“Did the viral video sell anything?”

That’s a bit of an imponderable question but one worth pondering if you are responsible for the dollars in your marketing budget, particularly if the dollars belong to someone else and you’re going to have to eventually explain yourself to people who lack your enthusiasm for this stuff.

Did it sell anything? Did we get anything out of all this theatrical arm-waving? Or are we just left with a link to share with our unsmiling shareholders?

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I’ll tell you what you probably already know: viral videos, on their own, rarely do anything but entertain people at the expense of your scarce dollars. But don’t feel that you’ve been unfairly singled out, friends of viral video – the same can be said of traditional advertising.

Advertising – whether it’s broadcast television or YouTube – works when it connects with pragmatic, feet on the street merchandising at the customer level. Look at two campaigns briefly to animate this point: Nike’s “Write the Future” and Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.”

Nike: No Mistaking the Iconic Orange Pop

Nike’s “Write the Future” spot was described by many as a World Cup ambush, but with dozens of athletes and 9 of the 32 competing teams under contract it’s hard to put your finger on what “ambush” really means. Yes, competitor Adidas is the “official” sponsor. But we increasingly live in an “unofficial” world.

Nike’s spot was viewed 52 million times, according to Nike Brand President Charlie Denson. But when he discussed the company’s excellent financial results in their first quarter call in September, something else popped up that caught my attention:

In June, we had our best World Cup effort ever. We broke new ground with a revolutionary traction technology and in high performance apparel with kids that were also our most sustainable ever. And whether you are 100 rows up in Soccer City Stadium or 10,000 miles away in your living room, there was no mistaking the iconic orange pop of the NIKE boots on the pitch…

Like the Pepsi Challenge being replayed in your head every time you walked into a store and saw those two pallets sitting side by side, Nike’s World Cup “ambush” was far more powerful than just a video.

It was the shoes.

Nike’s featured cleats worn by so many athletes at the World Cup were orange – both the tops and the soles. When the athlete ran down the field (or pitch? Apologies, I’m American and we don’t have “pitches” here), you saw orange-orange-orange-orange – and that translated to one Nike impression per step. And that beats the hell out of a YouTube view.

We’re visual animals. Iconic images – like a swoosh – stick in our brains. They don’t need explanations. Viewing the games from the stands or the stadium, regardless of the acoustic assault of a billion vuvuzelas at close range, you couldn’t help but notice the flash of orange. An iconic brand impression with every step.

The viral video, the heavy execution at channel partner and wholly owned retail locations with fixture programs and a physical product with an iconic color tied it all together. A record quarter in a bad economy of a product that isn’t a necessity.

Old Spice: The Coupon Your Coupon Could Smell Like

We’ve covered this ground before, so a brief recap will do. Frankly, comparing Old Spice – a CPG brand with limited capacity for interactivity – to a brand as fertile as Nike is a bit unfair on face value, but stick with me for a moment.

Old Spice largely relied on two vehicles, we’re told: their campaign with Isaiah Mustafa – “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” – and a buy-one-get-one-free coupon drop. When the advertising launched in February, the brand muddled along for six months without a measurable bump in sell-through.

When the brand re-invigorated the campaign with its real-time social media campaign via Twitter and YouTube, the brand sharply spiked upwards – but the spike, we quickly learned, had more to do with a significant coupon drop of buy-one-get-one-free offers. When the coupons expired, so did the sell-through.

What This Means.

Once again, no free lunch.

I wish it were easier. That way, everyone could make a viral video and we’d all go live in Hollywood. It isn’t this easy, as we are reminded.

Advertising, no matter what form it takes, can be a very effective catalyst for conversation and even conversion. But thinking that this tactic, alone, will break through and score for you is more often than not simply wishful thinking.

When you peel back a few layers on any of these campaigns, you increasingly see the attention to detail and the thoroughness that a professional organization goes through to ensure that they finish well – that every possible opportunity for turning an impression into a customer is explored. Nike finished well, and this campaign seems to be a good example of how all the various elements within the marketing toolkit can come together to create the win.

No shortcut here.

Regards.