The value of social media: Putting the “e” in /’sas∙s’ē/

Social transmission – it’s a fancy way to explain how and why something goes viral.

Assistant marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Jonah Berger, studies “why things catch on.” In his book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Berger suggests that trends are not, in fact, spread by the influential. Rather, he theorizes, almost anything can be made to go viral. Though it’s difficult to find that formula for exactly what makes content go viral, Berger and others have theorized that there are some important ingredients. Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman explain in their book Content Rules, you can “nudge, poke, and pray for it … [but] the truth is that viral is largely a happy accident.” Concentrate fully on making your content compelling. At the same time, consider these key concepts of virility: “social currency,” “triggers,” “observability” and “awe.” These are the concepts that drive the contagion – or virus as we have come to affectionately call viral word of mouth, VWOM. Let’s hit these 1 x 1:

Social Currency

1. What it is: People like to talk about that they know. They want to appear smart and, even more important, they want to appear to be in “the know.”
2. How it works: Explains Berger, “Things that make people feel like insiders have valuable social currency. When we “know things,” we talk about them because the expectation and hope is that it makes us look good.
3. The Cabbage Patch phenomenon: The Cabbage Patch Kids took the “world” by storm. They were a PR phenomenon in an era before viral word of mouth. Three decades ago, the Cabbage Patch phenomenon was about making something scarce to drum up popularity. The doll, it was touted, was going to be impossible to get because there was a limited supply, but it was a “have to have,” a doll was like no other and those children who didn’t have it would be left out, don’t leave your children out. The doll was very much available, but the public didn’t know that. Parents who didn’t want their children to “go without” created a sales frenzy. The customer talked about the product creating for the toy company a word-of-mouth campaign; sales exploded. In the 90s, McDonald’s created its own “Cabbage Patch demand.” Initial sales of the sandwich were not very good. Instead of making it more available, McDonald’s made it less available. Making the McRib scarce, McDonald’s actually increased sales and word-of-mouth. In other words, the hamburger maker got the public to talk about the product for them. People shared with each other the news of where and when the McRib was available, making it a much talked about piece of meat just in the same way the Cabbage Patch Kid was a much talked about doll.

Triggers

1. What they are: A trigger is, for all intense and purposes, a reminder. For example, if I write, “hot,” you’ll likely think, “cold.” I write, “peanut butter and,” and you’ll likely think, “jelly.” “Hot” is a trigger; “peanut butter” is a trigger. By reminding us about something, triggers cause ideas and products to be talked about.
2. How they work: Context makes a difference for triggers. For example, in Europe, where peanut butter isn’t the consummate childhood sandwich, “peanut butter and,” will likely not trigger a person to think, “jelly.” By way of further example, in a strip club, “hot” may not trigger the word “cold.” The point: context matters.
3. The Rebecca Black phenomenon: Berger says of this 3-million hit phenomenon (one of the most popular songs of 2011), “When you look at the data, what you see is a spike in attention to the song every Friday. The song is equally bad on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but because Friday has the word ‘Friday’ in it, the day of the week reminds people that the song exists, causing them to talk about it and share it, and thus making it more successful.”

Observability

1. What it is: It’s like the proverbial middle school lunchroom. People want to sit at the table with the popular kids. Says Berger, “People tend to imitate others. But we can only imitate others if we can see what they’re doing. When you’re in a foreign city, for example, you often look at which restaurants are full and use that as a signal of quality. Is it busy? It must be good. But if the windows are frosted or there are no windows at all, you can’t tell whether it’s busy or empty, and so you’re unlikely to go there (unless you have specifically been told to go). The idea, therefore, is to make something private into something public. When it’s easier to see what other people are doing, it increases the chance that the thing will catch on.”
2. The Movember phenomenon: The visibility of the campaign to support research for male cancers was the reason for its success. For the month of November, men were encouraged to grow a mustache in support of men’s cancer. Says Berger, “What’s great about this is mustaches are a really public signal. If you suddenly see a bunch of people sporting mustaches, you’re going to ask about it. Along the way, you’re learning more about the cause and it makes you more likely to donate as well and participate … Donations are usually a private behavior, so it’s really hard for them to be contagious.”

Awe:

1. What it is: When people are unable to “get over,” something, they are going to continue to be impressed and surprised by it. Awe inspires people to want to talk about something to collect data, that is reaction, from others either as a measurement tool for their own reaction or because we are encouraged by the reactions of others. Awe-inspiring tales give us a sense of how amazing the world is and how important we all are and we are moved by stories of others who are actively doing something to show this.
2. The Harrods Lion Cub phenomenon: Years later, most of us still can’t get over the fact that two men #1 bought a lion cub at a department store in a major city – Harrods London and #2 upon a trip to Africa a decade later, the lion “remembered” his the men who had raised him.