In the late 1990s, the Internet Dancing Baby came into our lives and the viral video was born. Back then, the video was passed around via email, but ever since, marketers have been on the warpath to produce the next viral sensation. Today, with YouTube and Facebook as well-known platforms where videos can connect with huge audiences and deliver brand messages, marketers still want to go for the gold and proclaim their project a viral success.

But can it really be done in today’s online culture?

To find out, I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Pat Carew, CMD’s social media video expert and a member of the agency’s film and video department, and ask some questions about what viral video means and how achievable it is as part of a larger campaign. The big question, however, was can you plan a viral video?

“By definition, something viral happens on its own,” said Carew. “The bottom line is you just don’t know if your plans will succeed. They are incredibly hard to do. While you can say you want to produce a viral video, ultimately it’s up to the audience to decide if you have succeeded.”

If you do attempt to make a go at producing a viral video to reach your audience on YouTube or Facebook, Carew suggests a few tips to include in your strategic planning:

Go with humor: Most popular videos contain sex, violence or humor. Since brands tend to stay away from the first two, humor is left as the most-used theme. But, according to Carew, humor is the most difficult to pull off. The most popular videos on YouTube, like this one, simply make people laugh. Be sure to work with professionals on this task to represent your brand well and be tasteful.

Ditch the call to action: A viral video must have a cool factor; it should not be an advertisement. That means no call to action, such as a phone number or email address. This can be the most difficult thing for marketers to pull away from, since it’s a traditional part of video advertising, but remember the goal is entertainment and eyeballs, not direct leads. This Old Spice video is a good example. Notice there’s no call to action. It just entertains while delivering its message in a humorous way.

Monitor for production trends: Stay on top of production trends by researching top videos. Whether they’re stop-frame animation, tilt photography or auto-tuning vocals, there are always interesting production trends that sweep though social media videos that can make them more eye-catching. Don’t worry about the technique being a fad, either. Your goal is to get as many positive impressions as fast as you can. As you can see from this search, auto-tuning is particularly popular right now.

Provide the unexpected: Like the Old Spice commercial, and this video that was produced for Microsoft, the best chance of a video becoming viral is when you provide something unexpected. The viewer doesn’t really know what’s going to happen next in the Old Spice commercial, and although the stunt in the Microsoft video is not real, it provides a “no way” response when viewed. Making the impossible seem real is a big trend now in the most popular online videos.

Be transparent: Above all, be honest in your video distribution. Refrain from posting a video from a personal account or trying to promote it without identifying yourself. This is risky in today’s social media world and can potentially be a big problem.

Finally, remember a video can be successful without being labeled as viral. A video with the right message, like this one produced by CMD, seen by the right people, might be more effective than a wide-reaching clip viewed by the masses.

What are your favorite online videos? Would you label them as viral? Share your thoughts and links with us, and we’ll revisit viral videos in future posts. If you have any questions about video best practices, contact Pat Carew at pcarew@cmdagency.com.

Did you collect enough eggs from your chicken farm? When was the last time you sent your friend a virtual cupcake? If you participate in two of Facebook’s popular external applications, then you are aware of what I’m talking about.

Now with more than 400 million users and 500,000 active applications that users can connect with, it’s obvious that most of us are jumping on Facebook for reasons other than finding out what our best friend from 8th grade did this past weekend.

For many companies, having a simple fan/company page is no longer enough to communicate with its target audience about client information or recent news. Such interactive entertainment applications like Farmville, Birthday Cards, iLike, Top Friends, and Mafia Wars demonstrate that millions of consumers on this social platform are interested in playing games, interacting with their friends, sharing personal interests and forming teams for a great cause—key traits that any marketer can and should easily incorporate into real-life interactive campaigns.

With 70 percent of Facebook users engaging with some of these interactive applications every month, it’s time to find out more about this strategy. Consider the following for effective application implementation:

1. Allow team building to be a factor for success: participants enjoy coming together for a greater cause and making a large difference all together. On Facebook, sharing is very much caring. Example: Best Buy has online “Best Buy Communities” that help answer customer questions and assist in finding the best price possible for products.

2. Make it easy to interact with your company: one-click downloads, photo uploads, donations, and “forward to a friend” buttons will help spread your message quickly. Example: T-Mobile Blackberry has simple “download now” buttons for wallpapers, applications, and tips of the week.

3. Have a variety of communication tools available for use: Captivate people’s attention by offering videos, photos, music, ability to make wall posts, and direct chat. Example: American Red Cross posts live video updates from natural disasters.

4. Make your page visually appealing: Colors, shapes, fonts, and placement of accomplishments on personal profiles will spark the interests of consumers. Example: Target allows fans to flip through an online magazine and mix and match new product lines.

5. Offer a “game mentality”: It always feels good to reach a set goal. Set goals for participants and they will thrive on the instant gratification. Example: Chase Community Giving encourages its Facebook fans to vote for their favorite charity to receive money, then Chase makes the donation on their behalf.

Are you a fan of any interactive applications? If so, are they missing from my list? We want to hear about what you do on Facebook and what makes you choose to participate.

With the advent of the iPad, mobile Internet devices are shaping up to be the the hottest tech story of the year. Frankly, I’m over the hype, so I wanted to know what the everyday reality is for tech-savvy folks around the office. What devices are worth their weight? What do they have, and what do they want?

I quizzed a few tech-forward CMDers to find out what’s in their bags and on their minds, especially when it comes to tech trends. The results yielded some popular apps and devices you might want to bag for yourself.

Dean McBeth, power user

It has to be good to go on two wheels in order to make it into Dean’s Chrome bike bag. Here’s the tale of the tech tape for this digital strategist. Watch out Sun Tzu.

ASUS Eee PC netbook (We hear Dean’s been doing a lot of cloud computing lately.)
HP Elite laptop
Sony camera
Microsoft wireless mouse
iPhone
Clear WiMAX dongle
Moleskine (“The original PDA”)
Iron Maiden Blu-ray Flight 666 DVD (on loan from Patrick Anderson)

If you were trapped on a desert island, what could you not live without?
A solar-powered laptop

What was the biggest trend in mobile Internet devices in 2009?
One word – DROID

What is your prediction for the mobile technology space in 2010?
It’s all about the iPad this year.

What do you wish you had in your bag?
I can’t tell you my first answer on the company blog, so how about a solar charger.

Whose bag would you like to peek in and why?
Lance Armstrong’s – he always has the latest cycling gadget.

What feature should all the folks out there be sure to get in their next mobile device purchase?
4G

What is the best app you’ve downloaded in the last 30 days?
Foursquare

Erik Sebellin-Ross, multimedia maestro

Erik’s flair for online trendspotting comes across in his social media consulting, and his Timbuk2 commuter bag holds multiple options for staying connected and storing media.

HTC TouchPro2 Windows phone
iPod Touch
Nintendo DS Lite with ScribbleNauts and Gunstar Superheroes
Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000
Monster Cable Beats by Dr. Dre (translation: expensive earbuds)
SD card adapter
Moleskine
Stabilo left-handed pen
Handfuls of USB drives and game cartridges

If you were trapped on a desert island, what could you not live without?
My iPod touch

What was the biggest trend in mobile Internet devices in 2009?
Proliferation of social networking apps

What is your prediction for the mobile technology space in 2010?
Bigger screens and longer battery life – the iPad will set a new standard for interactivity on the go.

What do you wish you had in your bag?
No surprises there – an iPad

Whose bag would you like to peek in and why?
George Clooney’s – “Up in the Air” got me thinking about what people like him carry around.

What feature should all the folks out there be sure to get in their next mobile device purchase this year?
The ability to install apps – feature phones are so 1990s.

What is the best app you’ve downloaded in the last 30 days?
Eucalyptus, the e-book reader that connects to the Project Gutenberg database

Tracy Johnson, the minimalist

Associate Creative Director Tracy makes it a three-fer for Moleskine journals – the only common element that runs through all three bags in our straw poll. Count on Tracy to have insightful recommendations up her sleeve, if not in her teeny Overland bag.

iPhone
Earbuds
USB drive
Moleskine and colored pens

If you were trapped on a desert island, what could you not live without?
My iPhone

What was the biggest trend in mobile Internet devices in 2009?
More apps than ever before

What is your prediction for the mobile technology space in 2010?
More quality, less quantity – we’re past the stage of gimmicks and the next cool thing. We’re all waiting for the devices that actually make our lives easier.

What do you wish you had in your bag?
Unlimited battery supply – I have every gizmo I could want and I upgrade eagerly, but when it comes to battery life, I have to plan my use. I hate that.

Whose bag would you like to peek in and why?
The guy who writes the Museum of Modern Betas blog – he’s searching the globe for new apps, so I want to know if he actually embraces them.

What feature should all the folks out there be sure to get in their next mobile device purchase this year?
Touch-screen capability

What is the best app you’ve downloaded in the last 30 days?
Momento – it aggregates your social media posts into a daily journal you can add content to.

So, what’s in your bag?

At a time when companies are tightening their belts, when it comes to corporate travel, we are all on the hunt for alternatives to one of the biggest expenses of them all – the trade show. As a result, virtual trade shows, webinars and other events designed specifically for remote participation are popping up with increasing frequency. There are tangible advantages, such as saving on high travel costs, shipping and other expenses, but are there real gains to be had when doing business in a virtual environment?

With some planning and a hefty dose of teamwork, we believe the answer is yes. I’d like to share insights from a recent virtual trade show appearance that our team helped to plan on behalf of a technology client. The result was a successful promotion that drove hundreds of registrations at our destination website during a two-day period – our single biggest signup event.

Based on this experience, here are our top tips for making your virtual trade show more than a glorified website:

1. Schedule and train your staff. Even though the location may look more like Second Life than McCormick Place, don’t fall down on training and scheduling your booth staff. Make sure their laptops are ready, and they know when and how to log in and are online during their assigned booth times – even if they’re at home kicking back in their pajamas!

2. Generate content … at every step of the way. One of our most successful strategies was to invite bloggers and spokespeople within our network to stop by our virtual booth and chat about a hot topic of interest to everyone at the show. By just talking amongst ourselves, we generated content that can be used as expert Q&As on our blog, in our newsletter and other outlets.

3. Design a meaningful promotion. Sound marketing principles work just as well online as they do in person. Make sure your virtual trade show promotion is as compelling as it can be, with a strong call to action and a great reward for participation. Needless to say, after the show, offer your leads something of value and repeat the call to action from your promotion.

4. Leverage existing social media channels. Dust off those hashtags and at-replies on Twitter. One of the best ways we were able to communicate our membership promotion and group chats was via the association’s own Twitter account. The association and even the attendees themselves repeatedly retweeted our content before, during and after the event.

5. Throw your own party. If you think you’ve got these skills down and you have compelling, educational content to deliver, consider co-hosting a virtual tradeshow with your industry association. This is an emerging trend that we’re seeing in technology companies who are thought leaders in their sectors.

Next time you receive an email inviting you to a virtual trade show, check it out. Notice what draws your attention and what turns you off. I believe we’ll be seeing many more of these events as the format evolves.

As I sit here at Gate E2 at PDX enjoying glorious free WiFi, I hearken back 15 years ago to the days when being “mobile” was much more of a big deal. I remember one particular East Coast business trip in ‘97, when because I had to be reached remotely, my cellular phone involved a backpack-sized device and a handset the size of a smallish terrier. Fast forward to now and I’m more concerned about which new, cool application to download to my iPhone.

So, we all agree that social web is on the cusp of becoming something even bigger and more valuable to large organizations and global brands. What’s more important is how it affects each of us. Everyone is writing about the stages of social media adoption, conversations, relationships, and metrics and I can’t discount any of it – as a digital strategist it’s what I live and breathe every day. As an example, just a couple weeks ago, Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester posted his take on The Future of Social Networks.

The thing I’ve noticed the most is how everyone tends to agree with what social is becoming, but nobody wants to have opinions on what’s holding back the proverbial floodgates. If I had to point at one single thing holding us back right now, I’d say it’s mobile infrastructure. Last summer, I had the chance to briefly entertain a group of Japanese ambassadors. We talked about the current state of technology in the U.S. and Japan, specifically mobile. What became glaringly apparent is the sheer proliferation of Internet usage via handheld device in Japan. It’s not only happening in Japan, but also in Western Europe. With advancing improvements like 3G and Intel’s WiMAX 4G network, devices, operating systems, and applications will also get smarter.

When we can shoot, edit, and publish video quickly from one device; when we can sync up, beam out, capture, and create other forms of media; and, with that same device we can transact, do business, entertain ourselves with downloadable and streaming media, and most importantly, do the stuff we’ve been doing already, called “social media,” then truly the social web just becomes an extension of us. A daily accessory we automatically carry like the shoes we put on every morning. In this framework social media is the interim vehicle to continue relationships and conversations when we can’t be face-to-face. It’s something more creative, more emotional and therefore exponentially more appealing than an email or text message. Consequently, in the future we’re all going to look back on Twitter (and SMS) like a scene where Indiana Jones brushes the dust off the etchings of the Ark.

Again, in this construct there will be no excuse to be AWOL from your clients, friends and family for multiple days just because you can’t get back to your hardware. That is, of course, unless you’re leaving the grid on purpose.

So don’t worry too much about whether or not you should do something because @Oprah or @Pepsi is doing it. Worry about whether WiMax is coming to your major metropolitan area and keep abreast of the latest handheld devices coming up by grabbing RSS from Techcrunch, Wired, mobile blogs, etc.

In the meantime, I’ll be firing up Tweetie (my favorite iPhone application) and getting into the conversation; that crazy social web just might lead me to a handshake (offline).