EEMAX Global 2016 saw a panel discussion where there were six people and seven chairs. Mr. Atul Nath, director at Candid Marketing and the moderator of the session, elaborated to curious eyes, that it represented the consumer, who was of course, the most important part of the discussion. The viewpoint found resonation in the applause of the audience, and that may be called an apt start to a session on “what makes certain digital content go viral?”

Viral, it appeared, did not have a preset formula, and there was no secret recipe to cooking up viral content. There was no predicting the response a creative campaign may have, but it is important that the creator feel strongly about what he does. “We work on making things we find fun, and hope for the best,” said Gursimran Khamba, stand-up comedian of AIB fame.

Rishi Jaitley, CEO, Twitter, expressed that speaking with truth and revealing your personality gets audience response, and it is also important to know who the target crowd is, and to make sure it reaches them. “In Japan, the most retweeted tweet is usually by some kid with 50 followers, but who share similar interests, so that they lead to geometric propagation”, he said.

For Ashish Patil, VP, Yashraj Films, the consumer was the starting point for generating viral content. “Element of surprise works well usually”, he said. “The platform for the content is very relevant, as it largely defines the experience the user is having, added Shreyansh Pandey, Creative producer, The Viral Fever. “You have got to be authentic and have a point of view”, summed up Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18 Media.

Briefs are losing their applicability, as brands trust the creators more and more to sense the pulse of the audience and data analytics. “We measure sudden counter-intuitive spikes", said Jaitley. Soon sharing will become easier than ever, as tweets change to live streaming, and viral will have a new definition, because it will be experience, not words. However, too much availability often leads to generation of untoward content, or its reaching an audience it is not meant for.

On the topic of offensive content, the discussion took a very intriguing turn, as the fundamental question of who decided what is right and what is wrong, raised its head. Society and mentality are changing, and what was once offensive, may now be the progressive. It transpired that the decision will have to be left to the consumer, as to what they connect and engage to, rather than imposing any regulations on the flow of creativity.