"Viral" Videos as Marketing Tools

"Viral" Videos as Marketing Tools

Although they were first announced over a year ago, Adidas' adicolor short films received an
influx of fresh new hits when one of them hit the front page of Digg's video section the other day. The video, "Pink," directed by Charlie White, is chilling and, some would say, brilliant. But were the films a good investment for the company?

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According to the Adidas press release, seven unique directors "were each assigned one of seven colors - Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Pink, Black or White. A simple, open-ended brief asked each director to create a viral film based on their emotional and creative response to that color." Links to the rest of the films can be found at their press release page. Ostensibly, the purpose of this project was to celebrate "color, customization, and personal expression," in keeping with the branding of their adicolor line.

The issue these videos bring up is how effective viral campaigns can be for promoting your products or building your brand. I couldn't help but compare Adidas' relatively recent effort with BMW's critically acclaimed "The Hire" film series. There are a number of important differences between these two projects that may point to how successful these efforts may have been for their respective companies:

Accessibility - "The Hire" film series was accessible to almost anyone who had ever seen an action/drama film. They certainly weren't universally loved, but people understood, at a basic level, what was happening in each film. On the other hand, while some adored the adicolor films and tried to explore their deeper meanings, many people on Youtube and Digg found the experimental nature of the films bizarre and alienating.

Brand Association - Although at their core, they were glorified commercials, the BMW film series generated positive brand associations with the company's products. BMWs were shown to be incredible vehicles that could be depended upon to survive war zones, weave through city traffic, and in one particularly memorable scene, take down hostile helicopters. The adicolor films did not feature Adidas products in any prominent way.

General Buzz - "The Hire" was heavily advertised on television and received rave reviews from a variety of entertainment outlets. A couple of the BMW films were also screened at Cannes. The adicolor shorts did not receive nearly as much promotion.

It appears as though "The Hire" was a more successful brand-building investment. If Adidas' goal was solely to show its support for the independent filmmaking community, then it has succeeded admirably. However, given the adicolor films' explicit association with the adicolor line of apparel, it would seem as though their motives were not so magnanimous. In that case, the adicolor films represent an important lesson: Creating viral works of art is a risky and challenging proposition. From an investment standpoint, it's always best to have a clear goal before proceeding.

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