Mmm…I often get asked during my consultancy gigs what it takes to do successful online viral advertising campaigns and of course the answer is, who knows? It’s certainly not just money, although that clearly helps, nor is it just clever thoughts, because the best ideas can languish unloved. So my usual answer is either 1)give real value or 2)be so outrageously different (a la Subservient Chicken) that you grab traction by the scruff of the neck.

Interesting to see, therefore, the new Nokia online viral play for the Nokia 500 GPS navigation system, which has clearly cost them a very large sum of money indeed. Impeccably shot in Prague (I think) it features a fairly predictable story line, with puzzle elements thrown in to the mix. Marketed via small video clips courtesy of Unruly Media advertising and designed to pique the interest of that GPS loving demographic who don’t already have a TomTom. Will it work? Hmm…

Contrast and compare with the very budget priced viral wannabe clip from Motorola sent to me by Edelman PR, which features an unbelievably cheesy marriage proposal shot and edited on a Motorola Z10. They claim it’s a genuine proposal, we couldn’t possibly comment, except to say that we believe everything that PR tells us. Will this work? Ha ha…