I’m cruising along home yesterday in the Kentucky rain, listening to NPR and they do this feature story on a new Internet sensation. It’s a band called OKGo. They’ve got this song called “A Million Ways” and a video to go with it. They look a little a uh fashionably unique, like so many bands but boy can they dance.
So a pop song and video to go with it doesn’t sound all that unique. The video thing now falls into the “been doin’ that for decades” category BUT this band is unique. They filmed the video themselves with the help of the lead singer’s dancer/choreographer sister. She helped them work out a routine for the video and song and they put it together.. This video wasn’t even intended for public release. Sounds great.
They said in their interview on NPR that no video was actually intended. They planned it as a way to end their shows with something a little “ridiculous.” But somehow, they ended up on the road less traveled or perhaps a brilliant lesson in viral marketing.
According to Damian Kulash, the guitarist/lead singer for the band, their record label originally blew off the video and chose a different song and did a professional video. They started handing out the DVD to a few big fans at concerts. This video ended up on the net and spawned like so many bluegill in a Kentucky pond. Now, the video has over 500,000 downloads and they’re getting press everywhere.
The video itself is fresh, creative and entertaining. It’s something people have obviously enjoyed seeing obviously but more importantly, it’s a good lesson in the viral marketing. A little word of mouth and before too long, you’ve got thousands of downloads, you’re getting picked up as a major national story on the networks for TV and radio, let alone the Internet. A little excitement and free publicity goes a long way.
Now, not everyone is going to end up being interviewed by Katie Couric but at the same time, it shows you just how powerful this aspect of marketing can be. BTW, check out the video, it’s a hoot.
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
