News Home > Viral Marketing

Seat Belt Safety Ad Goes Viral on YouTube

A recent online advertising campaign to promote road safety has gone viral globally as the innovative online video smashed expectations and received over a million views on YouTube in its first fortnight of release.

YouTube is already becoming a saturated platform for video advertising. Competing with over 20 hours of user-generated content being uploaded every minute, very few videos gain the traction advertisers hope for, as content gets lost in the YouTube maelstrom.

Occasionally though, a video will capture the imagination of the public and take on a life of its own as it grows virally. Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed A Dream audition is perhaps the most extraordinary of online viral video success, but promoting seat belt safety is an altogether less exciting subject matter to share online.

So when The Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) wanted to make an engaging online advertising campaign to encourage people to wear their seatbelts, there must have been at least a few niggling doubts. Since 26 January, the Embrace Safety campaign has received over 2.1 million views on YouTube, a stunning success.

Marcus Hadfield, Head of Digital at advertising agency Meteorite told Metro: “It ditches every road safety campaign cliché and instead, simply shows the joy of living. In so doing it delivers a positive emotional response, rather than a tired old shock.”

The video was pushed online through social media including a dedicated Facebook group and in turn on chatter through Twitter. Since its launch, the video has been showcased to the likes of Avatar director James Cameron, and Microsoft boss Bill Gates, as well as being shown in America, Brazil, Canada and France.

Viral Marketing news posted by Lily Townsend on 02 March 2010

Stock Tickers: GOOG