ON THE SPOT: ED RICHARDSON The Viral Factory has had a great six months, with its
Diesel SFW XXX viral entertaining a massive global
audience late last year. Co-founder Ed Richardson
the art of virals talks to InMotion about the pleasures of a good viral
Are virals the poorer cousins of TV spots? How does The Viral Factory stand out from the crowd?
Bit aggressive off the bat! OK then, in some respect they plainly are – There isn’t much of a crowd. Certainly many people are making virals,
budgets tend to be less, although good virals aren’t as cheap as people like agency and production companies alike, but most do it as a sort of side-line
to imagine, and we don’t deliver beautiful HD end products which drip with to keep their clients happy. As I mentioned, keeping clients happy doesn’t
production value and gloss. On the other hand I never spend a full day really fit with making good viral work, so most companies do it in a half-
lighting a pack-shot; we get to make entertaining product that the punter hearted way. We focus on it and have to get it right, or we go under. That
actually enjoys watching, and our space is growing and maturing at an keeps us scared enough to be good. I also think our stance attracts a few
incredible rate. So maybe we are the nouveau riche cousin looking at buying likeminded but brilliant people, and it is them who keep moving us forward.
a decent house in your street, where we intend to hold loud debauched
parties which we will refuse to invite you to. Is it difficult to convince clients to go for some of your more risqué ideas?
Yes. It is a learning curve for most of our clients, and we part with many of
How does the approach to making a viral differ to making a TV spot? them before making anything, if we feel it’s not going to work. Once you have
In TV advertising you make it solely for the client – if they are happy when got your head around what we do being more like sponsored entertainment
The Viral Factory virals, from top:
you present you have done your job. In viral it’s all about our audience and or online PR than traditional advertising, it tends to help them relax a bit. It’s
Samsung Cute Animals, Diesel
we fight on their behalf throughout the process. We have only done a good about trust, and fortunately we have enough good work under our belts that
SFW XXX, BBC Breathing Places
job when the audience has enjoyed and recommended our work, and that people believe the advice we give them.
keeps us honest with the company that’s paying. What we really sell the
client is the love of the audience, not a 30-second commercial piece of film, Will virals really be more than just a flash in the pan?
and in many ways the content of the spot is our business not theirs. I think viral won’t last much more than a couple more years. But by that I just
mean the word. It has become associated with short, crass, cheap sub-TV
Will you ever return to the ‘traditional’ advertising world? spots which we snigger about online. We think ‘viral’ means making content
I’m not sure I could. Partly because I’ve irritated so many people by doing paid for by an advertiser which people actually want to see, and through the
what I do, but also because after almost 10 years in this field I have a totally internet they can and will find it. That is surely the future of all advertising (I
new aesthetic and way of working. That said, TV and internet branded content hope) but I’m pretty sure we won’t be calling it all viral. It’s just a shame the
are getting so much closer together that the distinction may not really last. word is in our company name.
inmotion I 85
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