Since a good portion of nowadays virals online (especially holiday related but not necessarily) are spread mostly by people with families and what’s most important – jobs – maybe now it finally pays off to guide them to a product itself, not just a hype or a company logo. If so we might get yet another boost in internet sales which are going up constantly anyway with various new ways. E-book virals anyone? That might be a hit of the future and I’m sure to try it as soon as ebooks will be decent (or when apple releases it’s take on the subject – january 26?)
Stupid virals directed to younger audience can also sell a product but it creates at least a two-person chain from wanting something to buying something. Without the middlemen the buying urge can be direct and more successful.
We’ll see what happens next. Aside from the holidays there are also the “office virals” since half the time in the office we spend fooling around online. What better way to waste time than with a funny video or a wacky flash animation with your boss’ face on it. Or you can even shoot your boss out of a catapult in a clever flash game and compare your score with other happy co-workers. The ad is of course for a job agency, and I bet they had a raise in pageviews after. So is holiday-office related viral a thing of the future that we should focus on the most? Probably.
Because all I don’t want for christmas is a PSP ;)
Happy new year! I hope we will see some more creative approaches and no more dancing elves or santas in 2010!