How psychology drove some of 2013’s Top 10 videos to the top

YouTube recently revealed the top ten viral videos of 2013. Since marketing videos are my business, here is a critique four of them to give you an idea of how the psychology of sharing helped them reach the top. 

#4 Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version) by Steve Kardynal

• Humor

This takes Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear in Risky Business to a whole new level. The scraggly beard and super tight tighty whities send us over the top as he gyrates on the couch and hangs from an inflatable wrecking ball. And singing along to Miley Cyrus is way funnier than to Bob Seger. Hilarious.

• Public

The raw authenticity from the guy’s webcam makes us feel like we’ve accidentally dropped in on the wrong conference call – very wrong. And seeing real people in the left pane experiencing the video lends credibility; just like a sit-com laugh-track, their laughter causes us to laugh. 

• Unexpectedness

Seeing a grown man dancing in his underwear, licking a hammer and swinging on a rubber ball hanging from a rope is shocking, to say the least.

#6 Volvo Trucks “Live test” 

• Awe

A guy (an old guy at that!) doing the splits between two large semi trucks travelling backwards is highly unusual, dangerous, and awesome. While it may have been faked (even though the makers swear it isn’t), the drama that Volvo manufactured is real. Judging from the comments, it was faked but that didn’t seem to stop millions from sharing it.

• Celebrity

Unfortunately for Volvo, I’m afraid using Jean-Claude Van Damme for this spectacle discounts the possibility that it’s real. How old is the guy anyway? Using someone more nimble, such as an acrobat from Cirque du Soleil, might have made it more believable. Plus, he’s been out of circulation for so long I don’t think his inclusion provides much of a boost. 

• Unexpectedness

For those who think such a stunt is possible, this is truly mind-blowing. People might examine it for evidence of a green screen down the road. But the immediate impact is truly incredible. 

Additional note: Given that this video is from a major truck manufacturer, the virality was most likely boosted with advertising. The company doesn’t give any stats on how much money they spent to promote it so we don’t know for sure how viral it really was. Perhaps a small budget was devoted to get the word out then it took off on it’s own.

#7 YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar)

• Celebrity

Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar are both serious A-list musical talent so we sit up and take notice. We wouldn’t love this video nearly as much as we do were it not for the performers who deliver it.

• Humor

Wearing ear protection in a nightclub is just the beginning of a hysterical poke at trying to curb youthful indiscretion. Don’t ever travel, just live in a titanium bomb shelter. In fact, make a titanium suit in case a piano falls on you. Great stuff.

• Tastemakers

Adam Levine, Kendrick Lamar, and Andy Samberg likely aided the initial distribution using their own social networks. And it originally aired on Saturday Night Live so millions saw it before it hit the web.

• Unexpectedness

Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar advising young adults to be careful is just as unexpected (and funny) as Christopher Walken needing to hear more cowbell.

#8 Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise

• Awe

Seeing a young woman slamming a grown man up against the wall using her telekinetic powers leaves a lasting impression. Even better, the awe we feel upon seeing the expressions on the uninformed is even more powerful.

• Humor

Even though Candid Camera pioneered the concept more than 60 years ago, this clever video shows that hidden camera stunts can still work. We enjoy being in on the secret, and love to laugh at the poor sucker who isn’t.

• Story

Even though the two are not perfectly intertwined, telling friends about the video easily parlays into a discussion about the sponsoring product, the movie Carrie.

Additional note: Given that this video is from a major movie studio, the virality was most likely boosted with advertising. The company doesn’t give any stats on how much money they spent to promote it so we don’t know for sure how viral it really was. Perhaps a small budget was devoted to get the word out then it took off on it’s own. 

Were these videos just lucky? Hardly. Thanks to groundbreaking research, we now know that getting something to go viral takes much more than mere luck. There are several traits that companies can bake into their marketing content to leverage the psychology of sharing. And we also know that socialized content can deliver far better customer engagement than advertising. To learn more about the psychology of sharing, visit InterplayAgency.com.

Special thanks to Dan Clark for today's post. Dan Clark is the owner and Creative Director of Interplay Agency, a leading content marketing consultancy based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Contact information below:

InterplayAgency.com  

@InterplayAgent  

http://www.linkedin.com/in/kdanclark

4 Tips to Strengthen your YouTube Presence

Each year YouTube seems to grow in terms of number of videos posted as well as pervasiveness across the web.  This year is no exception.  As content and content development becomes more important in the age of post hummingbird Google updates, optimizing your YouTube channel and videos is absolutely essential.  Here are some tips for improving your YouTube results.

1.               Remember the Branding of your Channel

Get into the mindset of thinking of your YouTube channel as a profile for your brand, or as an extension of your website. You want it to look as sleek and professional as possible, suited to your niche and interests. You need to convince browsers that your content is worth checking and your channel worth subscribing. You always want to optimize your channels SEO. Give your Internet videos titles, tags, closed captions, descriptions etc with rich keywords and phrases for the best chance of turning up on the Page 1 search results of Google and YouTube. 

2.               Interact With the YouTube Community

Whereas Twitter & Facebook lend themselves instantly to communication, most people seem to forget about YouTube’s social features, yet it is one of the easiest ways of establishing a solid presence on the site. These users are just like any other social media user, they enjoy engagement and activity. Comment and Like/Dislike other users content and where possible Friend and Subscriber to their Internet videos. If you have the means to create Video Responses frequently then use that facility to your advantage too. Never underestimate how being an engaged YouTuber can benefit your channel.

3.               Know your Friends

YouTube novices beware: A friend and subscriber are two different things! An overly common pitfall is confusing the two.  A ‘Friend’ is a user who likes you as a contact, someone who enjoys social engagements with you and follows your on site activity. A ‘Friend’ will not want to get inundated with your latest content. A ‘Subscriber’ on the other hand is a user who enjoys just your online video content and have opted to find out about when you have new video content available. Remember to SOCIALISE with friends and to SHARE with your subscribers to ensure a strong YouTube presence in the eyes of both sections of users.

4.               Utilise all Your Social Media Profiles

One of the (many) reasons YouTube is the undisputed ruler of online video is down to it’s ability to integrate itself with the other dominant social medias, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. These sites allow you to share your online video content as frequently as you wish and can really benefit your YouTube presence.  Post your content on your Profile, share it on Pages and in Groups that are relevant to your niche and your video content and you and your channel will reap the rewards.

Madeleine Hammond is a marketing executive at Skeleton Productions - one of the UK's leading video production companies.

DUI Charges and DMV Hearings

When you are facing charges after a DUI arrest, you first need to worry about the DMV hearing. At the DMV hearing, a hearing officer determines whether you can keep your driver's license, even before you are convicted of DUI. In fact, you could lose your license at the hearing, and later be acquitted of the DUI.

At a DMV hearing, the hearing officer will hear testimony from the officer who arrested you to determine whether you should lose your license, based on his or her determination of whether there was evidence that you were driving under the influence. This is a critical stage in a DUI case and one that many overlook.

Once you have been arrested for driving under the influence, you only have a limited time to request a hearing. Many people do not read the small print in their citation, and miss the deadline. If you do not request a hearing, your license may be suspended without you ever getting a chance to challenge the grounds for the suspension.

Hiring a lawyer to assist you with the DMV hearing is an important first step in your defense. Not only can the attorney ensure you don't miss your deadline, and that you get your hearing, the lawyer can also cross examine the officer, and get a feeling for what his testimony would be if your case went to trial. Because county attorneys and district attorneys do not attend these hearings, this gives your attorney an advantage at your DUI trial, and further allows your lawyer to impeach the officer with any testimony that is inconsistent from the hearing.

Another important reason to request a hearing is that it is your best opportunity to keep your drivers license pending the outcome of your DUI case. The DMV hearing officer is the one who subpoenas the officer. If the officer is busy and doesn't show up, then the hearing officer will rule in your favor, and you get to keep your license pending the outcome of your DUI case.

Dealing With An Unfavorable DMV Decision

The decision after a DMV hearing following a DUI arrest can be either a set aside or an uphold of the suspension.  When the decision is unfavorable to the driver the next step can be either to appeal the finding or move on.  For first offenders who took a test the suspension period of four months typically does not justify a decision to appeal the hearing officer's decision.  The driver can usually get a restricted license after waiting 30 days.  Foe second offenders an appeal may be more tenable given the one year
 re-issue date.  In either event the decision must be one that takes into account the costs and benefits of the entire situation.  The alternative to a full scale appeal can be something called a Departmental Review, more information about this approach will be discussed in a future post.

How a Person's Core Body Temperature Can Skew Breath Test Results

Breath testing in DUI cases relies on the presumption that every subject has a "normal" body temperature.  But what if a subject has a fever? One study (Fox & Hayward, 1989) did reveal problems with DUI breath tests for those with higher than normal body temperature levels.  For example, when the core temp was elevated one degree Celsius, the corresponding breath test for alcohol increased by nearly 9 percent. This means that if a person had an elevated body temp and was stopped for drunk driving, his breath test would falsely inflate his true blood alcohol level by almost 10%.  For a .10 level, this would drop him to a .09 and if he blew a .08, his true BAC would actually be .07.

 For more information on this issue, contact DUI Attorney Matthew Ruff who practices in the state of California.

A Bakersfield Speeding Ticket Attorney Explains Trials by Written Declaration

In California, as in many states, a defendant may elect to have a trial by written declaration on any Vehicle Code infraction or speeding ticket. If the clerk  receives from the defendant a written request for a trial by written declaration on or before the appearance date indicated on the notice to appear, the clerk must, within 15 calendar days of receiving the request,extend the appearance date 25 calendar days, and must give or mail the defendant notice of the extended due date on a Request for Trial by Written Declaration with a copy of the Instructions to Defendant and any other required forms. The defendant must file the Request for Trial by Written Declaration with the clerk on or before the appearance date indicated on the notice to appear (or any extended appearance date). This form must be filed in addition to the defendant’s written request for a trial by written declaration, unless that request was made on this form. A defendant who makes this election must submit bail in the amount established in the Uniform Traffic Bail and Penalty Schedule under Veh C§40310 at the time of submitting the declaration.  If the defendant is found not guilty or the charges are otherwise dismissed, the amount of the bail mustbe promptly refunded to the defendant.

On receiving the defendant’s Request for Trial by Written Declaration and bail by the due date, the clerk must deliver or mail to the arresting officer’s agency a Notice and Instructions to Arresting Officer and Officer’s Declaration, with a copy of the notice to appear and a specified return date for receiving the officer’s declaration. On receipt of the officer’s declaration or the close of the return date, the clerk must submit the case file to the court for decision with all declarations and other evidence received.  According to one Bakersfield Speeding Ticket Attorney, testimony and other relevant evidence may be introduced in the form of the notice to appear, a business record or receipt, and the sworn declarations of the arresting officer and of the defendant. After the court decides the case and returns the file and decision, the clerk must immediately mail the Decision and Notice of Decision to the defendant and arresting agency. The defendant may request a trial de novo by filing a Request for New Trial Form within 20 calendar days after the date on which the decision was mailed. The Court clerk must set a trial date within 45 calendar days of receipt of the defendant’s request and deliver or mail to the defendant and to the arresting officer’s agency the Order and Notice to the violator.

The case is closed if the defendant fails to make a timely request for a trial de novo. Although the rules state that a new trial must be set within 45 days of the receipt of the request, the remedy for failure to set within 45 days is not automatic dismissal. For example in one case, a trial was set 57 days after receipt of notice. The court may deny a trial by written declaration to a defendant who does not file a Request for Trial by Written Declaration or deposit bail with the clerk within the specified time limits.  The Judge is not limited to imposing a monetary penalty in the amount of the bail the defendant has deposited with the clerk, unless this amount is the maximum and the only lawful penalty. A person who fails to appear as provided by law may be deemed to have elected to have a trial by written declaration on any alleged Vehicle Code infraction. Relevant evidence may be introduced in the form of a notice to appear, a business record or receipt, a sworn declaration of the arresting officer, or a written statement or letter signed by the defendant. 

Bruce Blythe is a Bakersfield Speeding Ticket Lawyer who practices throughout Kern County and beyond for all criminal, DUI and traffic cases.

Hematocrit Defense in DUI Cases

 Hematocrit represents the fraction of whole blood composed of red blood cells and is correlated with the aqueous content of the blood.  The higher the hematocrit, the lower the concentration of water in the blood and vice versa, according to California DUI Attorney Matthew Ruff.  How does this issue play into a DUI case you may ask?  Put simply, the higher a hematocrit level, the higher a person's blood alcohol concentration.  With breath tests, the normal variation in the hematocrits of test subjects "can produce errors in ...results in the 10-14% range", according to some scientific studies.  When facing a DUI charge, it may be useful to have a test done to determine if this may be an issue. The hematocrit issue can vary the amount of alcohol present in the blood and not all humans are the same.  The breath machines do not factor in this variability.