supervirals.gifFirst and foremost I owe you a full disclosure that my new Geek Tank POKE New York is working an idea very similar to this one. Nothing to show just yet, but check back as it promises to be consumer friendly.

Hokay Soh, I want to like these guys. I do. And believe you me blog slander is something I am not a fan of nor am I a stranger to.  And it can get really ugly. So in the interest of practicing a little Blogging Etiquette, I’m going to try to keep all of this above the belt.

first, what is it

Supervirals is a website that encourages people (CONSUMERS!) who like to make content to make it for a brand.
  1. Creative people can win prizes by sharing original ideas for brands.
  2. A brand posts a Creator Brief and puts up a prize for the winning idea..
  3. There’s a competition’s countdown timer.
  4. The more people that check out and comment on your idea, the higher its SuperVirals Score goes.
  5. The creator LOSES all IP claims and there are RULES to follow if you intend on uploading content.
They then hand the creator of the top viral some kind of reward in the hopes that they’ve just produced the next BOX In a BOX.

from their site

    “SuperVirals is a new creative platform where you can win big prizes by creating and uploading original ideas for sponsor brands. Which means it’s also the place to see the best new viral content on the web!”
Tom!  That sounds great!  RIGHT??  Rich ideation for consumers by consumers!  Yeah!!!

not really

Here’s why. This site is concept first - not brand evangelist first. The format is for the idea junkie - NOT - the product or category enthusiast. Hmm. Wouldn’t a better format be one where the consumer chooses to promote the products they already love? Perhaps a epinions-meets-vimeo kinda place?

think about it this way

You bought the iPhone. Then you went out with it. You got on the train. You stood in line at the movies. Finally some sap said “HEY IS THAT THE NEW iPhone??” And you saiiidddd? “Oh, dude it’s awesome, here try it.” “Now do this, and that, and, and pinch your fingers, and, and, and…” Why?
  1. You were psyched about your purchase.
  2. You love to evangelize apple.
  3. You felt damn cool.
  4. You were in love (at least for a week) till you realized the gPhone was coming ;).
  5. All of the above.
‘sactly. You were smitten. A consumer in lust and you were ready to sing. So what if Supervirals had a position like this (they don’t, but c’mon for the ride):
    “SuperVirals is a new creative platform where you can win big prizes by creating and uploading original ideas for THE BRANDS YOU LOVE. Which means it’s also the place to get creative and recommend in any way you’d like, the products and services you can’t live without!”
But it doesn’t. “Sickening.” “Incredible.” “Brilliant!” “Oh for f$*s sake!” Are just some of the comments floating about the web on this one. All in all, it IS a step in the direction of consumer-friendly thinking to have big companies rewarding creative ideas developed on their behalf. But will this one fly? Is it just super-powered spam? Will it really be a consumer friend? Foe?

I guess it remains to be seen what kind of content gets created. For their sake, I hope THIS isn’t any of it.

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