Only last week #Kony2012 took over Twitter. One video created the single biggest response that I personally have ever seen from the online world, so strong that there were claims that this was an example of social media’s power to change the world.
A week later it is no longer trending on Twitter, but people are still talking about Kony. If I was in charge of the campaign, this is what I would be doing now.
Follow up on the original hype
With over 72 million views on the original Youtube video it is clear that Kony 2012 grabbed the world’s interest. Facebook, Youtube and Twitter all went crazy with reaction to the video, it sparked passion from its audience and left millions of people wanting to help make a difference. A week later, people are still interested, the original video gained their interest but it is important to follow that up, continue to send information to those people interested about the campaign and what they can do to help. Once you have got their attention, make sure you use it!
Respond to the critics
With the buzz caused by the video came many critics, with claims of Kony 2012 being irrelevant, out of date and the work of privileged foreigners, including critics from Uganda. One of the best criticism, or at least one of the most relatable ones, I read was not directed at the #Kony2012 campaign but at the earlier work of Invisible Children but remains relevant, it came from Ilto blog:
“Imagine that today you heard about what happened in NYC and Washington DC on September 11, 2001 for the first time. You were shown a video of footage from that day. You saw the planes hit the towers, you heard President Bush’s address, you saw the Pentagon wreckage, you watch in horror as you see people plunge to their death, jumping from the burning towers. Now imagine that you are inspired by this disaster. You want to something to help. What if you went to NYC today, expecting to see piles of rubble to clean up? What if you went, expecting that there would be thousands of people in the streets crying, looking for loved ones? But what would happen when you arrived and discovered that there was none of this, but a whole host of other problems?”
Some people were convinced by the story, but wanted to know how they expected social media support to help the issue. People also questioned what was happening with the money!
The best way to respond to this is through being open and honest with the interested publics, and while researching this post I found that Invisible Children had done just that, they created a brilliant video full of information about how the organisation works.
Thank you, KONY 2012 Supporters from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.
This video is a brilliant PR response to the criticism and I think it is important to continue sharing this information with interested publics.
Continue hype over event
An important part of the campaign was the Cover the Night event, the Leeds event alone has 7,500 confirmed attendees, now it will be interesting to see how this turns out. A lot of people signed up in the full buzz of the campaign, but this event has the potential to be an important and exciting part of their campaign. I would work to continue to create a buzz around the event to keep people interested in the whole campaign.
From a strategic point of view, this campaign is in a brilliant position and they seem to be doing everything right at the moment. As long as they continue to capitalise on their current success and develop this to support their campaign then it could be an example of one of the biggest successful social media campaigns.
Related articles
- Who is Kony? (rachelbarkley.wordpress.com)
- Kony2012: New Media Success Story Or Cautionary Tale? (paidcontent.org)
- ‘KONY 2012′ Tops 100 Million Views, Becomes the Most Viral Video in History [STUDY] (mashable.com)
- Invisible Children Releases New Video in Response to ‘Kony 2012′ Criticism (newsfeed.time.com)
- Social Media Lessons from KONY 2012 (buzzom.com)
