The article Mobile Marketer by Chantal Tode brings up the rising popularity of sharing videos online and whether or not marketers are prepared for this trend. The article mentions that global consumer video traffic is expected to double by 2016 and a large percentage of these viewers will be using mobile devices. The question that arose in my mind was how to create powerful videos that will inspire people to share and to act. It is remarkable how quickly a creative video can become popular and spread. Viral videos not only have the potential of reaching millions of people, but the following cover videos that  re-create popular videos reach the same amount of viewers or more! Viral videos create trends that spread. For example, the latest craze right now is the “Harlem Shake”. Not only has the original Harlem Shake video reached 25,626,150 people, the re-makes are reaching 18,000,000+. My university, Western Washington University, just recently had a student head a “WWU Harlem Shake” and the original video currently has 33,810 views and the video from the local newspaper with 13,759 views. Even though the Harlem Shake has nothing to do with a company or organization, it is a great example of how a viral video can turn into a trend and reach millions of people.

When I think of what a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company could use videos for, I think of patient advocates. I think a great way for companies to utilize their advocates is through videos. In a blog post by Ben Yoskovitz titled Telling Compelling Stories with Video he states, “…visuals are almost always more compelling and interesting than text. I can read points that speak to your value proposition, or you can just show me”.  I believe that if more companies used videos to let patients share their stories, or share their testimonial for a treatment that worked, etc., it would influence people in a deeper more connecting way. A great example of an effective video is one published July 11, 2012 by Joanne Wurm, a young woman diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. The purpose of the video is to raise awareness of the disease and share the hope to find a cure. I will share the video in another blog post. Even though she does not speak throughout the video, and shares her story via a flip-book, it is still able to touch the viewer is a way unreachable by words alone. I can only imagine what creative videos more RA advocates could create to raise awareness. Joanne could have possibly even started a trend of people sharing their stories via flip-books.