Anatomy of an Internet meme: Dear Sister from The O.C.
Thursday, April 24th, 2008First, it was just a silly scene at the end of The O.C. episode “Dear Sister” — I know, of all TV shows to create a meme, THE O.C.
Then Saturday Night Live (SNL) made it into a “digital short” (Sidenote — I’m guessing “LorneMichaelsSNL” isn’t the real Lorne Michaels, but this video is the only […]
How to Game YouTube and Go Viral
Sunday, April 6th, 2008Dan Ackerman Greenberg’s guest post on TechCrunch sparked heated discussion about the ethics of gaming YouTube to get more views.
I am not a fan of gaming the system with fake comments and trickery like changing titles, tags and thumbnails, but there is no doubt that many “viral video specialists” use these tactics to get their […]
Web Culture 101 via South Park
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008If I am going to open a conversation on social media and community building on this blog, we are going to have to discuss Web culture from time to time. Hence, a new category!
Want to know what makes a video go viral? Just look at the history. Here’s a quick Web culture test to start […]
Why I thought Heath Ledger wasn’t really dead: viral marketing theories and epiphanies
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008When I heard the news that Heath Ledger was found dead yesterday, I couldn’t help being a little skeptical. Not to be disrespectful of the dead, but I thought in the first minutes of the reports that it might all be a clever ruse by a very risky marketing team.
Let me take you back in […]
ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) are a great way to tell your marketing story online
Sunday, November 18th, 2007I love ARGs–or alternate reality games–as a marketing tool. I personally find them fascinating when used effectively. Two of my recent favorites have been the ILoveBees campaign from 42 Entertainment for Microsoft’s Halo 2 release, and the “Ethan Haas was Right” mystery currently marketing J.J. Abrams’ new movie codenamed “Cloverfield” online. If […]
