British mobile provider Three (UK) seems to have struck a bit of viral marketing gold in the recent #danceponydance campaign that hit Youtube this month. The premise of the advert? Silly stuff matters. How do they convey this slogan? With a dancing Shetland Pony of course.
In the age of Tivo and DVR, advertisements have gotten creative, and I can’t say that I mind too much. That being said, companies face a need to reach audiences at a startling speed that will rise above the many Youtube videos of cute sloths in slow motion, adorable children saying the darndest things and, ahem, other companies trying to rise above viral happy accidents. And let me just say, they are doing a terrific job doing so.
Exhibit A: Shetland Ponies.
One quick glance at Three’s twitter counter will show just how instant the affect of this single video campaign truly was. On February 28, 2013, the eve of the #danceponydance video launch, ThreeUK had almost 33,000 followers on Twitter. The very next day, March 1, 2013, ThreeUK gained about 6,800 followers on Twitter. Indeed. Silly stuff matters.
While there has been quite a bit of recognition at the cute factor of the ad and even the cleverness , there has been little talk of how incredible the literal overnight fame has affected the branding as well as followers. ThreeUK is not by any means the first company to create a stir in the marketing world with a fun new advertising idea, it is, however, one of the first with such instant measureable “success”.
The question is really whether the company is able to keep the incredible momentum going. A look into the way ThreeUK is utilizing the sharing qualities of Twitter and Facebook says that the crazy kids just might have what it takes to go the distance.
