Cookie Monster as SNL Host?
Social media marketing is growing up. Although remnants of the idea that social media success means a viral hit, there is a new understanding that ‘spreadable’ is different, and more desirable, than ‘viral’.
USC professor, Henry Jenkins, describes ‘spreadable media’ as a ‘hybrid system’ where content ‘travels across media platforms at least in part because people take it in their own hands and share it with their social networks’. Jenkins maintains, “if it doesn’t spread, it’s dead.” The old notions of ‘stickiness’ were rooted in the idea of locking down content. This idea is being replaced by a notion based on the idea of empowering consumers to help spread the word.
‘Viral media’ vs. ‘spreadable media’
Two videos released this week illustrate the difference.
I have been astonished by the rapid spread of the Cookie Monster’s video request to host Saturday Night Live. The 4 minute video audition has garnered 862,000 YouTube views and 9,000 ‘likes’. Over 90,000 have voted ‘like’ on the dedicated Facebook page. A search of ‘SNL Cookie Monster’ shows 536 news articles. No doubt SNL will respond, Colbert will comment, there will be video spoofs and mashups. I’m sure the Sesame Street organizers are pleased with the ROI of their modest investment in video, regardless of whether CM actually appears on the show or not. This video is wonderfully fun and ‘spreadable’.
Angry Birds and Pigs Negotiate a Treaty?
In contrast, the 2-minute video “Angry Birds Peace Treaty“, (a very funny segment from Israeli ‘Eretz Nehederet’ ( A Wonderful Country)) went up on YouTube and Break.com a few days earlier but appears to be more ‘viral’ than spreadable. So far, it has garnered nearly twice as many YouTube views (1.6 million) but only about the same level of liking (just 10,700). a Google search revealed just 120 articles. There is no Facebook page.
The difference is sustainability
Pek Pongpaet writes about the difference between ‘vanity metrics’ and ‘ROI’ in a chapter of the book, ‘The Big Book of Social Media’ (by Robert Fine) titled simply ‘Social Media Analytics’
“Vanity metrics are the ego-booster, often lauded by press releases and internal reports. The fluff stats that don’t get at the heart of user activity could swirl around millions of page views, hundreds of clicks-per minutes, or thousands of sign ups on the first day. The the relevance missing from these vanity metrics is sustainability. You can brag about a million page views, but that doesn’t offer any insights to the origin of those page views, how engaged users were once they reached your page, and if they thought highly enough of the content to share it across the social web. ”
Sustainability must be built into every social media effort by inviting consumers to participate in the story, to put their own stamp on it and transform it into something larger than a stunt or piece of entertainment. There are many examples of viral marketing, but the real business success stories in the case book all demonstrate the staying power of ‘spreadability’, and very few even make an attempt to ‘go viral’.
