The best viral ad campaigns share a handful of traits. They are built around one simple idea, they give people a reason to pass them on, and they feel like something you would want to watch even if no brand was attached. Old Spice, Dove, Dollar Shave Club, Volvo Trucks, Cadbury and the Ice Bucket Challenge all got there in different ways, but none of them got there by accident.

You do not need a national TV budget to learn from them. Below we look at seven well documented viral advertising examples, what actually made each one spread and the practical lesson a UK small business can take from it. Where we quote numbers, they come from the brands, award bodies or reputable press at the time.

Old Spice proved that speed beats polish

“The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” first appeared online on 4 February 2010, with actor Isaiah Mustafa delivering a single take monologue that moved from bathroom to boat to horseback. It won the Film Grand Prix at Cannes Lions that June. The original advert was clever, but the part most worth studying came next.

In July 2010 Old Spice ran what became known as the Response campaign. According to the D&AD case study, the team filmed and posted 186 personal video replies to comments from fans, celebrities and journalists in just over two and a half days, with many videos made in 10 to 15 minutes. D&AD reports 5.9 million YouTube views on the first day, and sales up 125% year on year by the end of July 2010.

The lesson: replying to people is content. A short, personal video answering a customer question, recorded on a phone the same day, often does more than a polished post scheduled a month ahead. If a post of yours starts getting attention, stay in the comments and keep the conversation going while it is warm.

Dove made the viewer the subject

Dove Real Beauty Sketches was released on 14 April 2013. An FBI trained forensic artist drew women based on their own descriptions, then drew them again from descriptions given by strangers who had just met them. The strangers’ versions were consistently kinder. A Think with Google case study reported 163 million global views by June 2013, and the film won the Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes Lions that year.

It was not universally loved. Critics in Forbes and elsewhere pointed out that it still focused on appearance and that the women featured were not very diverse. That criticism is worth remembering too.

The lesson: the most shared content is often about the viewer, not the product. Dove barely mentioned soap. For a small business, that might be a video that names a feeling your customers recognise, like the dread of a first gym session or the stress of a house move, then shows how you help.

The Ice Bucket Challenge gave everyone a role

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge took off in summer 2014. People filmed themselves being drenched, donated and nominated three friends to do the same. The ALS Association in the US received about $115 million, and around $1 million of that helped fund Project MinE, research that later linked the NEK1 gene to ALS. In the UK, the MND Association says it raised £7.25 million, mostly over a few days around the August bank holiday, and spent £4.9 million of it on research.

The mechanics did the work. Taking part was easy, a little bit silly, filmed by the participant and built to be passed on by name.

The lesson: if you want people to share, give them a part to play. A nomination, a challenge, a photo prompt or a “show us yours” post invites participation in a way a straightforward advert cannot. Keep the entry barrier low and the format easy to copy on a phone.

Related reading: Viral Video Marketing: How to Make Videos More Shareable

Dollar Shave Club turned a founder into the advert

On 6 March 2012, Dollar Shave Club posted “Our Blades Are F***ing Great”, a deadpan video of co-founder Michael Dubin walking through the company’s warehouse explaining the business. Wikipedia, citing contemporary reports, says the company received about 12,000 orders in the first 48 hours. Unilever bought the business in 2016 for a reported $1 billion.

The video worked because it explained the offer clearly (cheap razors, delivered monthly), poked fun at the big brands and sounded like a real person rather than a corporation.

The lesson: the owner of a small business is often its best spokesperson. A founder talking honestly to camera, with a bit of personality and a clear offer, can outperform an expensive produced advert. Write a script, practise it, and make sure the offer is clear in the first ten seconds.

Volvo Trucks sold a feature with one unforgettable image

“The Epic Split” was released on 13 November 2013 as part of Volvo Trucks’ Live Tests series. Jean-Claude Van Damme performs the splits between two reversing lorries to show off the precision of Volvo Dynamic Steering. It was filmed at sunrise on a closed airport runway in Spain, in a single take. Wikipedia reports about 40 million views within nine days, and the campaign went on to win a D&AD Black Pencil and a Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness award.

The interesting part is the audience. Very few viewers will ever buy a lorry, but the people who do were talking about the video too.

The lesson: even a dry B2B product can be shown in a memorable way. Find the one feature you are proudest of and ask how you could demonstrate it rather than describe it. A joiner could stand on a shelf they have just fitted. A cleaning company could show a single before and after in one continuous shot.

Cadbury and Compare the Market won with characters and feeling

Cadbury’s drumming gorilla

Cadbury’s “Gorilla” launched in 2007, after a salmonella scare in 2006 led to the recall of more than a million bars. Marketing Week reports that the 90 second ad had no dialogue and no product shown in the action, just a gorilla drumming along to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight”. It won a Cannes Lions Grand Prix and Cadbury reported a 10% sales increase. Marketing director Phil Rumbol described it as the hardest thing he ever had to sell internally.

Compare the Meerkat

Comparethemarket.com launched its meerkat campaign in the UK on 5 January 2009, with Aleksandr Orlov complaining that people kept confusing his site with the insurance comparison site. It even had its own comparethemeerkat.com website. Within months the character had hundreds of thousands of Facebook fans, and the wordplay meant the brand did not have to rely entirely on expensive “market” search keywords.

The lesson: people share how something made them feel and characters they like. A recurring character, a mascot or even your office dog can give your content a familiar face that audiences come back for.

What these viral ad campaigns have in common

Look across these examples and a pattern appears. Most viral marketing campaigns that last share several of these ingredients:

1. One idea you can explain in a sentence. “A man splits between two lorries” travels easily. Complicated messages do not.
2. A reason to share. People pass things on because they are funny, moving, useful or let them take part.
3. A clear link to the brand. The best ones are hard to remember without remembering who made them.
4. Speed and conversation. Old Spice kept the moment going by replying. Most brands post and walk away.
5. Distribution behind it. Many “viral” hits were also backed by paid media, PR and launch planning. Going viral is rarely luck alone.

That last point matters for small businesses. You cannot plan for a video to reach millions, but you can make something worth sharing, post it where your audience already is and put a modest budget behind what starts to perform. Our video production team plans short form content with that in mind, from scripts to filming to captions.

Frequently asked questions

What makes an ad campaign go viral?

Usually a simple idea, a strong emotional reaction (laughter, surprise or warmth) and an easy way for people to share or take part. Timing, early momentum and paid support behind the content also play a big part.

Can a small business create a viral ad?

Yes, but it should not be the goal. Aim to make content your audience genuinely wants to watch and share. Local reach among the right people is worth far more than millions of views from people who will never buy.

How much does a viral video cost to make?

It varies hugely. Some of the examples above had big production budgets, while others relied on a strong script and a founder talking to camera. A clear idea matters more than expensive kit.

Which platform is best for viral content?

Short vertical video on TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Facebook currently gives new content the best chance of reaching people who do not already follow you. Pick the platform where your customers spend their time.

Make your next campaign worth sharing

We help small businesses across Surrey, Hampshire and beyond turn good ideas into video and social content that people actually watch. Whether you need a campaign idea, filming or ongoing social media management, get in touch with our team to talk it through.