When the next craze HAS TO happen...
Usually, content that generates viral buzz has something accidental about it. Whoever creates it has control over the quality of the material, but then they just set it free and see what happens. For someone who is really banking on something spreading far and wide, this approach takes a leap of faith, faith in the way people's minds work on the Web, kind of like listing something on eBay for 1 cent with no reserve. I think that last approach is the most likely to be successful, however, because it meshes with the way people and peer-to-peer networks operate. They don't like pressure, they want to be the arbiters-and they deserve to be.
In contrast, let's look at what happens when a corporation can't just relax and let the buzz be. Just as an example, take the coming release of the 'new, improved' "Trollz", which DIC Entertainment is promising will be the next big toy fad. DIC plans a media "carpet bombing" including not only a Trollz.com website with interactive games but books, cartoon collections on DVD, a cartoon series and a whole slew of advertising. The downside, I think, is that when corporate fad-makers try to create pop sensations out of whole cloth, they capture the attention of the public but not necessarily their imagination. So the buzz exists, but it isn't bottom-up, it's top-down with an iron fist, and they run the risk that as soon as the media and advertising blitz begins to subside, their product will die with it. I think that while most people see the incredible power of going viral, many, especially at the corporate level do not grasp that the best buzz is not manufactured, it's self-propagating. And that's not to say that there is no way to have a hand in it, just that you can't force it. If you force it, with, say a hugely expensive top-down advertising push, you will get results, but to borrow a movie industry expresstion the trend won't have "legs." Like an overpromoted B-movie, it will have a great opening weekend and then fizzle. Trust the buzz, even if it means some nail-biting.
In contrast, let's look at what happens when a corporation can't just relax and let the buzz be. Just as an example, take the coming release of the 'new, improved' "Trollz", which DIC Entertainment is promising will be the next big toy fad. DIC plans a media "carpet bombing" including not only a Trollz.com website with interactive games but books, cartoon collections on DVD, a cartoon series and a whole slew of advertising. The downside, I think, is that when corporate fad-makers try to create pop sensations out of whole cloth, they capture the attention of the public but not necessarily their imagination. So the buzz exists, but it isn't bottom-up, it's top-down with an iron fist, and they run the risk that as soon as the media and advertising blitz begins to subside, their product will die with it. I think that while most people see the incredible power of going viral, many, especially at the corporate level do not grasp that the best buzz is not manufactured, it's self-propagating. And that's not to say that there is no way to have a hand in it, just that you can't force it. If you force it, with, say a hugely expensive top-down advertising push, you will get results, but to borrow a movie industry expresstion the trend won't have "legs." Like an overpromoted B-movie, it will have a great opening weekend and then fizzle. Trust the buzz, even if it means some nail-biting.
posted by Boz at 9:47 AM
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