The NextStage CRO explains how conveying attainability to your consumer can light up your word of mouth campaign.

I wrote about viral marketing and how it works in my last column and used a video of Chris Bliss juggling as an example of good viral marketing.

This time I'm going to write about how and why some viral marketing doesn't work, what social networks are all about and why some things propagate virally whether you mean them to or not.

On Sunday, 2 Apr 06, I was watching Dateline NBC and saw a piece about a video attacking the Chris Bliss video. In that piece, another juggler, Jason Garfield, belittles Bliss for only juggling with three balls, rather. I hadn't seen the Garfield video at the time because nobody's sent it to me (and no, please don't). However, even without having seen it, that second video fails to meet the viral marketing criteria.

Here's why not.

As I discussed last time, the Meskauskas elements to good viral marketing are Entertainment, Utility, Palpable Reward and Uniqueness. Between these basic elements and a successful campaign are two social element factors: Trust and Fair Exchange. I'm going to include another social element factor that plays a role in the viral marketing concepts in this discussion, something NextStage calls Attainability.

The Gaelic term is "bhlas" (pronounced "vlas")
I've had the opportunity to spend time with some highly talented Gaelic musicians. One, Fred Morrison, is arguably one of the finest if not the finest piper on the planet. He got that way through lots of practice and studying with people having a specific trait-- the bhlas. According to Scots Gaelic scholar and columnist Calum MacKenzie, "The word 'bhlas' means taste and is normally applied to the sense of taste via nose-mouth. However in Gaelic idiom, the word can be applied to sounds. Not as a taste for the arts... more an accent that puts the sounds right in the groove. Or… if missing, sounds off, foreign, alien -- although letter perfect and sounding passably right -- it still has something missing."

You don't have to be the world's greatest musician in order to play with the good type of bhlas. All that's required is that you and the music become more than just you and the music when you're playing it.

Bhlas and attainability
There is a critical aspect to bhlas. People playing with the bhlas make their playing look truly, undeniably, effortless. They are so smooth in their playing and emit such a sense of joy when they play that you, watching, think to yourself, "I could do that!"

This sense that you, too, could play with the bhlas is what NextStage calls Attainability, as in "I could attain that level of competence." This experience, a willing suspension of disbelief in your own limitations, is what -- even if it's just for the briefest of moments -- lets you dream, lets you laugh, lets you play, lets you believe in yourself and others. It is devilishly hard to come by.

This is even noted in the Dateline NBC article about the Bliss video and the resulting attack video: "The big difference? Bliss keeps three balls in the air. Jason Garfield uses five, and at one point, ten. His point? That despite the applause, Chris bliss isn't that talented. On his web page, Garfield wrote, 'If you think he's a good juggler, you are wrong.' To him, the Bliss routine is too easy and lacks grace. But Bliss says it's uplifting and gives people a feeling they hadn't had in quite some time."

I asked several people what was different about the two videos. One person's response was typical of many, "The difference is that Bliss has the bhlas, so even if the routine is easy the viewer doesn't notice. They're caught up in the magic of the moment."

NextStage spends lots of time researching how people interact with information and know that Attainability is an important metric for businesses.

Imagine education or health providers broadcasting "You'll never get that degree." or "You'll never be as healthy as you want." These companies and others want people to believe they'll succeed going in. If not, why would someone spend their money on what the company's promoting?

So, the first lesson here is as follows: to create a successful viral campaign, make sure it is founded with Meskauskas' Entertainment, Utility, Palpable Reward and Uniqueness. Add some Trust and Fair Exchange. If the viral campaign requires people to be passive for some few moments (such as watching a video), make sure those few passive moments give them a sense of attainability.

Next: How critical mass and sustainability empower viral campaigns.