In 2014 a wholesome internet trend swept the world, marking a turning point in online marketing and digital media. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge had millions of people dumping buckets of ice water over their heads and sharing the videos on social media. It was one of the first social video phenomena that was a precursor to today’s internet landscape—obsessed with video, short-form content and virality—and it presented an opening for brands to partake in online culture in new ways.
Even though the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was created by a nonprofit, the ALS Association, for-profit brands also found newfound power in mobile, social and video marketing. KFC, Samsung, Pillsbury and more participated in the challenge, as did celebrities and influencers from Mark Zuckerberg to Justin Bieber. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, now 10 years after its peak in the summer 2014, was a formative moment for marketers who still deploy tactics learned then.
“I remember at the time, the brief in every Fortune 500 company, was ‘what’s our Ice Bucket Challenge,’” said Nick Miaritis, chief client officer at VaynerMedia. “The whole industry got that brief.”
Today, social media marketers are all too familiar with the edict from brands to simply “make us go viral.”