FLEAMARKET MONTGOMERY: USING VIRAL VIDEOS AS A POWERFUL MARKETING TOOL
The reason viral videos are such a favorite in marketing should be easy enough to understand: A viral video is free exposure to millions of people.
Before broadband internet made these videos possible, a company would have to spend millions of dollars for a Superbowl ad if they wanted that kind of an audience.
Regarding the title of this chapter, Fleamarket Montgomery is actually a furniture store slash mini-mall slash flea market located in Montgomery, Alabama. The store is owned by Sammy Stephens, a businessman from the area, and while it had already been providing him a comfortable living, there was really no hope of him ever being able to afford nationwide advertising.
WHAT MAKES SAMMY STEPHENS SO GREAT?
Stephens produced a TV commercial, initially intended only to air locally, featuring himself dancing and singing an upbeat rap song about his store. Well, you've probably seen it by now, but if you haven't, do yourself a favor, go on Youtube, and look up Fleamarket Montgomery.
Somebody from the Montgomery area saw the video, thought "Man this is hilarious! I think the whole world deserves to see this!" So they put it online, and even though they gave it the misnomer "Worst local commercial ever!" it now has more than ten million views. A second, longer version has about five million, and various "clones", copies that have been uploaded by fans of the original video , similarly have millions of views.
A number of "remix" videos have been put up online as well. Stephens recorded the video against a bluescreen, and then released the bluescreen version to the public, so fans have taken that footage and put new backdrops behind him, putting him into other music videos, inside haunted houses, you name it, and these videos often have millions of views as well.
The song has been featured on national TV shows, such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and even an episode of The Office, and the catchy hook of the song, "It's just like a mini-mall!" quickly became something of a national catchphrase, the "Where's the Beef?" of the '00s.
As a result, Stephens has seen a lot of opportunity opening up for him. He's been invited to perform with various musical artists like Family Force Five, and, ever the wise entrepreneur, has begun selling merchandise along the lines of T-shirts bearing the Flea Market Montgomery logo.
The point of the story is that you don't need to be rich to advertise anymore. All you need is a good idea and a camcorder.
A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
A lot of big companies have made attempts to get in on this, but to be honest, they haven't all succeeded. This is not because a big company is somehow unable to get a video to go viral, but rather, because they don't have a better shot than any of us do at producing a successful viral video. Money is always helpful, sure, but for the first time, having less money is no longer a disadvantage in the realm of advertising.
Simply put, high speed internet and inexpensive digital video cameras even the playing field. We all have the same opportunities now when it comes to getting our stuff out there to the world. Nobody is impressed by how much money you spend making a video, all that matters is that it's funny, entertaining or interesting. The viewer really doesn't care about anything else.
This goes for anyone just making entertainment videos, too. Forget all that stuff you've heard about getting your foot in the door. The door is wide open. You're already part of the industry just by putting your stuff online in the first place.