Recreating music videos and crating hip fads are all the rage lately. From Gangnam style to Somebody I Used to Know, fans are looking for their own fifteen minutes of fame by riding the coat tails of popular musicians. Google search Gotye's hit single and an endless stream of parodies will come up. Recently, Adamantium laced Hugh Jackman was doing it Gangnam style so it seems that even celebrities are jumping on the band wagon.
In a post on Mashable, Peter Gabriel is asking fans to recreate scenes from his popular 1980's music video Sledgehammer. Though Peter Gabriel is not a fresh and hip musician from this generation, I think fans of Peter Gabriel will jump at the chance to recreate the video. An interactive tab on his Facebook page will direct fans on the submission guidelines and coincidently coincides with the 25th anniversary of the album So which will be released in three different versions.
The popularity of a music video can shift from average to viral in a matter of moments if enough people see potential to parody the video. Gotye's popularity had skyrocketed overnight with such parodies as The Star Wars I Used to Know and even an orchestrated presentation of the hit song. How can a popular music video parody teach social media agencies about strategy?
- A music video parody makes us laugh
First and foremost, anything that makes us laugh is worth sharing. If a video that is usually serious is altered towards a humorous direction, audiences will find it more than hilarious. When creating corporate videos (whether it is for your business or a client) professionalism doesn't have far to go before it becomes boring as hell. Adding a little humor into your videos without losing brand integrity can go a long way.
- Creative Juices are flowing
There are a ton of people involved in creating a music video professionally. If there is something that a social media agency can learn is that people LOVE to be creative. Give your staff the chance to be funny, creative and outgoing and the product will definitely amaze you. Don't be afraid to make sure your staff is staying on task! Keeping tabs on your staff's productivity is important and will keep them from straying from the brand message.
- Viral means shares!
Promoting a video that is popular is the beginning of social media sharing. Once the video has become popular enough, others will share it without you even talking about it anymore. A video that goes viral has the potential to spread links for your SEO as well.
There is a video for The Dollar Shave Club that fits the template of this strategy perfectly. The video has millions of shares and each share is building links for that company's web page. Hilarity ensued and SEO was tackled all at the same time! Remember, nobody shares out stuffy corporate videos. Everyone shares out humor. And Star Wars.