Post by Colby Miller on Oct 9, 2014 21:52:18 GMT -5
Over the summer we witnessed one of the most successful Social Media Campaigns ever. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was everywhere. I couldn’t open my Facebook page or news outlet without being bombarded by videos and stories of people partaking in the dumping of ice water for the good of the ALS Association. The craze was brought to nationwide attention after Matt Lauer took the challenge live on the Today Show. After that it was viral. Between June and mid-August, people shared more than a million videos of themselves performing the ice bucket challenge on Facebook and mentioned it on Twitter more than two million times. Celebrities from Lebron James to Justin Bieber to the present and past Presidents of the United States took part. In just a single month, the ALS Association raised over a hundred million dollars. Although the challenge didn’t start as being directly related to ALS, a professional golfer tied it to the organization the same day Matt Lauer brought the challenge to nationwide attention. I think what made it such a great campaign was it being so dependent on direct user interaction. It relied on people to make the content and encourage others to make it as well. Also the challenge was directly related to donating money. Not participant gave money though. Some accused the challenge of promoting “Slacktivism” and trivializing an important cause. But overall I think the Ice Bucket Challenge was an astounding success. Its not often one sees charitable giving go viral.
On the Google hangouts, they discussed the importance of cultivating trust and recognition. The ALS Association certainly wasn’t all that well known before the challenge, but by tying their name to famous celebrities, they were able to gain the trust of the masses. Also in one of the hangouts they discussed the importance of an organization of a defining purpose; ALS certainly had that. On their Wikipedia page it states at the beginning “The ALS Association is an American nonprofit organization that raises money for research and patient services, promotes awareness about and advocates in state and federal government on issues related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.” There’s no ambiguity in their mission statement. No one has any doubts as to what they’re donating to. I think this goes hand in hand with building trust as well.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/15/pete-frates-ice-bucket-challenge-_n_5683074.html
www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/business/ice-bucket-challenge-has-raised-millions-for-als-association.html?_r=2
On the Google hangouts, they discussed the importance of cultivating trust and recognition. The ALS Association certainly wasn’t all that well known before the challenge, but by tying their name to famous celebrities, they were able to gain the trust of the masses. Also in one of the hangouts they discussed the importance of an organization of a defining purpose; ALS certainly had that. On their Wikipedia page it states at the beginning “The ALS Association is an American nonprofit organization that raises money for research and patient services, promotes awareness about and advocates in state and federal government on issues related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.” There’s no ambiguity in their mission statement. No one has any doubts as to what they’re donating to. I think this goes hand in hand with building trust as well.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/15/pete-frates-ice-bucket-challenge-_n_5683074.html
www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/business/ice-bucket-challenge-has-raised-millions-for-als-association.html?_r=2
