Viral Videos are being touted as the next big thing for social marketers and brand strategists, and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is an excellent case study of the same

If you have your finger in the social media pie, it’s impossible to have missed the incredibly viral, ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which seems to have consumed public consciousness, and ice cubes, worldwide. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was the brainchild of Pete Frates, who had been diagnosed of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He felt it would help garner global attention and financial assistance for this baffling and crippling disease that has no effective treatment.

For Frates, this “dare” was his attempt to leave his mark, one he more than succeeded in, with millions of people (three million on last count) dumping a bucket of iced water over their heads, and posting the videos on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. But what really got the world to sit up and take notice was the participation of thought leaders such as Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Sheryl Sandberg, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, and even a host of celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio, Drew Carey, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, and Britney Spears, to name a few. That is not to write off the power of the many million ordinary citizens, who religiously followed the rules, made nominations and donations to spread the word about ALS. The ALS Association saw an outpouring of interest and has received $111.1 million as of September 9, 2014, according to its website.

The Ice Bucket Challenge, despite the inevitable and much expected criticism, is ordained to become a case study in the years to come. Already elevated to the status of a pop culture phenomenon, it shows us how the viral video redefines the traditional tenets of marketing and although it was an individual’s idea to make the world’s philanthropists sit up and take notice, there is a lot that corporations and brands can glean from this humble, yet freezing experience.

What appealed to audiences across the globe is the simplicity of the message or action. Anyone can dunk themselves in a bucket of ice and while it elicits a few laughs and happy memories, it also shows the power of getting the message across and having your audience involved with the least amount of fuss. In a sense what also adds to the appeal of the campaign was the conscious Good Samaritan tag that every participant took back with her, helping her connect more proactively with the end goal — of raising awareness about a lesser-known condition, ALS. Most importantly, however, the sense of urgency in having to complete the challenge within 24 hours of receiving your nomination only added to the campaign value and, therefore, the imminent threat potential of the condition.

Naysayers may argue that while it may have clicked and the ALS coffers have been ringing non-stop, the flip side is that the campaign will not work if one were to assume a one-size-fits-all strategy. The biggest negative most people have voiced against this campaign has been its non-relevance in many of the geographies it has found takers and sympathizers. For instance we saw Bollywood names such as Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and some others latch on without any warning or nomination per se, merely to be part of the do-gooders bandwagon. But the truth is there are more pressing issues and concerns even in India, which haven’t seen as many takers or campaigners.

And hence, the birth of the Indian Rice Bucket challenge. While that had the advantage of being intrinsically relevant to the socio-economic condition of India’s majority, that it didn’t garner as much attention or hoo-ha is a point to ponder. The truth is, any imitators of the ice bucket are under threat of being written off as a “me-too” campaign. And public conscience has space only for so much goodness and charity at a time. But back to viral videos, which are being touted as the next big form of marketing and brand promotions. So do all viral campaigns indeed translate to on-theground success? While videos may help engage consumer curiosity in many instances and spread awareness, not all are designed to convert that interest into moolah. Excellent example of this are the viral effects of music videos such as “Why this Kolaveri Di” of Dhanush from his movie 3; or the popular song “Nenjukulle” of A R Rahman from the movie Kadal, which debuted on an episode of MTV India’s Unplugged. Both videos were released much before the actual movie and are the frontrunners of viral video marketing in India. Both videos and songs were great hits online, but the movies and the songs as picturised in the movies didn’t find many takers. Simply put, viral videos while responsible for heightened and possibly prolonged interest in the video itself, might not necessarily translate into tangible results.

It does seem, however, that viral videos are here to stay and we have witnessed their magic a few times now. It’s easy to see why. They are interactive, there is an instant emotional connect and the creative freedom, therefore, is much higher. And as Jonah Berger, marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the bestseller Contagious: Why Things Catch on; puts it, “Emotion is one factor that drives sharing. Any emotion that fires us up — humour, awe and excitement, but also anger and anxiety — drives us to share.”

What brands and corporates need to understand is that social media helps them separate the wheat from the chaff and if they have a clever idea that is executed well, they have a winner on their hands. The one by Dove, which was called “Real Beauty Sketches”, or Danone’s luxury water brand Evian’s “Roller babies” campaign; high-definition camera maker GoPro’s “Fireman Saves Kitten” clip, or monthly tampon subscription service HelloFlo’s “The Camp Gyno” video on YouTube, are all instances of how an unprecedented frenzy and interest on social media helped build brand awareness and sympathy in lesser time and expense. Marketing experts feel that campaigns need to become platform agnostic and increase the number of touch points to engage with their audience. With the likes of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest, there is no limit to the eyeballs a viral campaign can garner. All one needs is an authentic message that has its heart in the right place and a sense of urgency to entice the forever logged on populace worldwide. So what’s the next buzz after Brrrrr…?