From Viral Media to Spreadable Media
In this blog post the focus will be on the viral video marketing campaign of Old Spice and how its particular pattern of production, circulation, and response might have been addressed according to the viral media theory and the spreadable media theory.
The viral media theory was developed by Rushkoff (1994). He argued that the term virus is not a metaphor for large-scale media events but that these events really are viruses (p.9). He illustrates that media viruses spread through the internet in the same manner as biological viruses in a body. Biological viruses battle for power with a cell’s own genes and, when successful, persistently change the manner in which the cell functions and will eventually copy the virus. According to Rushkoff (1994), media viruses start with something which catches our attention, for instance, an event (p.10). These media virus particles will look for the susceptible spots in popular culture and stick on any place it is remarked. Once fixed, the virus implants its covert agenda in the datastream through an ideological code, which Rushkoff calls memes. These invade, like genetic material, the manner we educate ourselves or how we understand reality.
More recently, Jenkins (2013) has developed the spreadable media theory which is a mixture of top-down and bottom-up powers that decide how media is shared in and between cultures (p.1). Jenkins (2008) made this theory because he was not fond of the viral theory since “The idea of the “media virus” breaks down because people are making conscious choices about what media they are passing along and about the forms within which they are circulating it” (p.19). Jenkins stresses the fact that we have a progressively participatory culture and emphasises the agency of consumers. So, while the stickness model of the viral theory explains large-scale media texts as self-replicating from person to person from the top-down in a central spot and without alteration by consumers, the model of spreadibility focuses on consumers’ deliberate choice of sharing of media content which they find of social value within community. Jenkins (2008) furthermore states that in the spreadibility model consumers transform the content of media with their own ideas which allows the message to spread to new communities and erodes the divides between producers and consumers (p.22).
Now that the two theories have been clarified, I will move on to evaluate how they might address the viral video marketing campaign from the brand Old Spice.
The production of the videos from Old Spice were made by the Wieden + Kennedy ad agency. Their aim was to attract female viewers since they were the ones who often bought hygiene products. The viral media theory would examine firstly what caught the viewers’ attention. This is the almost naked Mustafa who is directly addressing the viewer with rhetorical questions on what they like and that their own man would provide them with this if he used Old Spice. Thereafter this theory would look at how the virus is administered. This is mostly through the use of a central spot on YouTube, which is always the case in stickness models, and then diffused from person to person. Finally, this theory would examine what the virus’ ideological code is and how it changes people, which focuses on getting people to buy this product.
When examining the circulation of the video the spreadable media theory would look at the spreadibility of the commercial by examining how the commercial spread in its original community through grassroots intermediaries, which consists of unofficial people who alter the flow of content through their community and become advocates for the brand (p.7). This theory also looks beyond the initial community by examining transformations of the content by consumers which makes it suitable for other communities, which is one of the biggest business advantages of spreadibility. An example of this is the Sesame Street parody of the initial Old Spice commercial in which Grover takes the role of Mustafa. They would also look at how the video spreads to news outlets which is in this case the New York Daily News which gave the commercial a positive mention or magazines such as People Magazine that called Mustafa’s monologue “Sharply Scripted”.
When considering the responses to the video the remarks in the comments section on YouTube consist mostly of positive remarks and witty comments. The spreadibility theory would focuses on the fact that there is a blurring of lines in this campaign between producers and consumers. This is the case since the producers of the Old Spice commercial uploaded 185 videos to YouTube over two days in which Mustafa, in his Old Spice character, responded to comments made by viewers through various social networks on their initial commercial. This made the spreadibility of the brand even more because it directly engages in a witty manner with the responses which people made on the commercial and these response videos were then again deliberately shared.
References:
Jenkins, H., Li, X., & Domb, A. (2008). If it doesn’t spread, it’s dead. Creating Value in a Spreadable Marketplace. Retrieved from:
http://www.convergenceculture.org/weblog/2010/04/convergence_culture_consortium.php
Jenkins, H., Ford, S., & Green, J. (2013). Spreadable media: creating value and meaning in a networked culture. New York: New York University Press.
Rushkoff, D. (1994). Media virus! hidden agendas in popular culture. New York: Ballantine Books.