SOCIAL MEDIA
SIX REASONS THE ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE WENT VIRAL
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is one of the most successful digital fundraising campaigns of all time, with donations topping $100 million in just one month, a 3500% increase from the same period last year. You may have heard by now that the recipient of most of the funds—the ALS Association—didn’t dream up this campaign in a meeting room. Instead, like so many other instances of virality, the campaign happened by accident: a generic ice-bucket challenge (one in which you donate to the organization of your choice) was making its way around the Internet when Pete Frates, a former Boston College athlete suffering from ALS, accepted the challenge and urged people to donate specifically to ALSA. A viral campaign was born.
Regardless of how it started, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is worth studying, in order to determine why the campaign has raised so, so much money for an organization that often struggles to raise significant funds. Take a look at six key components:
Selfie video: With equipment no longer a factor (nearly everyone has access to video cameras on their phones), who hasn’t wanted to be the star of his or her own show, if only for 30 seconds? A homemade video is a moving, talking selfie, and we live in selfie times.
Tagging: Perhaps the most brilliant aspect of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is that each bucketer challenged three other people to take the challenge within 24 hours. On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the rest, challengees were tagged (and, therefore, alerted in their feeds) that they were up next.
Difficulty: You’ve seen other tag-you’re-it campaigns sweep the Internet: “I nominate Bob, Betty, and Clifford to write 25 things about themselves, name their ten favorite books, name their ten favorite movies, take this quiz, or like this post.” These fizzle out pretty quickly, yet the ALS Ice-Bucket Challenge kept on going, much longer than even the longest viral campaigns we’ve seen. Why? Because it’s not easy. You’re not sitting in the comfort of your home writing or liking a post. You have to get outside, dress appropriately, and then DUMP ICE WATER ON YOUR HEAD. Who hasn’t wondered what college and pro coaches feel like when their teams douse them in icy Gatorade? Why should that elite group be the only ones to have the wind knocked out of them with ice-cold fluids? Mere mortals can handle it, too, can’t we? Well, how about if we go out in the backyard to find out?
Fun: Both the making and the watching of Ice Bucket Challenge videos are enjoyable. The star of the video has to decide what to wear, where to film it, what bucket to use, who will do the pouring—all relatively enjoyable tasks, and the viewer gets to see a friend or relative get soaked. It’s like nailing the dunk booth at the school fair and watching your teacher get drenched. Good times.
Clear call to action: Okay, so maybe it wasn’t crystal clear. Were we supposed to dump the ice bucket and donate? Donate only if we didn’t take the challenge? Donate more if we didn’t take the challenge, but still donate if we did? It was a bit murky. Most people got the gist, though: take the challenge and donate a small amount. Or don’t take the challenge and donate a large amount. In spite of some fuzziness and more than a few complaints that people were simply dumping ice buckets and not donating, the donating part didn’t escape bucketers. They readily paid for the privilege of starring in a video, tagging their friends, experiencing what only a few coaches have experienced up until now, and having some fun.
Celebrities: Although celebrity involvement is difficult to replicate in your campaign, don’t underestimate the power of stars. When former presidents, actors, athletes, and brands get involved, virality is all but assured. But keep this in mind: celebrities get involved for the same five reasons listed above. Design a campaign that gives your audience a moment in the spotlight, encourages tagging, makes it a challenge, keeps it fun, and ends with a clear call to action, and then send your PR person out to ask celebrities to get involved. Chances are, they will.
Oh, and one other thing to consider. Even though ALSA didn’t originate this campaign, the organization did respond quickly. First, ALSA added a way for donors to indicate they had participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge, making the donation experience more relevant. It's a small thing, but it's worth the 15 minutes spent in your content-management system.
Then, ALSA added a text-donation option to capture teens and tweens who were taking the challenge. Text donations are added to a donor’s cellphone bill, instead of requiring a credit card.
Now, I challenge you to gather your team and brainstorm how can you include these six elements in your next campaign. You have 24 hours.
p.s. If you like Benedict Cumberbatch (and, hello, who doesn't?), the following #IBC video is a hoot, because he has matched the video (which, at this point, is a fairly generic undertaking) to his personality. Be sure to keep watching all the way to the end!