Miley's viral performance re-birthed her career!?

Remember the days where Miley Cyrus was just Hannah Montana? That innocent 13 year old from Tenesse singing with her sequined denim jacket? In 2013, Miley Cyrus shocked the world with her performance at the MTV music awards alongside Blurred Lines' singer, Robin Thicke. It's safe to say, she completely detached herself from the 'little girl' label she created during through her childhood fame. The performance from this video went completely viral, clocking up over 10 million views with Miley wearing a nude- coloured latex number. You could argue that this performance re-birthed her career and evidently shaped the new 'Miley' we now talk about; most prominently trending on Twitter and YouTube. The vision of Miley and Robin Thicke was 'the most GIFable performance', being the centre of memes and jokes all over the world.

So, obviously not all viewers of this performance were at the MTV music awards, so how did we hear about it? Word of mouth (WOM), is the key characteristic that differentiates social media marketing to digital marketing. WOM is about sharing something of an interest to an audience rather than advertising. A long as it is directed to the right audience at the right time, it is destined to be a hit. This is exactly what we saw in this example, the content was not shared on social media platforms or between friends for marketing purposes, it was simply so shocking and unexpected that everyone just had to see it! The unexpectedness created this phenomenon to occur as many had pre existing views of Miley Cyrus, from watching her on Disney channel or simply remembering how young she was on her first debut at the age of 12. This contrast, and simply the shock factor and sexual portrayal that many artists would choose to avoid due to negative publicity, is what created the traction. As informed by Statistica, video content is seen to be a more popular way for information to travel. Many of us do not have time to watch a 30 second advertisement, but do find time to watch a video or listen to a story. The use of Facebook Newsfeed had transitioned into video sharing and viewing; this seems to be the new trend users are interested in. The law of the few' as explained by Business Insider, portrays the idea of the pareto principal; where roughly 80% of the work will be done by 20% of the participants. The connectors are the vital individuals that seem transform a simple popular video, to one that is viral. The connectors are the social glue that spreads the message. To put it this way, Miley did not need to share this video to increase popularity.

Bear in mind, it was not soley the decision for connectors and individuals to share this video around that created this traction, but the use of the Six Principals of Contagiousness (6 STEPPS). These six steps evidently increased the chance for viral marketing to occur. We do need to note that not all 6 STEPPS are required to be undertaken, the use of the most influential elements in regard to the situation at hand must be assessed and adapted. The first step is Social Currency, basically looking good in front of others' eyes or desire for social approval- a fundamental human motivation. Regarding this example, individuals would weigh up whether posting or sharing this video will impress their followers. The second step is Triggers; when an advertisement causes you to undertake an action or purchase something almost immediately after it occurs. Most of the ones I think about all centre around food! Have a break, have a Kit Kat? The third step is emotion; positive or negative and whether the content creates a high or low arousal. Whether it is the portrayal of a physical product or a streaming service like Spotify, the intention is to move people. The next one is Public: social proof, does the advertisement sell itself? Does Miley sell herself? Conformity (imitating others) is a human tendency. Not that we did that but some may have? the remaining two are Practical Value and Story telling which were not necessarily prominent in Miley's crawl back to her fame.

You may be questioning why I have chosen this example and how Miley actually received any benefits from this publicity. Miley Cyrus released her hit single 'Wrecking Ball' about a month after the MTV music awards in 2013. This song was also quite provocative and shocking; I'm sure you can remember! This song then won an award for best music video in 2014 and was in the Top 10 Most streamed songs on iTunes. The publicity Miley created from her viral performance, debuting new look evidently profited her millions.

What'd you think of Miley's use of viral marketing?