BRUNO: Best case study in social media vorld

Bruno's outrageous MTV stunt, that seemed to have become viral within a hour, prompted me to start following him via his social media network. I did this for my own amusement but professionally I was curious in how this branding comic genius was going to role out his product, BRUNO, the documentary. In between watching hilarious posting on my Facebook about his little black baby OJ being a fabulous accessory and watching vorld premieres on you tube, I was scouring the web looking for great case studies in social media for a client presentation.

The more I looked, the more I realized, following in Obama's footsteps Bruno was one of top case studies in rolling out a brand via social media. Each premiere opening was carefully choreographed to be fresh, new and outrageous, feeding his followers with comic content that was well worth sharing.  His consistent postings on facebook and "tvitter" have never broken character and actually provided great content you'd like to share with your friends. (He just posted an iphone app I'm downloading now!). His great offline co-branding with GQ was another great stroke of marketing genius. Do a search in google and you'll get well over 30 sites and blogs posting the article and photos. And talking about photos, the publicity shot with OJ, is just too funny. Top it all off  with a little PR, 10 reason's why you should see Bruno, by Bruno, on Dave Letterman. The next time your looking for a great case study in social media marketing, put Bruno on that list. 

The twitter revolution

Last night I was up till 1 am watching the #iranelection twitter feed. Tonight, the same. I dig down for old feeds and then scroll up to new feeds as they come in by the second. Look, this just in:  RT Report: Basij Going Inside Hospitals & Beating Injured Protesters & Taking Them To Prison (Confirmed) #IranElection. 

I'm fascinated, riveted.  The power of twitter is enabling people on the ground to communicate in real time. I find myself slowing down to listen, taking a voyeuristic view as if it's a car accident.

I respond to tweets. I change my setting to participate in social justice and to aid those fighting for democracy. I'm in disbelief yet I feel fulfilled  that I was actually having an impact so many miles away. And yes, I was. The collective voices of America, right now, are aiding the fight for democracy in Iran. How historic is that? It's a social revolution. Twitter has clearly demonstrated it's ability to aid in global collaboration.  Those silly 140 characters have transformed into an emotional cry for help. This reality based medium has changed the world, forever. Clay Shirky articulates the situation far better than I ever could on his blog.

As a native New Yorker who was in NYC on 9/11 I can't help imagining, if we had this resource on that day, would more lives have been saved? 

Understanding web 2.0 leads to greater creativity

This week adholes did a great twitter post with a link to bnet. Apparently Saatchi and Saatchi failed to secure a URL to it's own name and a brilliant London based viral shop secured it for it's very own promotion. The result, the little engine that did, Asabailey Viral Advertising,  out-shined, out-created the advertising giant. At the same time, they clearly demonstrated their expertise and creative chops. Kudos to them!  Out of the box, web 2.0 creative thinking can only be implemented by knowing what's in your toolbox. So if you think just any old creative can do social media, think again. Traditional conceptual creative thinking is a strong foundation and entry point. To get to play in the web 2.0 big league, ya gotta know the tools.

How to make your campaign go viral

I just spent the last couple of days in various conferences and workshops at NYC internet week. The big question that kept popping up was, "how do you go viral"?  All of us web geeks wanted to know the formula. We all craved finding out the secret to instant low cost fame. If you've viewed or interacted with a viral campaign, it's easy to figure out the first step. Do something so overwhelmingly emotional, something that rocks your core, something funny, stupid, outrageous, smart, etc. Well, you get it.

Baekdal.com has a nice way of laying out the formula and includes ways to push it even more. But, no guarantees as there really aren't any. Techcrunch has a valuable posting but I have a little problem with the ethics. Maybe I'm naive, but do you think Simon Cowell did all that false interacting to make Susan Boyle go viral? 

And speaking of viral... how can I blog about viral without sharing?

My favorite finds of the week and oddly enough, very opposite in tone. Actually, Wake up humans is so haunting that you'll need Pearl to snap you out of shock.

Wake up Humans- hauntingly brilliant campaign by Amnesty International

Pearl the Landlord- Funnyordie are the funniest writers on the web. 

A brand overhaul for Susan Boyle

OK, so everyone thought Susan Boyle should just be beautiful from the inside. Stay true to your inner self and don't change the "brand" we all fell in love with. Except for my dear friend, Dennis Regan, a fabulous retoucher, who thought things should be a just a bit different.