Internet's Coolest Campaign Proves Ice is Nice

I am about to say three words that might make you groan or cheer: Ice Bucket Challenge. There are those who despise the very idea and concept of the Ice Bucket Challenge, and there are those who fully support the trend: each person with his or her own argument as to why the campaign is awesome or stupid.

As a public relations major, it has been interesting for me to follow the chatter and progress of the campaign. Now, it is my turn to weigh in on what I think of the infamous Ice Bucket Challenge, and I believe this campaign is brilliant from every angle. 

From a public relations and social media perspective the Ice Bucket Challenge is perfection. Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Tipping Point, outlines what makes certain ideas “tip.” One of those factors is the power of connectors.  

Connectors are simply what they sound like: people who know the right people. Connectors are individuals who know people from every different kind of industry, background, religion, and way of life. Connectors are the people you go to the super market with and barely get through the store because they are chatting with everyone from the cashier to the old lady in isle five. 

The Ice Bucket Challenge has its fair share of connectors. For example, according alsa.org the idea for the Ice Bucket Challenge was originally started by a total of three families and went viral with the Frates family in Boston. These three families must have been connectors; otherwise it wouldn’t be the phenomenon it is today. 

When the Frates family posted the very first Ice Bucket Challenge video in Boston, they must have known the right kinds of people on social media to get the idea to spread.  Celebrities were soon called out for the challenge, and I would argue that they serve as the greatest connectors for the campaign. 

Everyone from Jimmy Fallon to the New York Jets participated in the challenge. And the great thing about having celebrities latch on to the trend is that they challenge other celebrities, and more times than not these famous figures perform the ceremonial chilling experience on live television for even those who don’t use social media to see. 

Another valuable PR strategy that made this campaign effective is the idea of “stickiness.”  I first read about the concept of stickiness in Chip and Dan Heath’s book, Made to Stick. In this book the authors outline six key principles referred to as the SUCCESs acronym.  SUCCESs is six ideas that create “sticky” messaging: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional and Stories. If you stop and think, the Ice Bucket Challenge fits all the criteria for a sticky idea.

For starters, this campaign is simple. Almost everyone has access to an empty bucket and some ice, and with the prevalence of iphones it’s not hard to find someone with a camera who can video you and then instantly upload your experience to social media.

Next, The Ice Bucket Challenge is unexpected. When you hear that someone is going to dump a bucket of ice cold water on their head for disease awareness, it gets your attention. That’s not normally what someone would do to raise awareness and donations for a cause. A 5K or bake sale would seem reasonable, but using a bucket of ice water to raise awareness isn’t something you hear about every day.

The concept is concrete. You can break it down into four simple actions: nominate, pour the ice water, post and donate. People can wrap their heads around the idea and see the effects of their actions instantly.

Additionally, Ice Bucket Challenge is credible. Credibility can come from many different sources. Celebrities help make this campaign credible. However, seeing “average joes” such as your church’s pastor or your next door neighbor participate in the challenge helps people who may be hesitant about the campaign to hop on board with the idea. I even see some people help cushion their credibly by posting their challenge video online and later posting a screen shot of their donation to ALS to prove that they actually kept their word on their donation.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is emotional. ALS is a terrible disease that affects people all over the world, and there is no cure. What is more emotional than that? With the rise of the Ice Bucket Challenge brings the rise in the number of people who speak out about loved one suffering from ALS. This also ties into the last stickiness factor: stories. Not only are people dumping water on their heads they are telling stories about their personal connections to ALS.

Say what you want about the Ice Bucket Challenge. In the words of Taylor Swift, “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate” and that’s fine. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. However, if you ask me what I think of the Ice Bucket Challenge, I will tell you that I think it’s the perfect social media campaign that “tipped” with the help of the right kinds of people because it was sticky enough to do so.