Viral marketing is a very carefully designed and crafted process that needs time and patience to work. It consists of viral messages that tend to appeal to a specific category of individuals with high social networking potential, who communicate and spread these messages quickly. When viral marketing works, the results are immense; a brand’s image can change overnight, a freshly launched product can become an immediate success.

The growth of social media has largely contributed to the effectiveness of viral marketing. Lately, though, the term ‘viral’ is used mostly to describe humorous (sometimes) celebrity (most of the times) videos that become immensely popular globally in such a short period of time through internet sharing, via email, social media and sharing websites.

I am sure that most of you have already watched this video of Jean-Claude Van Damme and his incredible (and 100% real!) stunt for Volvo Trucks, with Enya’s iconic “Only Time” on the background. The “Epic Split” is such a huge success that many created parodies within days to steal some of its gold dust of viral fame.

First was this; a parody of the original video made by Artjail, a NYC visual effects studio, ‘starring’ Rob Ford, the disgraced Toronto Mayor, which had over a million views within a day. This is a great example of how a huge viral success story can be utilised to promote other people’s work.

And then, I came across an even crazier parody; infamous Hollywood actor Channing Tatum embraced the craze and performed his “Epic Split” while on set for his new movie “22 Jump Street”, showing how a very successful advert can help you promote your own work, even if it’s totally irrelevant. And if you haven’t watched this already, check it out!

But then, there are videos like this. An effort to create something fun and simple, an attempt to work on a new project using tools I am not yet familiar with, help my peers to get to know me, and probably give my friends a reason to laugh at me! All I am trying to say is that I’m not hoping that this video will go viral, and I just pray that it will not turn into a parody, too.

What do you think? Have you attempted to do something similar to promote your own work? Please leave your comments below.

Thanks for sharing!