This remarkable increase in their

arfankj4

He began to make himself selfie friendly. “THE CHALLENGE THAT BRANDS ENCOUNTER IS THAT THEIR INVOLVEMENT COULD COME OFF AS MERELY JUMPING ON THE BANDWAGON” Brands too ask how they can become incidental props in these viral stunts. The challenge that brands encounter however is that their involvement could come off as merely jumping on the bandwagon because spreadable stunts tend to carry no meaning beyond the stunt itself. Take planking for example. An early Facebook fad planking is the act of lying face down in an incongruous place. It is the epitome of digital narcissism and any hint of motive other than look at me just clouds the picture.

By contrast the ALS ice bucket challenge offers an example of a brand harnessing the energy of a narcissistic fad on social networks in service to the brand itself. The usual elements are there an act that is incongruous Chinese Overseas America Number Data not easy to do and screams look at me. Yet here the incidental meaning is not at all dissociated from the personal meaning. I m making myself uncomfortable for ALS. I m recruiting the anti ALS cause to enhance my personal capital. Alas for marketers looking for low cost market impact few commercial brands enhance personal capital. Few are as powerful as cause brands. How has it worked As of Wednesday August The ALS Association has received . million in donations compared to . million during the same time period July to August last year. fundraising potential is largely due to the snowball effect of cause marketing coupled with a social medial fad. Celebrities are jumping in on the action.





Sports teams are not far behind. In fact almost everyone who is challenged by a friend coworker or family member joins in. If ice buckets can help fund research to shed light on a terrible disease such as ALS more AUG HBS CASE Starbucks Reinvented by Julia Hanna Nancy Koehn s new case on the rebirth of Starbucks under Howard Schultz distills years of my thinking about the most important lessons of strategy leadership and managing in turbulence.