videos are just a few examples of how marketing can be a lot of fun :) Do you have a favorite viral video? Have you made a viral video? Let us know in the comments.