John Hegarty weighs in on virals.

John Hegarty speaks about viral ads in the Guardian.
The trouble with viral campaigns - the net is a bordless world, but people live in countries. What is in danger of being lost in the viral world is the value of context.

Yet this is what the viral world is in danger of missing. Will we have to develop a different set of communication skills to cope with a lack of context? Almost certainly. If, however, as a medium it just relies on shock to get its "click through", we soon find, as that poor cat did, that it will fall out of sympathy. Brand building is not just about recognition and notoriety, it is about building empathy and respect. I'm not sure you can just shock somebody into that point of view.