I like Banned Ads

Why?
Well, because most of them are really funny, and I'm sure most of them were intended to be banned. They are typically off-color to the point where they wouldn't make it on TV. These quickly become viral. Good examples...

The Definitive Guide to Responding to Buzz in Social Media - #1 Commit Yourself

I've taken a few weeks away from blogging, but now I'm back into it and ready to write "The Definitive Guide to Responding to Buzz in Social Media". This guide comes from several pieces of research that I was doing back in the summer which looked at the best ways to respond to criticism in other fields. Taking that, and some of my own experience in responding to social media, I will be posting an 11-part guide which will give you the tools you need to respond to both good and bad buzz in social media. Join me now as we begin the journey...

#1 == Commit Yourself
As a BIG first step you must commit to responding to social media. To do that is a process in and of itself. But, first off you have to really decide that responding to social media is an important thing to do. You need to believe it deep down in your gut, and you need to be able to make others believe it as well.

To commit yourself means that you have to plan and execute actions that are really the next 10 steps in the responding process, which are ...

• #2 ==> Set out your Strategy
• #3 ==> Build out your Tactics
• #4 ==> Determine if you should engage
• #5 ==> Craft meaningful responses
• #6 ==> Reply based on the context
• #7 ==> Follow some basic etiquette
• #8 ==> Enlist your critic's help
• #9 ==> Create a response template library
• #10 ==> Bring in a professional when you need it
• #11 ==> Get metrics

Join me on the journey to Social Media Response happiness over the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to it.

Viral Video Chart - Top 20 Viral Videos

Want to have some fun wasting some time? You have to check out the latest top 20 viral videos, as compiled by Unruly Media.

Why waste any more time here ... check out today's Top 20.

Pelosi Rickroll? What the?

This morning I noticed that the term "pelosi rickroll" was suddenly one of the most searched terms on Google. Why? What does it mean? Let's take a look.

The first article was on Time.com and describes how Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, staff put together a simple prank video (also shown below) with the express intent of creating a viral video that will introduce the Speaker Pelosi to the world. Time wrote about it. I'm writing about it. Thousands of others will write about it and tens or hundreds of thousands ... or perhaps even millions of people will watch it.

This is viral video nearly at its best.

As explained on Time.com:

The Rickroll, an internet meme that started a few years ago, is basically a prank in which unsuspecting viewers are tricked into listening to Rick Astley's 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up". The classic Rickroll is when someone is tricked into clicking on link that takes them to a video of the song.

What a great idea! Kudo's to Pelosi's staff for (a) using the new media at their fingertips, and (b) having a sense of humour!

Maybe this also will become part of Pelosi's (and indeed Obama's) branding: Take the job seriously, but not yourself.

Fruitcake Bashing Season has arrived

Where does time go? I can't believe we are back into December again. There is a funny website over at The Great Fruitcake Recycling Project that pokes fun at Fruitcake in a whole new way.

Will this go viral? Who knows. Certainly by blogging about it I'm helping it to go viral. However, I do think they have some work to do to really make it viral. There just doesn't seem to be enough fun stuff to do or experience when you hit their site.

The trick to "viral" is that you can't really force something to be viral. You can plan the stink out of a project with the great wish that it becomes viral. But, really, viral just "happens". It happens because people are so intrigued with an idea or an emotion that they want other people to share in it with them. In any event, attempting to become viral is just one of the tricks of the trade of Web Marketing.

All-in, the Great Fruitcake Recycling Project is worth a look.




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