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You’re watching a YouTube video and suddenly a commercial interrupts the video you’re viewing. You wait for the ‘skip in 5s’ pop-up to appear only to realise it won’t and that this one is one of those ads where you have to wait it out. If commercials are undesirable and a brand wants its products to be desirable, does it really make sense to market itself in such a way that the viewer’s direct association with the brands starts on a note of irritation?

Brands seem to have become aware of this aspect. Now, instead of making annoying ads that interrupt, they are aiming to create compelling content by going the short film route instead, urging their consumers to seek them out and not the other way round.

The viral video trend in India has been gathering steam for the last couple of years, though

Kolaveri di in 2011 is a memorable example for how it spread. Brand videos that went viral include Urban Ladder’s 7-minute Diwali film, Paper Boat’s festive season film celebrating enterprises that make a difference to people’s lives, the Bold is Beautiful series by Myntra’s Anouk brand that has campaigned for more understanding for the LGBT community and for pregnant employees in the workplace. Earlier, there were campaigns by Vogue that dealt with a range of issues, including women’s safety and empowerment, a series of humorous films by Lakme called Bang Baaja Baaraat and by Nescafe that aimed at engendering more sensitivity for those who stutter. Recently, car portal CarDekho also made a video that its employees acted in and produced.

It’s about the vibes Urban Ladder’s video, Homecoming , centres on a father and son’s relationship and how the old — things and memories — have found a place in the new, and how Urban Ladder’s furniture forms that bridge. The short film shows off the brand’s products and packaging without once mentioning the words ‘Urban Ladder’ or ‘furniture’.

“We strongly believe that a beautiful home is not just created with good-looking furniture but with a lot of thought that make spaces comfortable and cosy for everyday living. Our everyday routine revolves around those favourite spaces in our home which complete our day — tea on the swing, newspaper on a lounge chair or the bookshelf that stacks our everyday reads. In this film, we have tried to capture how small, but thoughtful, changes can make a house a home and bring people together,” explains Nikhil Ramaprakash, Vice-President - Online Marketing, Urban Ladder.

On why Paper Boat chose to make Hum Honge Kamyab (3.10 minutes), which released around the New Year, Neeraj Kakkar, Co-founder and CEO, Hector Beverages, says, “I have grown up listening to this song. So have you and almost every Indian. We wanted to start the year with positivity and good vibes. There are so many good things happening. We can see a lot of beautiful dreams being realised, by people who dreamt so differently. It was never meant to be an ad campaign, more a tribute to these young heroes who dared to dream so differently and pursued it against all odds. And a heartfelt wish that many more and more such dreams get realised this year.”

LK Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Girnar Soft, says CarDekho's film, Mental Engineers (3.40 minutes), was done as a social experiment. “People are ready to switch off in 2-3 minutes. But we decided to risk it and let it be longer than we ourselves intended as it was entertaining. Our reviews and comparisons videos are about 10 minutes long, but even those we make as concise as possible. We cannot edit them too much as we will sacrifice the depth of content,” he says. Around 2.5 lakh people have seen the video till now, according to him.

Pratap Bose, Founding Partner and Chairman of The Social Street, a digitally driven agency, says that if the videos are done in a quirky and creative way, they extend beyond the fun element and become relevant to consumers.

“Different content is what viewers tend to absorb and share. Time is not a constraint, viewer attention is. There has to be an inherent idea.”

The hot buttons Joono Simon, Founder of interactive social media agency Brave New World, says ‘share’ is one of the “hot buttons” that make videos go viral. However, virality is a complex subject in today’s digital context as the viewers are savvier, and there is a lot more stuff out there to see.

“You can’t have a tentative approach to viral marketing. And it’s important to spend some kind of money to give it at least the initial push. The timing of its launch is also very important. For instance, not when people are likely to go on vacation and spend less time on their devices.” Simon adds that it’s important that brands don’t churn out videos. How well such a video can align itself with the brand’s personality is important, not cause-hopping, he says. Topicality, humour, adventure and emotional connect are the other hot buttons that come into play.

Urban Ladder’s Ramprakash says, “We wanted this film to be engaging and help connect people with the brand. We did not attach the success of this video to any sales target,” he adds. Three months in, the short film has got over 9 lakh views on YouTube. Whether it’s an ad for the brand or a spot that takes up a cause with more subtle branding, it looks like viral videos are here to stay, till the next big thing at least.

Inputs: Chitra Narayanan