Nearly everyone in North America with access to either a television or the internet (98,477,971 people worldwide to be exact*) have most likely watched or at least heard of “Kony 2012”.

What exactly was Kony 2012? For some it may just be a YouTube video that went viral, but in the context of it’s core objective, it’s considered a guerrilla marketing. Simply put, guerrilla marketing is a marketing strategy of an unconventional method with lower budget, and based  on interactions between people. The specific steps commanded in the video by Invisible Children, a non-profit organization behind the campaign, to a) share the video using Social Media platforms b) participate in a one-day worldwide event to cover the city with Kony 2012 posters and c) purchase an ‘action kit’ which costs $30 (includes a few advertisement items such as sticker, poster, etc).

Although the video created a buzz once it was first released, the whole campaign went downhill when a few scandals arose towards the organization. This resulted in failure of Invisible Children’s goal in capturing Joseph Kony, a military figure who abducts children as soldiers. The initially anticipated Kony 2012 day, (April 21, 2012) ended with barely any participation throughout North America.

Invisible Children not only failed to convince the audience, but also lost its credibility as the outcome.

This whole Kony 2012 at a glance seems like a yet-another-Africa-related-campaign-that-failed. However, there are many reasons why this campaign is still considered a success.
Here are the reasons why:
1) Great understanding of the trend – effective use of Social Media to market an idea with a very factual, and emotionally charging video.
2) Brand Awareness – resulting from point 1, many people (mostly younger generation) recognizes the Kony 2012 poster, and they know what the campaign is all about when they hear “Kony 2012”
3) Audience participation – we are living in a DIY generation. People love to do things on their own and especially ‘do good’. The action plan laid out on the video is very simple, yet they make it sound as if we can ‘save the world’ on our own just by following them.
4) True to its inital intentions – Although the campaign failed to fulfill it’s core purpose, it still managed to create an awareness about child soldiers in Uganda.

All in all, Invisible Children received a lot of criticisms from their lack of accuracy in the videos as well as some of the employees’ irresponsible conduct. Besides the point, their marketing strategy alone was very successful, if you look at how much attention one video brought to the world.

*based on the number of views on “Kony 2012” YouTube video as of 09/10/2013