Viral by design

In an attempt directed at securing the college-age market Coca-Cola partnered with a group of engineering students and a couple of YouTube stars to produce this online video.  It’s a nice case study on viral marketing by design.  While some viral pieces just happen by accident, there really is a science (and an art) to making it happen (as opposed to just hoping).

Here are a few tips to make viral happen for you:

• Consider the market you wish to hit, then gear everything around it (topic, contacts, medium, etc.)
• Irresistible!  If others find the urge to share it irresistible, you've got it made!  Without this, you don't have viral.
  
• Crowdsource - tap into the creativity of the masses
• Jumpstart it all with high-octane social media contacts.  Coke used Justine Ezarik (iJustine) and Josh Chomik (TheComputerNerd01).
• The message must get through - your brand, slogan, etc. "Share a coke" does that.

The students built an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine , including Coke’s polar bears, Pac-Man, a double rainbow, etc.  After two days of construction, they invite other students (who were, at the time, in the middle of final exams) to the big unveiling.  Even though they had a bit of corporate help, it’s still a fun project - and the whole thing kept the "student project" feel.  I understand there were 12 engineering students from Harvey Mudd and CalTech.  This is important, because its not just another commercial, it's a cool project students will share - voila, its viral!

After watching the video, please leave a comment to share some of your favorite viral pieces.