“Let’s go viral” still makes it into every brief but that’s not the real game anymore. Virality today isn’t what it used to be. What matters today is not a moment of fame, but sustained relevance.
Once upon a time, one bold ad could make your brand a household name. Think Cadbury’s Dairy Milk “Kuch Khaas Hai” ad or Fevicol’s Egg Ad. One iconic film, and it instantly redefined the language of these brands. Now? “One viral moment” gets you trending for two minutes. And then the scroll moves on. Think of all the brands that jumped on the “Binod” trend, or posted AI-generated memes to stay relevant. They trended for a day or two, and then disappeared with the algorithm.
The question isn’t whether your brand can go viral. The real question is “Can it stay viral?”
Let’s Rethink Virality.
Today, virality has evolved. It’s not the loudest campaign in the room. It’s not about outrageous stunts or jumping on every meme bandwagon. It’s about consistency, creativity, context. And above all, relatability.
In a world of endless content and fleeting attention, going viral once isn’t a strategy, it’s just the start. What matters is when audiences recognise your voice, relate to your content, and the brand becomes the moment, not just the campaign.
Think about the ones that keep us engaged. Zomato doesn’t post one clever tweet and disappear. It keeps showing up in ways that echo our cravings, quirks, and inner chaos. Swiggy’s humour hits the right note because it knows our midnight snack brain better than we do. CRED? Every campaign is an unexpected detour but the road always leads back to the brand’s offbeat yet premium identity. These brands aren’t chasing virality. They’re building it, piece by piece, joke by joke, insight by insight.
So, Has Virality Lost Its Spark?
Not really. It’s just morphed. It’s about being the most familiar. The most human. The most you. Because here’s the thing, the audience is smart. They’re not just consuming content. They’re curating their identities with it. They don’t want a brand that shouts for attention. They want a brand that gets them. Shows up regularly. And speaks with them, not at them.
Relatable is the New Viral.
Relatability isn’t boring. It’s powerful. Because when something’s relatable, it becomes shareable. When it’s consistent, it becomes familiar. And when it’s both? That’s where real virality lives. Being viral today isn’t a peak. It’s a pulse.
Wakefit has mastered virality by blending consistent, relatable content with sharp cultural timing. It not only talks about sleep memes, WFH frustrations, and 5-minute power naps that turn into REM marathons but also smartly leverages moments like Poonam Pandey’s fake death PR stunt, creating an ad about sleepless nights and their mattresses, turning the controversy into a clever moment of engagement. This shows that true virality today is about staying relevant and human, not just chasing one-off buzz.
Cadbury 5 Star’s 2024 Valentine’s campaign embraced relatable, pressure-free moments, breaking the usual romantic clichés. Separately, their ongoing “Do Nothing” brand campaign encourages people to take guilt-free breaks, building consistent, relatable engagement over time. And their 2025 AI revolution pushback cleverly positioned 5 Star as the real, imperfect human treat amid tech overload. Together, these campaigns show how 5 Star nails virality through steady relatability and consistency.
Here’s the new truth:
In 2025, don’t aim to just “go viral.” Build something so real, so relevant, and so repeatable, that your audience doesn’t just remember your campaign, they remember you. Because while everyone else is chasing 2 minutes of fame, the smartest brands are earning forever shelf space in people’s minds.
Relatable is timeless. And when done right it’s the most viral thing of all.
