Wiktionary lists it as:
Noun
viral (plural virals)
1. (marketing) A video, image or text spread by "word of mouth" on the internet or by e-mail for humorous, political or marketing purposes.
Source: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/viral
There are different terms associated with viral, the most prominent being Viral Marketing. I will be producing a viral video, which may be a part of viral marketing but my main focus is on the video being Viral.
Wikipedia has an article specifically on viral video:
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through internet media sharing websites. Viral videos often contain humorous content and include televised comedy sketches such as Saturday Night Live's Lazy Sunday and Dick in a Box; amateur video clips like Star Wars Kid, the Numa Numa videos, The Dancing Cadet, The Evolution of Dance, the "Benny Lava" video, Chocolate Rain on youtube; and web-only productions such as I Got a Crush... on Obama. Some "eyewitness" events have also been caught on video and have "gone viral," including the Battle at Kruger.
Humor is sometimes considered to be a vital component and characteristic of a viral video. But humor is not, in fact, the defining characteristic; a viral video is any video that is passed electronically from person to person, regardless of its content.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_video
There is also an interesting analysis and tips for what makes a viral video by Dave Grishman on SlideShare:
Tip#1. The KISS (Keep it simple stupid!) Rule. The main reason a video becomes viral is because it is quick and interesting to watch and can keep the ever shrinking attention spans of its viewers through humor. Many times, viral videos that have spread like wildfire are random and pointless, yet very memorable.
Tip#2. Avoid overpromotion. Videos should be aimed at entertainment rather than direct advertisement. Trust in the fact that people will remember your name when they enjoy your video. Portions of the video could be itched into their mental lobes, which will increase the recall capacity of its viewers. Even if they do not mean to store this information, they will unintentionally, which is a reason this type of marketing is so effective.
Tip#3. Make Video Accessible. Place your video where people can see it. YouTube and Facebook are not the only social networking sites out there. Look at places outside of the big name social networks. If the video is catchy, the more sites the video is on, the more clicks it should receive.
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/dgrishman/viral-video-marketing
So what can I learn from all of this? Well, it seems as though Virals are forms of advertising as entertainment. It is much like the 'word of mouth' type of marketing but virals use technology such as the internet, email and instant messaging. A viral video is a video that makes the viewer want to show other people, and by the overwhelming number of examples this seems to be down to comedy, or impressive feats. The reason Virals are effective is that you don't have to worry about distribution, people do that for you. Also, because it is entertainment people will remember the entertaining video and along with that is the product or message it spawned from.
I need to make my video entertaining in capacity, in a way that makes people share it. Show it to friends, family or co-workers. The easiest way I might do this is to identify my target audience, and by appealing specifically to that audience it could capture something that they enjoy, and so would automatically want to share with others in that target audience because it would have universal appeal. Target audiences however seem to be largely a myth, as people are so diverse aiming something at a group could really miss the mark without knowing what each person specifically wants. This is why humour is so successful in Viral Marketing, because comedy is universal. Sure, some people have different sense of humour but if its funny people will laugh.
The problem I have is that I am a designer. Not a writer, or a comedian. Creating something that will be funny is going to be incredibly difficult. Another option is to create something impressive, that creates awe. Again, as a designer this will be incredibly difficult unless this 'awe' comes from the design, but I do not believe I have the capacity to create awe with my designs, especially since I am a student and in my modest opinion not good enough to create something that impressive that it causes people to share it. I could do something shocking, but the brief says not to scare people but to prompt them to action. I could intrigue people, by setting a challenge or asking a question.
Here are some examples of virals, and by looking at these I hope to get an idea of how I can make my video viral.
1. John West Salmon - Comedy
2. Kolla2001 - Impressive (little bit of comedy)
3. Afro Ninja - Comedy/Bad Accident
4. Numa Numa - Comedy
5. Sony Bravia Coloured Balls - Impressive/Beautiful/Spectacle
6. Guy Catches Laptop with his Butt - Impressive/Comedy