Synopsis
This viral video supports a public service campaign promoting the use of bicycle helmets.
The viral video was used to launch the campaign online. The video supports the campaign concept, which is to change traditional negative and consequence oriented traffic safety communication into an emotional and positive one.
The response to the video was overwhelming. The following facts support this statement.
Viral seeding – how we led people to the video
We executed a viral seeding strategy based on internet usage, internet trend analysis and target group behavior.
The two most significant websites used to start-up the viral snowball effect were Reddit.com and Digg.com. These are both social link sharing websites, where user posted content is judged democratically by users in a voting system. Approximately 150 other websites, blogs and communities were used to seed the video.
- Reddit.com was the first site to really push the video forward. Quickly the video received 1,521 upvotes (positive votes) from Reddit users and 559 comments
- Digg.com was the second mover. The video received 2,671 diggs (positive votes) and 554 comments
From here the video went viral, spreading autonomously throughout the internet.
YouTube
- 811,143 views, 3,029 comments, 4.5 average rating out of 5 from
a total of 2,928 ratings - When it peaked, it was the 2nd most watched video worldwide on YouTube and the 1st most watched in the Entertainment section
- Click on the thumbnail for other YouTube Honors divided between countries
- At the time of writing the title of the video reaches 552,000 search results, which illustrates the amount of blogging the video has triggered
Public Relations
- The video was very well received by the mass media. Almost every national media took the story
- Internationally the video has been featured by e.g. the Huffington Post, the German TV station ZDF and American national MTV
Effect on bicycle helmet usage
Scientific studies have been executed before and after the campaign, surveying bicycle helmet usage.
The result: bicycle helmet usage has risen from 6 % to a staggering 44 % in the area targeted by the viral video and the bicycle helmet campaign.
This is, in effect, the greatest achievement of the viral video. When a viral video significantly changes people’s behavior, it becomes exceptional.