Videos don’t have to feature cute hugging cats or giggling babies in order to go viral. If you know your niche and your brand, you can make a clever video that will be popular with your audience.
For inspiration view these examples of recent, popular YouTube videos made by staff at universities for their niche audiences:

New alumni send-off
As a tribute to 2011’s graduating class, Oberlin’s President Marvin Krislov and other administrators playfully recreate Rebecca Black’s video for her earworm “Friday.”

Student recruitment tool
What’s not to like about this feel good video? Purdue University’s video about the “Compliment Guys” who shout out nice things to students passing by took off when it was posted to YouTube.



Online pep rally, part one
This Notre Dame anthem, created for a student-athlete awards banquet, was so well-received by alumni, students, and other members of the Fighting Irish family that its view count is over 300,000 and growing.

Online pep rally, part two
To bolster excitement for the basketball team, Indiana University fans Brice Fox and Daniel Weber express their school spirit with song and exciting archival game footage.



Nostalgic virtual tour
Combining stop-motion and colorful narration, the University of Chicago’s Dean of the College John Boyer helps alumni revisit campus in this short, atmospheric video.