In the last week there have been three Social Media phenomenon that have really grabbed my attention. Three "campaigns" that have, by all accounts, sprung up completely organically and engaged the public in a way that no one could have predicted.
Paul Cunningham's Winter Hat
The first is the Irish internet sensation that is Paul Cunningham's hat. For those who don't know who Paul is; Paul is RTÉ's Environment Correspondent. While doing a report as part of the Nine O'Clock News on RTE1 on 7th January, Paul wore a rather..... noticeable hat. What no one could have predicted was just how much the public would latch onto this little fashion misadventure.
The 'We love Paul Cunningham's winter hat' already has 3,420 fans. Just one of several YouTube videos of the news feature has 3,082 views. Admittedly these aren't huge figures but at the same time, it's a Christmas hat.
Man Falling on Ice
This is another Irish "campaign", and again has a winter connection. Unfortunately, for at least one poor bloke, this particular internet wonder looks a little bit more painful then an odd hat. Three days ago as part of a RTÉ's report on water shortages due to freezing pipes, a piece of video was used that showed a pedestrian slipping on the ice. The feature went viral almost immediately and a Facebook Page sprung up that currently has 26,827 fans!
That's an awful lot of fans of someone falling over. Could it really be that good? Unfortunately, and I say unfortunately as I think someone really got hurt here, this is completely compelling and there's something about it that you just can't help laughing at. This is clearly shown by the YouTube video that has driven 40,773 views to date.
Facebook Status My Bra Colour
Finally we have this, non-video related, entry to my little list of three stand-out internet phenomenons of the last week. You may have noticed female friends or acquaintances updating their Facebook statuses recently with colours or patterns. These updates usually carried no information or explanation, and there didn't seem to be anyone offering any, anywhere. The trend or meme, which I haven't actually been able to verify, was seemingly started by a group of women in Chicago to help raise awareness of Breast Cancer. The campaign had a small level of uptake but then a girl named Kimberley Griffiths created a Facebook Page for the campaign.
The Page was founded on the 7th January and has exploded in activity with 60,196 fans already joined up. I think the number speaks for itself. That's just 4 days!
So what's next? What video or tv moment or charity activity will grab us and capture our attention? Who knows! (That's not a question!) The truth is, there's a 'little something' about each of these "campaigns" that can't be planned and can't be predicted. They're also three examples from an otherwise very short list when you consider exactly how many Facebook Pages and YouTube videos get uploaded and created every week. So is there a point? There is, and it's fairly simple. While I believe it's not massively difficult to create real campaigns that engage with your audience and create a greater public resonance beyond simple awareness, planning them is another matter. Budgets aside, there are various techniques to drive engagement. Competitions, free samples/trials/products or any number of other ways to get the public to hand over personal details. However, while it's easy to engage, or to at least create an appearance of engagement, it's not easy to create that public resonance.
My conclusion: the "viral effect" (a horrible term and one I don't really use) of a campaign can certainly be manipulated or augmented, but at the heart of it all you need something that simply can't be thought up. I can't tell you exactly what it is, because no one can. It's that thing that will drive people to pass it on to their friends. That thing that will make people become a fan or friend for no logical reason whatsoever. Most importantly, it's not something you can buy. Not every product or brand is even capable of it. Sometimes it requires huge amounts of money, and other times it's achieved by someone with a camera phone for nothing. Either way, beware of anyone that says they can get it for you through a planned approach. It just happens for you or it doesn't.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Facebook & YouTube - Instant Fads & Overnight Hits
Sunday, January 10, 2010
DJ Earworm - A Mashup of the Top 25 Hits of 2009
Absolutely lovin' this mashup by DJ Earworm, simply class!
In case you can't pick them all out, here's the list:
The Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
Lady Gaga - Poker Face
Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O'Donis - Just Dance
The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
Taylor Swift - Lover Story
Flo Rida - Right Round
Jason Mraz - I'm Your's
Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)
Kanye West - Heartless
The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell
Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
T.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake - Dead And Gone
The Fray - You Found Me
Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo - Knock You Down
Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain - Blame It
Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)
T.I. Featuring Rihanna - Live Your Life
Soulja Boy Tell 'em Featuring Sammie - Kiss Me Thru The Phone
Jay Sean Featuring Lil Wayne - Down
Miley Cyrus - The Climb
Drake - Best I Ever Had
Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You
Beyonce - Halo
Katy Perry - Hot 'n' Cold
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Meteor Irish Music Awards: Nominees Announced
Just before Christmas I wrote about the upcoming Meteor Music Awards and the announcement of a brand new, publicly voted, award category: 'Most Promising New Artist'. Today I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the Awards in Dublin's Balzac Restaurant at the La Stampa Hotel on Dawson Street.
The big news today was the announcement of this year’s nominees and live performances. Hosted this year by Amanda Byram, the Awards promise a truely star-studded event to celebrate the tenth year of Meteors sponsorship of the Awards. Guest performers on the night will include; Westlife, Snow Patrol, The Script, Florence and the Machine, Paolo Nutini, The Coronas and Pixie Lott, to mention just a few. There will also be a host of additional performers announced during the coming weeks.
The nominees for the publicly voted categories are as follows:
| Best National D.J. | Best Regional D.J. |
| Best Irish Band | Best Irish Male |
| Best Irish Female | Best Irish Pop Act |
| Best Irish Album | |
| Best Irish Live Performance | |
All the category links above will bring you directly to the Meteor website, and as public voting went live from today, you should click over (as soon as you've finished reading) and get your votes in. Votes can also be cast directly from your mobile phone and all details on how to do this may be found on the Meteor website.
The event itself will air on RTE 2 on Sunday 21st February 2010 at 9pm.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Nivea XOXO Chain
It's the start of January and everyone's good intentions should probably still be strong. Give up this this, stop doing so much of that, avoid unnecessary..... etc. etc. New Years roles around and it's up to each of us to decide what we're going to do less of, in an effort to make ourselves better people. Is this such a good thing? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about making your life style more healthy, about stopping smoking or getting more exercise, but for many of us I reckon we could do a whole lot more for ourselves if we looked at what we could be doing more of.
It seems I'm not the only one thinking this way. With the aim of encouraging the public to "have more love, hugs and kisses in 2010", Nivea has launched its New Year's Resolution, XOXO Chain campaign.
The campaign, which will run until Valentine's Day, was kicked off by actors Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo. Centered around the Nivea website, users are asked to upload a digital hug or kiss, fo which Nivea will donate $1 to Big Brothers Big Sisters for each one.
"Nivea values the importance of human connections, an inherent aspect of the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, We felt this was the perfect fit for us as a brand", said Nicolas Maurer, vice president of marketing at Beiersdorf, Nivea's parent company.
The campaign was launched via the onsite Times Square activation, a digital advertising suite, a number of Public Relations activation and during NBC's live New Year's Eve programme hosted by Carson Daly. The NBC element included promo ads and online banners. The Times Square activation was similarly part of a larger marketing initiative. Nivea were also official sponsor of New Year's Eve in Times Square, and as such had a branded stage called the Nivea Kiss Platform. this featured musical performances by Taddy Porter and Delfina.
In relation to the campaign timing, Maurer commented, "2009 has been a tough year for a lot of people, and New Year's Eve is a great time to share love with friends and family and look forward to starting off 2010 with the best foot forward."
Nivea are also promoting the campaign via in-store at point of purchase displays, sampling and specialised photo booths. The XOXO Chain Booths allow consumers to get their photo taken while hugging and kissing. These images are then shared and uploaded to the store's electronic billboard. A number of these booths also tied into the many large screens that lined Times Square on New Year's Eve.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Specsavers: 'Spermsavers'
To celebrate their 25th anniversary, Specsavers has created a comedy ad about a blind sperm. The ad, 'Spermsavers', is currently being shown on the Specsavers YouTube channel and will also run on the brands Facebook Page between 11th and 14th January.
'Spermsavers' tells the story of a sperm swimming to be the first sperm to get to an egg. Unfortunately it swims straight past the egg. The blind sperm then turns around to give it one more try but again swims past and this time ends up trying to impregnate the Specsavers logo that has appeared.
While it is primarily being driven online, the ad will also be adapted for cinema and TV.
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