Our posts were picked up by mainstream media and we scored 53 million views but it was all so fast we trashed our product launch. Let me unpack my lessons so are wiser and avoid my crash site. Here is one version of the 'Paper-based UV sunburn' article. This is real. I am Brian C, a Melbourne based Chemical Engineer (in MKF5601) who owned 20% of a patent published in the prestigious Nature Communications magazine.
First, this is what viral success looks like.
How big is 53 million?
The newspaper term for views is reach. Well our article was picked up by daily new sites. There were only 15.5 million Australians who read online and hardcopy news in 2018, according to Roy Morgan.
Apple had launched their news site in 2018 and was plugging it hard. However, their total unique page views was only 10 million.
So 53 million reach is a very big number, especially for a quirky scientific discovery in 2018.
Viral success does not equal sales success
Translating views into sales is a disciplined team effort. You'll want to have a Facebook profile first is the first line of Facebooks help files. We went viral so fast we did not even have a website. Think about how buyers can find you and connect. This is a challenge when your story is repeated across multiple platforms in multiple languages.
What we did right?
First, the invention was truly inspirational and published in the most prestigious scientific magazine on the planet, it is called Nature Communications. Second, the lead professor was VB. An Australia so famous he is named in High School Chemistry textbooks. VB is first class at picking and parading winners, this is very unusual for an academic. Third, our timing was perfect. Solar skin cancer 'melanoma' was in the news and our sunburn sensors massively reduced the risk of skin cancer. Fourthly, racial equality was big news and sun burn effects every skin colour differently. So we blatantly spruiked race and discussed skin colours in the most politically desirable way. Finally, we trusted a real genuine staff media communications person.
How did it go wrong
The researchers only measured success by the number of citations (views) they received. Converting reads to something useful was never a consideration. Next the media person moved with uncharacteristic lightning speed and drafted then uploaded the article. I never saw the copy. The post was picked by the mainstream news media and on the basis of the reputations of those involved. Almost immediately it was translated into 11 languages and spread globally. All without a single payment or sponsored post.
To this day I have not earned a single cent out the 53 million reach.
Where did we flop? The media person worked for a research institute so only wrote one type of article. The article lacked a call to action, brand names, contact details and #hashtags. We had no website. We were still designing packing so had no samples. The researchers were still debugging storage stability so could not discuss distribution agreements.
I had not discussed the launch because in my mind it was months away. The result was we looked like a really cute research project with zero saleable products. We had launched far too early. There was no consensus between team members and no clear plan to commercialise the innovation.
What happened next
We had enormous needs. We needed investors but they are nervous and suspicious. Once we were branded as early stage researchers with zero product they put away their wallets. The only enquiries we scored were from lightweights who were more trouble than they were worth. In the end, the commercial team walked away and the researchers continued fiddling in the laboratory are still making unsuccessful attempts to repeat the viral success.
How to make your viral launch successful
Expect your team members to be anxious and jumpy. Convince them you only get one shot at the launch and they can burn your brand. This is easier said than done. A gentle way to herd geeks, board members and entrepreneurs is with pizza and drinks while stepping through one of these easy-to-follow launch plans:
I was not happy. Am I the only person to have these challenges? Help me to feel better with any examples, stories or tips.
Edited 20/8/21 to add references
Hi Brian,
It's so interesting how you've experienced viral marketing yourself and your blog details a great narrative of the things that work and that don't work from your lived experience. I loved how you mention a magical alignment of various factors that make something go viral, before you're even prepared for it. This really got me thinking about why brands want to go viral in the first place? I think its' quite important for any brand or individual to align virality with their broader goals and have a plan of action ready in case something goes viral. I know that previously, marketers would generally try to make anything to catch attention. But, I feel like those times are gone…