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I was at the deep in the belly of Channel 4's HQ in London. The event was a mix of young students hoping to get into the business, and advertising types. We'll feature interviews with both on the next Pods and Blogs.

I also had a fascinating conversation with one part of the team behind . The video featured a suicide bomber foiled in his endeavours by the structural integrity of a brand of car that likes to pride itself on the toughness of its small vehicles.

That video, which some found offensive (), launched a very successful career for its creators.. There was, in this case, no such thing as bad publicity.

Not surprisingly perhaps many people I spoke to reported that many firms misunderstand viral. Firstly that they think a successful viral must be as edgy as the "suicide bomber" video, and secondly that they have too literal a view of the viral as advertising. Successful viral advertising is often indirect, the references to the firm may be quite oblique. Making the relationship between the video and the brand ambiguous, helps to build buzz as bloggers and others speculate as to who may be behind it. And talking of buzz, a great deal of energy is put into seeding references to the viral online and, in nurturing discussion of it.

There is, however, is no substitute for a film that people will actually want to watch. As we talk about "glanceability" in radio (horrid jargon for adding pictures to radio) we have a lot to learn from viral makers. We need to make something everyone will want to watch. As the demonstrated, that may just require imagination, a bit of cardboard and scant regard for personal safety. Creativity is the key, not just controversy or big budgets.

UPDATE: As an example of a viral ad that doesn't need to shock. This for a German company manufacturing windmills (yes I did have a few second thoughts about posting this commercial - but I don't suppose you'll all be rushing out to buy one) is a good example of how a viral can work its way into the Technorati most popular list without being shocking or offensive..