The development of digital technology has increased accessibility so that people all over the world can create contents easily which are a medium to be connected with each other and produce other additional contents.The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge demonstrated the power of social media and the audience to influence cause marketing on a national scale.
The challenge was a perfect storm of media celebrity and grass-roots philanthropy, producing hurricane-strength viral social engagement during the summer of 2014 (Forbes.com. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2014/08/22/7-marketing-lessons-from-the-als-ice-bucket-challenge/#71474b6c7586 ) It originated from Pete Frates, a former Boston College baseball player, who got ALS and started to post his challenge to raise awareness and money for patients suffering from ALS. A huge number of participants expressed their gratitude for getting an opportunity to participate in this meaningful challenge and uploaded their videos on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.What about its effect? Was it small? No! as you know, it was massive. The process of the challenge was so simple, but its effects to the society were considerably massive. From their perspective, doing small thing led to super positive consequences such as raising awareness and money for the good cause.
This phenomenon is called ‘participatory culture’ which means “a culture in which private persons (the public) do not act as consumer only, but also as contributors or produces (prosumers; it is a combined word with producer and consumer) (“Participatory culture”). According to Jenkins et al. (2006), major characteristics of participatory culture reflect audience’s perspective to participate in digital culture.(3rs-reduction.co.uk, 2018)
The campaign was completely organic and relied entirely on ordinary individuals. There was no big marketing blitz to numb the public — a public that is far too jaded from the over-abundance of media images in the internet age (Medium. (2018). The Success of the Ice-Bucket Challenge – PROVOCO – Medium. [online] Available at: https://medium.com/@Provocome/the-success-of-the-ice-bucket-challenge-269f1776122d [Accessed 1 Oct. 2018]). Ordinary people saw other ordinary people participate in the ice-bucket challenge. This was inspiring to others on a deep and intuitive level. The combined effect of regular people participating along with the celebrities doing the same things boosted the success of the campaign.The cause and effect of the challenge were clear and people were able to get behind it without any moral ambiguity. This feature also tended to give the good feelings people derive from doing something which benefits others. Those who saw and participated in the ice-bucket challenge saw a clear direction from what they saw on social media to their own ability to join in, and ultimately to the desired outcome of doing something good.
Overall, the ALS ice bucket challenge created quite a stir back in the day but it did help get us one step closer to bridging the gap between the audience and the various forms of media as well as show us how participation of the audience could really turn ideas into reality!