Picture this: you’re chilling outside when, out of nowhere, you see a man dressed in a banana suit being chased by a large group of people. Then, just like that, the group stops and everyone walks away like nothing happened, leaving you wondering what the heck just happened. Welcome to the world of flash mobs.
Flash Mob – “a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief period of time, then quickly disperse.”
Flash mobs are all about interaction. There’s the interaction of people coming together to get involved in an activity, which is pretty cool. Even cooler, though, is the interaction between online and offline WOM.
It starts online. The stunts are easily organized on the net, thanks to word of mouth through craigslist, social networks, microblogging sites, and email. The group works out details of what they’re going to do, when, and where online. After, they meet up in the streets to perform (and in most cases videotape) their stunt…
…Then comes the buzz. Everyone involved in the flash mob will be talking about it. You’ll also have the witnesses left scratching their heads in confusion talking: if for nothing else; to convince their friends they’re not crazy. The event might even get picked up from the local media. And that’s all just offline buzz.
There’s also online word of mouth, which can keep people talking about the flash mob long after it happens. Videos of flash mobs, if interesting and fun enough, have viral potential and can get passed along through video-sharing sites, forums, blogs, social networks, and email. The Grand Central Station Frozen flash mob video , received over 10 million views on YouTube alone.
Most flash mobs are random and organized just for fun but companies can definitely benefit from the buzz these quirky events create. In London, Wrigley’s organized a flash mob to get people talking about their gum. During the event, which Wrigley named “flash snog,” couples got together and kissed for 2 minutes before disappearing.
The trick to leveraging a flash mob for your brand is to make sure the event is relevant to your image or message and is fun or interesting enough to get people talking.
For some inspiration, take a peek at our 5 favorite flash mob videos to see some cool things that can be done:
4. Texas A&M’s Zombie Flash Mob
3. Finger Gun Shoot-out Flash Mob
2. St. Paul’s Cathedral Silent Flash Mob
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[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=4jn9PZyGQYw[/youtube]
