Approximately 3 months ago, I think everyone’s news feed on Facebook was dominated by videos of their friends or celebrities dumping buckets of ice water on themselves. The ALS Ice Bucket challenge was a viral success and a pinnacle in terms of viral and Internet marketing. Back in 2012 there was a similar success story, the KONY 2012 video and campaign. These sorts of campaigns spread like wild fire and seem to be just everywhere. But just like they enter our world, they seem to disappear and be extinguished just as fast. The question that arises is that would companies prefer a meteoric rise to fame followed by almost oblivion or would they prefer their campaigns to have a more gradual trajectory and survive in the long run?

It’s a bit unfair to compare KONY 2012 and the Ice Bucket Challenge because the latter raised awareness for a significant and hidden issue. While it did receive it’s fair share of criticism, no one can criticize the effectiveness of the campaign. The campaign helped raised millions of dollars in a very short period of time, but since late August I have seen nothing mentioned about ALS. The organization could still be raising money but there is no way it can compare to the amount raised when the challenge was popular.

Popular is the key word here because it seems these viral campaigns are merely trends, no matter if they actually promote important issues or not. A couple of months ago that’s all people could talk about, so is the success of these campaigns only due to our propensity to get caught up in online fads? I mean if planking can become a thing, then almost any campaign can have hope. Having said that, maybe these short-term spikes in popularity are exactly what the organizations want; Massive revenue influxes with little cost. Yet, some companies might prefer a more long-term strategy. The short-term revenues will not compare, but they might end up being relevant for much longer.