Gregg Spiridellis answered MarketingVOX questions recently, addressing the fickle nature of "viralness," and the ability of marketers to capture the qualities that make some content desirable and even the sort of thing people which to pass along to friends.

MV: Brand marketers are captivated today by the idea of doing something funny or lurid or otherwise making ads with high viral propensity and spreading them across the internet in a bid to get free message distribution. This seemed easy at first - but marketers were looking only at those examples that had become popular, not looking at all the dreck that was first seeded online. Do you think this is a lightning-in-a-bottle situation, where they will not be able to replicate viral successes, or is it just a matter of hiring the right talent and throwing enough money and time at it?

Spiridellis: I think advertisers will be able to create viral ads if they are willing to take the creative risks necessary to make them happen. To date, few companies have been willing to take those risks. To make something viral it can�t feel like a traditional ad. If you try to push the same message in a viral piece that you�re playing on network TV during prime time, it won�t work. If you can do something a little edgier (or self deprecating) it can work. Brand managers should look to the web as a place to experiment and have a little fun with their brand.

MV: Gregg, you know more than almost anyone the fickleness of the internet's passing interests. How long was it that you, your brother and others were working on these animations (I suppose it goes back to the Santa stuff) before you finally saw a chart-topper make your name (presumably the This Land… piece)?

Spiridellis: We had been producing online entertainment for almost five years before This Land took off. Over the years we�ve been building an email list of all of our fans. Before This Land took off, we had a little fewer than 200,000. Those fans sparked the chain reaction that sent This Land and the follow up circling the globe more than 80 million times.

MV: What combination of factors made This Land is Your Land so popular relative to other political satires that preceded? Some obvious differences were its non-partisan nature and relatively high production values, but what else? Was the writing just that much better?

Spiridellis: A few things�

1) First and foremost, it was the right piece of content at the right time. The political dialogue was totally asinine and we seemed to capture that spirit. The writing and enhanced production values made it something people wanted to watch.

2) Broadband penetration has skyrocketed since our 2000 election parody making our work accessible to a much larger.

3) Processor speeds have also increased making it more enjoyable to watch video/animation on a computer.

4) Everyday people are more comfortable with technology. I can�t tell you how many times we heard �my grandmother sent it to me�. Grandmas were not emailing in 2000.

MV: Some brands have gotten caught (particularly in the automotive field) trying to have ads created by third parties that get seeded over their fake objections. The Ford Sportka ads come to mind. At what level of Hell do you believe they'll wind up spending time? And will this sort of play make the Internet audience generally more cynical about the animated shorts and viral videos they see?

Spiridellis: I think it�s a very shortsighted strategy to try and pull the wool over the eyes of your audience. As a branded creative studio, we would never risk the goodwill we�ve built in our brand by trying to pull the wool over people�s eyes.

MV: Would you ever consider doing a satire piece on another country's politics? Might we ever see an E.U. Constitution referendum musical? (you already have Chirac and Schroeder in Flash animation, how hard could it be?

Spiridellis: Sure� if we had something to say about it. Most likely, in that situation, we would work with a native writing team. It�s hard to understand all the nuances of politics if you are not living in the subject country.

MV: Would you ever consider directing or creating a piece that was in itself a marketing production - for instance a political advertisement or a product advertisement? Do you think that to do so would be to tinge the way that people see your other work?

Spiridellis: We do create marketing productions for brands� that�s how we�ve paid the bills over the years and funded the original content like This Land. Politics, however, is another story. Because of the bi-partisan success of our election work, we have decided to not do partisan ads. We will have a big announcement coming soon re: a viral campaign we are launching with a major brand! [ed note: see today�s MarketingVOX story on JibJab�s work with Anheuser-Busch.]

MV: Have you boondoggled anyone into actually give you a movie deal? And if you were to do one, would it be done � la Flash?

Spiridellis: We�re working on it! We are in discussions with a major studio about a movie deal and plan to be in the market with a television pilot this summer. That being said, the Internet is what we�re all about and it will always be our primary focus. The money is not there (yet), but it�s the only medium that lets you connect with your audience and, long term, that�s how you build value