by FooziDamon

Picture the scene:

It’s a smallish music festival in Washington State, USA. Some band is playing live on stage, everyone is sitting around chillaxing, when some skinny half-naked white dude starts dancing like Spongebob Squarepants on acid. Within seconds, he’s joined by 2 guys that appear to be mocking him. A minute or two later, he’s surrounded by hundreds of jumping, dancing revellers, partying to the music of Santigold.

The result, of course, is a video on YouTube with well over a million hits. I don’t really know how famous Santigold was before this video came out, but I hadn’t heard of them. Now I, and many, many other curious YouTube surfers have listened to their music, and chances are that at least some of those surfers will go out and buy (or download) their album. Is this guerilla marketing genius, or sheer luck?

The question is, does it really matter?

Great marketing opportunities crop up all the time, and we may only realise it after they happen. Perhaps some random person just happened to catch some other random person dancing to a song that happened to be played by this particular band. And someone still had to upload this clip to YouTube for it to actually become viral in the fist place.Plus, timing was crucial in this. If the recording only started once the crowd was already dancing to the song, then it wouldn’t have had the same effect or viral strength. Brands need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way, whether it’s planned or simply fortune smiling on them.

The power of viral marketing is incredible, as this clip has proven. The internet, YouTube in particular, provides a free platform for brands that is unparalleled in its reach. But it needs a hook, something amazing, touching, hilarious or outrageous before it can be truly effective as a marketing tool. I suspect that this band just got lucky, but savvy marketers should remember this clip when they’re next discussing their marketing budgets and complaining about how there is never enough money.