How Insertion Techniques are Changing Viral Videos

There is a new trend in viral videos that have been popping up all over the internet lately – the ability to insert your (or someone else’s) image into the video in order to create a personalized viewing experience, often with extremely entertaining results.

With the holidays quickly approaching, Disney Family has launched the video “See Who Made Santa’s List“. This is a great (not to mention, free) way to get your kids excited for the holidays. Once you register for the Disney Family site, all you have to do is upload a picture of your child (seeing as I am currently childless, I uploaded a picture of Macauley Culkin from Home Alone), enter his or her name, and within seconds your child gets a personalized video message from Santa letting them know that they are on the “nice” list.

Merry Christmas, Macauley!

This is a smart move on Disney Family’s part for a few reasons. One, before making the video, you need to actually register for the Disney Family site, thus becoming a part of their community. Also, from a marketing standpoint, the holidays are an extremely important time of the year for Disney – anything that they can do to higher their chances of cashing in at this gift giving time of year can only help to increase their sales. And viral marketing has proven time and time again as an effective and cost effective way to generate buzz around a name/product.

Another company that has launced a holiday viral campaign is Office Max with “Elf Yourself“. My personal favorite of all the insertion viral videos I have seen, your facial image is inserted into the body of an elf (you can upload up to 5 pictures for 5 different elves). You can then choose from 4 different dances: The Chalreston, Disco, Country, or Classic. Then, click away and watch as you (in elf form) dance merrily around your screen. I tried it with my image (which was funny), but then I decided I would much rather see someone else dancing like an elf to country music. And who better than David Hasselhoff?

The Hoff - Elf Style

Now, I would love to show you the actual video, but there is a one time $4.99 download fee in order to put the video onto your computer. This is wise for a few reasons – first of, they market the download as a holiday gift: once downloaded, you can either transfer the download to a DVD or watch it on any media player. They are also getting publicity: after the holidays, students are returning to school and are going to need office supplies. This added exposure will surely increase their post holiday sales.

Jibjab (which actually sponsers Elf Yourself), has also launched a series of holiday insertion videos, including “It’s a JibJab Life“, a remake of (you guessed it!) “It’s a Wonderful Life“. One of the pioneers of insertion viral videos, JibJab allows you to watch a preview of “It’s a Jibjab Life” but requires you to subscribe in order to actually insert your own images. You have the choice of either a one year subscription for $15.99 or a 6 month subscription for $9.99. With your subscription, you get unlimited access to all of their “Starring You” insertion videos. Jibjab has done an excellent job in carving out a niche in the personal greetings industry. They make a valid point – a traditional card will cost you between $3 and $5 dollars in the store, whereas when you join JibJab, you have unlimited access to personalized e-greeting cards (many that enable you to upload your own images) for every possible occassion.

While using insertion techniques has proven an effective method at increasing sales results, it has recently been used for other, perhaps more noble, reasons. We all know that this year was an extremely important election year, and 2 sites used viral insertion videos to increase awareness. The first, “You for President”, comes up as a fictional news site reporting a story of a virtual unknown (aka you) becoming a viable candidate for President. The second, Obama’s Loss Traced to a Single Voter, is also a fictional news story that allows you to insert your or someone else’s name as the sole vote responsible for the the outcome of the election. While it is fun to add your name into these political faux news stories, they both raised awareness for the importance of voting to an important audiences. Most of the people viewing these viral videos tend to be of a younger generation – a generation that historically does not turn out in high numbers to vote.

Viral videos can raise sales, raise awareness, or raise traffic to your site, and the introduction of insertion technology into these videos has only increased their appeal by making them a personal experience for each user.

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