On VisitNorway’s homepage you can play a web game called “Holmenkollen ski jump game“. The DMO promoted it through its Facebook page and on other social medias, which is today a pretty common process. However, as the Tnooz website pinpoints it (http://www.tnooz.com/2010/11/11/news/how-a-tourist-board-got-a-genuine-viral-hit-and-welcomed-hackers/?utm_source=Tnooz+Mailing+List&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=c4967abfd1-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN) the buzz that this game created became incredible and beyond the company’s expectations: players started sharing results on social networks, uploading videos of their winning entries on YouTube. These clips were viewed more than 25,000 times and double the number of views of the VisitNorway YouTube channel! Hackers even managed to get into the system in order to improve their scores.
Today, it is not obvious to find the good way to promote a destination or a brand, and create the buzz. Indeed, everyone wants to achieve a success like this and then it becomes harder to stand out from the crowd. Moreover, the use of social media is a real phenomenon that encourages originality and reactivity. Consequently, the competition is high, and finally the example of Norway shows us that simplicity and fun make a good mix.
The “virality” provoked by the game was unexpected. Benefits from this “fast spread” are apparent (awareness, free promotion), but the buzz remains difficult to control by the company. Moreover, “virality” of social Medias can also have negative impacts. Another article on Tnooz shows seven of the best travel viral videos. “United breaks Guitars” is cited as the more viewed and did not do some good to the company. The major difficulty is to predict whether a hit will be viral or not. The success and the positive impacts of this Holmenkollen game on the DMO’s website were hardly foreseeable.
Yet, DMOs seek this kind of effect because customers have become vehicle for information. Actually, we are more likely to find content created by an internet user than by the brand itself when looking for information about the 20 most well-known brands in the world. DMO wonder what the recipe to create a viral hit may be. They firstly need to know what the most used tools on the web are. For instance, studies have shown that social media are more used than email to recommend links on the web and that the Twitter button is the most displayed on blogs. They also need to think about the effect they are seeking. Do they want to increase their visibility through customer or reinforce engagement through interaction with customer? As Liana Evans underlines “viral isn’t Really Social Media (…) viral aims to quickly create buzz, and social media aims to build engagement opportunities with fans.” In the case of creating a buzz, it has to be a special occasion, in order to take profit of the success encountered. This will make customers talking about the brand and raise awareness but this on a very short period. The success of the game shows that entertainment and simple concepts seduce lots of internet users. But too much “virality” can create confusion and people weariness. Social Medias are good way to promote a company image, or a destination, but remains hard to manage.
The main challenge for DMOs is to find the best ways to succeed with social medias. Is creating a buzz, the best way to promote a destination and are social Medias the best tools to create a buzz?
Do you want to have fun?
Visit http://www.visitnorway.com/holmenkollen/
To see Tnooz selection of best travel viral videos:
http://www.tnooz.com/2010/04/26/news/seven-of-the-best-travel-viral-videos-of-all-time/
Photo retrieved from:
http://agens.no/2010/01/holmenkollen-ski-jump-for-iphone/
Sources:
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1735566/understanding-that-viral-isnt-really-social-media
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