The Spread of Ideas and Contents (Week 6)

Have you seen this viral “Shoot dance” that was even incorporated into various KPop songs?

Or the viral egg (Eugene) that achieved the highest number of likes on Instagram?

And finally, presenting the viral Baby Yoda:

These are examples of how contents can spread widely through social media, and these are the result of creative ideas.

After learning about Jonah Berger’s message characteristics, Malcolm Gladwell’s network characteristics, and Seth Godin’s people characteristics, I realized the common trait among the three approaches is connection. 

Jonah Berger’s message characteristics of 6 STEPPS of contagiousness underlies how some content spreads more. Let’s apply it into Dove’s #Realbeauty self-esteem campaign through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

1. Social Currency: When people share or participate in Dove’s campaign, they present an positive image as supportive towards the cause and at the same time encourage more women to appreciate their own beauty.

2. Triggers: As the campaign spreads and become iconic, it becomes an ongoing trigger that can even empower women even after the campaign is over due to their natural connection towards female personal care.

3. Emotions: The campaign created high positive arousal of acceptance and appreciation towards different and real beauty.

4. Public: The campaign created social proof whereby watching more women join in and feel empowered will reinforce message / beliefs that everyone is beautiful in their own ways.

5. Practical value: Sharing / participating in the campaign allows individuals to feel satisfaction of contributing to the spread of the positive message and helping others to feel accepted.

6. Stories: Dove created story based advertisements to show reality of women speaking positively of other women to encourage confidence and show that others might be able to see things in us that we might not know.

Malcolm Gladwell’s network characteristics highlighted the six degree of separation, and how strong and weak ties affect information shared.

For example, a recent article showed how Gladwell’s viral effect through connectors can expose a post towards larger audiences. Despite current measures to work from home due to COVID-19 virus, a group of management trainees at Hang Seng Bank (Hong Kong) posted photos through their social media showing the group hiking. These linked to Gladwell’s explanation of how a post can become viral through close connectors / followers before eventually spreading towards weak and non-related connectors. 

An example of Gladwell’s Mavens is Shu An from Clicknetwork who tests various products and provide reviews.

Seth Godin highlights the importance of producing something remarkable for target audience and how to communicate with the target audience. Thus, different types of campaigns will suit different types of influencers. 

For example, KPop idol Irene (from Red Velvet) becomes the first Asian celebrity to endorse DAMIANI, a Italian luxury jewelry brand, latest collection ‘Belle Epoque’. She “lured viewers with her unmatchable aura and class, emphasizing the elegance of the jewelry collection to the fullest” (AllKPop, 2019).

Conclusion:
Each theory presented different yet relevant theories that is relevant in the spread of ideas, information and content in current time. A combination of all three theories would bring out strong marketing and influences towards the right target group and even attract attention of new viewers. However, if I had to choose one out of the three, it would be Jonah Berger’s message characteristics approach. Only about 30% of viewers believed advertisements, thus it is important to rely on word of mouth offline or spread through other people online to build connection and eventually spread the brand and brand image, along with other aspects that were covered in Berger’s message characteristics approach.