The document summarizes a study conducted by The Wharton School to identify the key determinants of successful viral ads. The study analyzed 73 pairs of viral and non-viral ads based on various content categories. Univariate analysis found surprise, creativity, cuteness, humor and emotion were significantly more present in viral ads. Multivariate logistic regression found surprise, cuteness, creativity and emotion were the most significant predictors of viral success. The study aims to help design more effective viral ads by validating factors that drive online sharing.

1. THE SECRETS OF
VIRAL ADS
YORAM (JERRY) WIND
The Wharton School’s Future of Advertising Program

2. YORAM (JERRY) WIND
The Lauder Professor & Professor of Marketing
Director, SEI Center for Advanced Studies
in Management
Academic Director, Wharton Fellows
THE WHARTON SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
#PASummit

3. WHAT ARE THE KEY DETERMINANTS
of successful viral ads?

4. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT
successful viral ads?

5. 1. DO VIRAL STRATEGIES YIELD
ACTUAL BUSINESS RESULTS?
Yes No Unsure

6. 1. DO VIRAL STRATEGIES YIELD
ACTUAL BUSINESS RESULTS?
• Fame is a more powerful strategy than
emotional involvement, rational or
combined emotional and rational1
Yes • Fame campaigns achieve the highest
results for profit, price sensitivity, sales,
loyalty and penetration1
• “Fame” means WOM/buzz and turning
consumers into brand advocates1

7. 2. ARE EMOTIONAL ADS MORE
EFFECTIVE THAN COGNITIVE ADS?
Yes No Unsure

8. 2. ARE EMOTIONAL ADS MORE
EFFECTIVE THAN COGNITIVE ADS?
• 2
Emotional strategies are more profitable.
• Emotional strategies yield stronger
Yes business results in terms of sales, share,
price elasticity, loyalty and penetration. 2
• Emotional strategies build stronger
brands in terms of awareness, fame
(WOM), differentiation, commitment,
image, quality and trust. 2
• “More positive or more negative content
is more viral than content that does not
evoke emotion.” 1

9. 3. ARE POSITIVE EMOTIONS MORE
EFFECTIVE THAN NEGATIVE ONES?
Yes No Unsure

10. 3. ARE POSITIVE EMOTIONS MORE
EFFECTIVE THAN NEGATIVE ONES?
• “Videos that elicit positive valence emotions
(irrespective of arousal direction) were shared 20%
more than those that elicited a negative valence
emotion.” 2
Yes – Positive High Arousal Emotions: Exhilaration,
Hilarity, Astonishment, Inspiration
– Positive Low Arousal Emotions: Happiness,
Amusement, Surprise, Calmness
• “Videos that elicit high arousal, positive valence
emotions were shared considerably more on average
per day (at minimum 30% more) than videos within
any of the remaining arousal/valence groups.” 2
• “Positive content is more viral than negative
content.” 1

11. 4. DO CREATIVE DRIVERS SUCH AS
ENJOYMENT, INVOLVEMENT AND BRANDING
PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
Yes No Unsure

12. 4. DO CREATIVE DRIVERS SUCH AS
ENJOYMENT, INVOLVEMENT AND BRANDING
PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
• “The three individual elements of
enjoyment, involvement and branding
Yes all had a significant positive
correlation with our logged views per
week measure..”
• “Involvement and enjoyment are
clearly the more important of these
measures, and will be the main
mechanisms by which a film will have
most of its effect online.”

13. 5. DOES AD DISTINCTIVENESS POSITIVELY
PREDIT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
Yes No Unsure

14. 5. DOES AD DISTINCTIVENESS POSITIVELY
PREDIT ONLINE VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
• “Distinctiveness is identified as a key
determinant of viral viewing.”1
Yes • Intriguing content that fosters the
imagination is linked to increased viral
diffusion online.2

15. 6. DO LEVELS OF CATEGORY AND BRAND
INTEREST POSITIVELY PREDICT ONLINE
VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
Yes No Unsure

16. 6. DO LEVELS OF CATEGORY AND BRAND
INTEREST POSITIVELY PREDICT ONLINE
VIRAL VIEWING VOLUME?
• The study does not conclude
that levels of category and
No brand interest positively predict
online viral viewing volume. (p-
value > 0.1)

17. 7. DOES CELEBRITY POPULARITY
POSITIVELY PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL
VIEWING VOLUME?
Yes No Unsure

18. 7. DOES CELEBRITY POPULARITY
POSITIVELY PREDICT ONLINE VIRAL
VIEWING VOLUME?
• Celebrity presence in ads builds WOM.1
Yes • Celebrity popularity positively predicts
online viral viewing volume.2

19. THE BASIS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE ON WHAT
MAKES SUCCESSFUL VIRAL ADS
Berger, Milkman. (2011)“What Makes Online Content Viral?”
Izawa. (2010) “What Makes Viral Videos Viral?: Roles of Emotion, Impression,
Utility and Social Ties in Online Sharing Behavior”
Field. (2011) “The Link Between Creativity and Effectiveness”
Porter, Golan. (2006) “From Subservient Chickens to Brawny men: A Comparison
of Viral Advertising to Television Advertising”
YOUR
EXPERIENCE Southgate, Westoby, Page. (2010) “Creative Determinants of Viral Video Viewing”
PLUS:
Teixeira. (2012) “The New Science of Viral Ads”
Peretti, Frumin. “Viral Marketing for the Real World”
Woerndl, Papagiannidis, Bourlakis. (2008) “Internet-Induced Marketing
Techniques: Critical Factors in Viral Marketing Campaigns”
Nelson-Field, K., Riebe, E. and Newstead, K. “Emotional Drivers of Video Sharing:
A Multi-Study Approach,” (working paper, forthcoming 2012)

20. The
WHARTON
Study

21. THE OBJECTIVE:
1. Identify the key differentiating characteristics of viral vs. non-viral ads.
2. Design new test and control ads based on these (and other) findings.
3. Test the new ads to validate our findings.

22. THE FIRST PHASE OF THE
RESEARCH DESIGN
73 pairs of ads – high vs. low viral distribution
for the same brand and if possible the same
campaign.

23. SELECTION OF THE ADS
73 pairs of ads – successful vs. unsuccessful in getting viral distribution
INDSUTR
TITLE AGENCY BRAND SOURCE VIEWS
Y
Visible
VIRAL Live Young Beverages Evian 160,576,979
BETC Euro Measures
NON- Baby and New RSCG
VIRAL
Beverages Evian YouTube 352,542
Evian Bottle
INDSUTR
TITLE AGENCY BRAND SOURCE VIEWS
Y
Health & Visible
VIRAL Responses Weiden + Old Spice 81,054,872
Beauty Measures
Kennedy
NON- Health & (Portland)
VIRAL Farewell, Fabio Old Spice YouTube 332,401
Beauty

24. SELECTION OF THE VIDEOS
• Criteria for selection of the viral advertisements
• Used the top 100 viral advertisements according to the Visible
Measures database
• Eliminated videos that were no longer available online
• Eliminated videos that did not have an appropriate non-viral pair
• Criteria for the selection of non-viral advertisements
• If the viral ad was aired on TV, the matched non-viral ad must have
also aired on TV
• Must have fewer than 1,000,000 views according to YouTube
• Must have been released within 1 year of the corresponding viral
ad
24

25. Only 10 Brands had more than
one viral video in the top 73.
INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN
Beverages
Health & Beauty
Automotive
Apparel & Accessories
Electronics
Food
Telecommunications
Financial Services
Insurance
Software
Household Products
Energy
Dining
Sports
Media
Retail
Other
25

26. TOP 6

27. 1. OLD SPICE
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Responses* Title: Farewell, Fabio
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 81,054,872 Views: 332,401
Comments: 86,877 Comments: 886
*In addition to the video shown here this data refers to all the videos in the Old Spice Responses campaign.

28. 2. VOLKSWAGEN
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: The Force Title: That’s what he says?
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 59,262,107 Views: 10,482
Comments: 36,720 Comments: 41

29. 3. DC SHOES
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Epic Meal Time Presents
Title: Gymkhana 2 the Reasons why Gymkhana 4 is
the Best
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 59,169,659 Views: 337,685
Comments: 33,425 Comments: 896

30. 4. MICROSOFT
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: 2009 Xbox Project Natal Title: Kinect for XBOX 360
Announcement Entertainment
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 54,071,560 Views: 555
Comments: 198,987 Comments: 5

31. 5. OLD SPICE
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Odor Blocker (campaign) Title: Jungle Wilderness
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 52,808,713 Views: 355,459
Comments: 51,112 Comments: 151

32. 6. EVIAN
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Roller Babies Title: Baby and New Evian Bottle*
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 160,576,979 Views: 352,452
Comments: 55,111 Comments: 56

33. BOTTOM 5

34. 69. KIA
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: A New Way to Roll Title: Night Court
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 7,944,479 Views: 239,683
Comments: 13,863 Comments: 23

35. 70. LANE BRYANT
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Not What Mom Would
Title: 3 Truths
Wear
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 7,822,518 Views: 17,133
Comments: 8,643 Comments: 5

36. 71. NIKE
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Don’t Fear the Sweeper
Title: Today Was a Good Day
Tour: Part One
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 7,520,772 Views: 153,880
Comments: 18,543 Comments: 591

37. 72. CHEVROLET
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Misunderstanding Title: Transformers 3 ‘Getaway’
Aired on TV: Yes Aired on TV: Yes
Views: 7,449,159 Views: 388,027
Comments: 2.931 Comments: 121

38. 73. GOOGLE
VIRAL NON-VIRAL
Title: Google Chrome: The
Title: Gmail Motion
Johnny Cash Project
Aired on TV: No Aired on TV: No
Views: 7,297,871 Views: 258,159
Comments: 16,527 Comments: 76

39. The
ANALYSIS
Content analysis by two
independent coders based on
literature review

40. 1. CONTENT ANALYSIS BY TWO
INDEPENDENT CODERS BASED ON
LITERATURE REVIEW

41. 2. CONTENT CATEGORIES BASED ON
ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL
VIRAL ADS
– Superbowl – Celebrities
– Call to action – Humor
– Cause – Cute
– Co-creation – Sex
– Mascot – Rational Appeal
– Creative – Emotional Appeal
– Children – Facebook Likes
– Animals – Twitter Followers

42. 3. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DATA
USING A TWO PHASE APPROACH:
• Univariate analysis of the pairs using McNemar test
• Multivariate analysis using logistic regression

43. The
RESULTS

44. RESULTS (1): PAIR WISE MCNEMAR TEST
• The significant variables:
– Super Bowl.....................11 viral and 0 non-viral
– Creative…......................35 viral and 4 non-viral
– Surprise….....................18 viral and 1 non-viral
– Children…....................18 viral and 8 non-viral
– Humor…......................19 viral and 8 non-viral
– Cute…..........................19 viral and 2 non-viral
– Emotional....................15 viral and 3 non-viral
– Rational…...................4 viral and 16 non-viral

45. RESULTS (2): MULTIVARIATE TEST—
LOGISTIC REGRESSION
• Only 4 of the variables are significant
– Surprise
– Cute
– Creative
– Emotional
• These results in 60 out of the 73 (82%) viral to be
above the “best” cutoff and 52 out of 73 (71%) non-
viral to be below the cutoff.

46. Discussion and
CONCLUSIONS

47. NEXT STEPS:
• Moving forward in designing ads based on the study
and testing them for actual impact in the marketplace
• Encouraging every one of you to design viral ads and
test their impact.

49. END OF STORY
SMILE IF YOU LIKED IT
YORAM (JERRY) WIND
The Lauder Professor and
Professor of Marketing
Director, SEI Center for Advanced
Studies in Management
The Wharton School
windj@wharton.upenn.edu