The power of social media has been harnessed by large consumer brands to reach targeted audiences and market new products. Done right, media can become viral on social networks and reach the screens of millions of users in a matter of hours. Forward-thinking charities are beginning to warm to the idea, using social media to help them meet their objectives in a more innovative and approachable way.
Jumping on an opportunity to alert internet-savvy youngsters about the dangers of the disease, The Meningitis Trust’s Digital Media Officer David Wood co-produced an amusing video that has reached a considerable number of targeted users in a matter of days.
Here is the video for your enjoyment…
Without further ado, David walks us through the experience and results of this fun campaign.
“We were approached by Mark Terry-Lush of Renegade Media, who had had an idea for video – a parody of Engelbert Humperdinck’s classic “Please Release Me”, with a social media twist. With the fine voices of the Drybrook Male Voice Choir and the camera skills of Atticus Finch,who all donated their time,“Please ReTweet Me” was born.
Mark thought that we might like to use the song as a way to raise awareness of our social media channels. We jumped at the chance. It would be a bit of an experiment as we’d never attempted a viral video before, but would potentially reach new audiences. Meningitis can affect anyone, at any time, and so the more people we reach, the more lives can be saved.
As you will see, the video finishes with www.pleaseretweetme.com which takes people to our Facebook page. So far we’ve seen an increase in our Facebook fans and iPhone app downloads, and we’ve also seen countless blogs cover the story, which has been great for getting our name out there.
Of course, whilst this was primarily an awareness drive, we would be foolish not to include an option for people to donate as well. This campaign is all about social media and Web 2.0, so JustGiving was the obvious choice.What other service has mobile phone apps, a Facebook app, the ability to add YouTube videos…Plus, an awesome API that means clever people can do their magic and bring you such things as JustTweeting, to link your page to Twitter, andWordpress, the most popular blogging too
As of writing, the video’s been viewed 15,042 times, has been shared on Facebook 505 times and Tweeted 422 times, and the numbers keep rising. On top of that, Engelbert Humperdinck himself has endorsed the video too!
I’d like to say a big thanks to Mark and Renegade, for coming up with the idea, and the Drybrook Male Voice Choir and Atticus Finch for making it all possible. Of course, if you’d like to donate to the campaign, please visit www.justgiving.com/pleaseretweetme
So, what are you waiting for? Please ReTweet Me!”
Tags: campaign, choir, music video, please retweet me, renegade media, retweet, Social media, The Meningitis Trust, video