Here are the thoughts of a couple of the speakers from our recent Contagious Content event that we put on with Kantar Media:

Contagious Content from PRmoment on Vimeo.

If you work in PR you've most probably had the client request – “make me a viral." Needless to say it’s never as simple as that. A viral campaign is an outcome – it can never be a strategy. It was within this context that we put on an event with Kantar media discussing what makes content contagious/shareable.

Marshall Manson Managing Director EAME at Ogilvy and Mather identified three things content needs to make it fly:

1. Emotion. If content creates emotion with viewers/readers then it is far more likely to be impactful. A cracking example of this is the Go Pro video promoting its dog mount.

Another awesome example was Greenpeace’s video to put pressure on Lego to end their 50 year partnership with Shell.

2. Deliver the unexpected. By delivering the unexpected you not only capture the audience’s attention but also your message becomes more memorable.

This is perfectly demonstrated by Air New Zealand’s “The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made” video.

3. Entertain and Excite. When all is said and done, consumers watch content to be entertained. If you remember this and empathise with your audience to create something that will resonate with them – you are far more likely to be successful.

BA’s Magic of Flying outdoor campaign captured this concept pretty well. If you entertain and excite – sharing is sure to follow.

Kantar Media’s Anna Salter outlined their criteria to assess the how contagious or shareable a campaign is.

The keys attributes of shareable content according to Kantars research are:

Relevance

Emotional

Currency

Handiness

Further details of this methodology can be seen in the diagram below.

This event was in partnership with Kantar Media: