As our viewing habits shift online, ad execs have followed us; pouring more money into internet banners and pop-ups in an effort to snare our (spending) dollars.
Many of these are simply banished with a mouse click, but not so-called viral videos. These are the eye-grabbing clips of cute animals, laugh-out-loud humor or bizarre "what the..?" moments that we pass on faster than cold germs at a (kindergarten).
Such videos have been doing the rounds for years thanks to sites such as YouTube, however it seems mainstream advertisers are only now waking up to their potential as marketing tools -- provided they can produce content worthy of (forwarding) to our friends.
Online media analysis firm Visible Measures says there was a 180% leap in viral advertising campaigns from 2009 to 2010 in the United States. (Forecast) spending for online video advertising is $1.97 billion for 2011, rising to $5.71 billion in 2014.
