how did gangnam style go viral? the viral marketing playbook

How Did Gangnam Style Go Viral? The Gangnam Viral-Marketing Style Playbook

@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

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Agenda Caveats & Key People

Pre launch recipe

Execution of the campaign

Keeping it alive

Dying with Dignity

The Viral Recipe

Stats

Golden Rules For Going Viral




Caveats First to review viral aspect of Gangnam Style in

such depth

We had to make a number of assumptions

Time may reveal a few errors in our assumptions!

If so, let us know!

@10Yetis, [email protected], Facebook.com/10Yetis

Key people: Psy (singer), YG Entertainment (Korean record label), Scooter Braun (USA Music Manager)


mailto:[email protected]



Pre Launch Recipe YG had a clear goal

Wanted a foothold in USA music industry Set up USA Division in 2011 http://bit.ly/UGsXA6

Had developed a large platform on which to seed a campaign 2.5m subscribers on YouTube channels Unknown number in email database but likely to be millions Multiple high profile Twitter profiles courtesy of artists under

management Psy himself is established artist, American educated

Seeding platforms were ORGANICALLY grown – not gamed

Video was catchy, shareable, crossed social, economic and language boundaries (humour, colourful etc)

Video had topical people alongside Psy. Dancing kid from Korea’s Got Talent and two comedians/entertainers. Gave it “home appeal’ in South Korea.


http://bit.ly/UGsXA6



Execution of the Campaign Teased the campaign to key media before

launch 2x Tweets from @AllKPop teasing video

Placed video online and seeded via their own established and engaged audiences

High impact first day – 500k of video views

Immediate number one in home charts (South Korean) This brought it to Western audiences via people who

look for Eastern trends to report on, e.g. Billboard.com




Keeping it Alive Organic media pick up started to grow one

month after launch Gizmodo first to run Gawker pick up Billboard made it mainstream (controversial write up

caused debate and a rise in awareness)

Celebrity tweets had minimal initial impact, contrasts with previous explanation about reasons for success




Keeping it Alive… cont 1 Huff Post ran a story, little visual impact on

search and tweet volumes but may have triggered CNN TV piece - http://huff.to/UGJdkB & http://bit.ly/UGJJzh

CNN caused huge spike & this triggered YouTube Trends to write story on Gangnam Style being video of the month http://bit.ly/RI6spX

Triggered multiple broadcast news pick up, the most high profile being (probably) SkyNews

Daily Mail demonstrated its ability to spot emerging search trends and piggy back by writing 9 (nine) articles about Psy/Gangnam Style


http://huff.to/UGJdkB

http://bit.ly/UGJJzh

http://bit.ly/RI6spX



Keeping it Alive… cont 2 This is the time (relatively late stage) that

Celeb tweets came in e.g. Katy Perry (13k RTs)

Mainstream media got on board: Mashable, Time Mag, Economist. I believe Washington Post piece (http://wapo.st/VqRGUZ ) triggered Associated Press article (http://bit.ly/TCJe9B) that got global pick up.

Tweet and search volumes then slowed BUT, there was clearly a plan!

Major news – Psy signed to Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber’s manager! Major shot in the campaign arm… http://bit.ly/VqS5GQ


http://wapo.st/VqRGUZ

http://bit.ly/TCJe9B

http://bit.ly/VqS5GQ



Keeping it Alive… cont 3 Scooters influence and marketing database

triggers the biggest spike of the campaign

Scooter accelerated the campaign (see what I did there) via: Britney tweets, Ellen TV show appearances, MTV Award appearances and his wider portfolio of artists promoting Psy via their twitter platforms

Growth slowed and Scooter got Psy on NBC Today show – Boom!

Guinness was the final push, as Gangnam video breaks world records for views/likes




Dying With Dignity As search and tweet volumes declined,

media appearance requests for Psy increased, showing how many media were late to the story

Psy travelled around the world servicing media requests and handled each one expertly

He has secured deals with several high profile companies

YG Entertainment has strong foothold in USA and great contact database (via Scooter Braun etc)




It’s Stat Time Bitches 1,191,235 Twitter comments, 25,490,717

Facebook shares, 7,012 Google Blogger Platform mentions


Google Search Volumes Graph

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Twitter Mentions Graph

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100000012000001400000160000018000002000000



The 6 Golden Rules for “Going Viral” 1. Have a final goal in mind (likes, shares, sales leads, entering new

territory)

2. Organically grow a large seeding platform of engaged followers (online and database driven)

3. Create content that is engaging & shareable and crosses social/economic/language boundaries

4. Tease to known fanatics and early adopters

5. Have a plan to reignite the campaign along the way (media)

6. Have an exit strategy/cease the campaign, leaving people wanting more




Thanks I used the following services to help with this work:

Topsy (pro), Twitter, Google News, Google Insight for Search, Google Blog Search, ViralVideoNetwork.com, AllKPop.com, YouTube and YouTubeTrends, Facebook

Any corrections, please send to [email protected] or @10Yetis or www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

Useful resources:Strategy: www.aSocialMediaAgency.comVideo: www.Online-Video-Company.co.ukSeeding/Media: www.10Yetis.co.uk


mailto:[email protected]


http://www.aSocialMediaAgency.com/

http://www.Online-Video-Company.co.uk/





how did gangnam style go viral? the viral marketing playbook

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