I had the good fortune to attend the Advertising Age Digital Conference a few months ago, and the most impressive presentation was given by the CMO of Unilever

What impressed me most about Mr.Clift’s presentation was his and his company’s grasp on and fluency in Social Media and how to utilize it in conjunction with traditional media to build brands. While many proselytize about it, Unilever does it in a very engaging and exciting manner.

Perhaps some of you have seen the examples I am about to cite, if you did, please excuse me. But otherwise, please enjoy them, some from Unilever, some not, but all courtesy of Mr. Clift. And all bright, shiny examples of how to use social media well, from the big budgets of brands like Dove, to microbudgets of brands like Pot Noodles. Here is the video created to spoof Guinness Beer and in the process, go viral!

Speaking of going viral and creating a major international stir, this video, centerpiece of a major campaign from has over 8MM views.

From the results files, here is response to the Dove campaign. It resulted in face to face meetings with Unilever management who are now working with Greenpeace in lieu of Greenpeace working against Unilever. Kudos to both sides!

This simple print ad from celebrating the change in leadership in the US, went viral in a big way.

And finally, from the masters of viral, Jib Jab, comes this custom piece that they created for OfficeMax last Christmas. Unfortunately, you can no longer play, but shows the results. What do elves have in common with OfficeMax? Not much, but in a fairly low interest category like purchasing office supplies online, OfficeMax sure raised awareness of their ecom offerings!

There is no secret formula to “going viral.” Sure, there are lots of blog posts about it and books from the likely suspects all too willing to take your hard earned twenty bucks. But as I think you’ll see from the examples above is that to go viral you simply need to rely on a well defined brand, and your ability to capture the hearts and/or minds of your audiences in a manner that will persuade them to act. Which in this case, is to forward a link, post to a blog, Tweet, or whatever the case may be. Please share your examples!