ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Not All Wet

During this past summer, a phenomenon took over the internet.

The ALS Bucket Challenge began in a small corner of the U.S. and became a nationwide challenge.

Several reasons explain why it reverberated with a wide range of people. Businesses can learn from the challenge and implement the concept in their own marketing efforts.322

Stir Emotions

Humans are emotional beings and they respond to marketing that makes them feel something.

One of the main reasons that the ALS ice bucket challenge was so popular is that it was for a cause that touches people's hearts.

Of course, it is not enough to just provide a worthy cause.

This challenge also made it easy for people to get involved.

They knew that they could make a difference. It's easy to make people care about something, but you have to go even further and convince them to get involved.

Not everyone who participated knew someone with ALS or even understood what the disease was all about. They did understand the concept of fun and of competition.

The challenge allowed them to do something that was fun and engage in an activity they would want to do on a hot summer day anyway.

Many people have a competitive nature and when they are challenged to do something, they rise to the dare.

This challenge capitalized on that aspect of people's personalities to keep it going. It could have easily died within a few days, but everyone who participated knew who they could convince to keep the challenge going.

Peer Pressure and Viral Success

Another aspect of this challenge that made it so successful is the fact that people recorded themselves completing the challenge and posted it on Facebook and other social media sites.

It wasn't bad enough to feel the pressure to follow through when your friends challenged you. Now, everyone would know if you didn't complete it.

That doubled the pressure and got many people involved who would never have participated otherwise.

Because it involved so many people, it became a viral sensation. Even celebrities got involved and increased the cool factor.

Creativity Factor

As the article, “18 Reasons the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is Your New Standard in Digital Marketing”, states, this challenge allowed for creativity.

While the concept was simple and easy to follow, many people put their own spin on the videos. They were fun to watch no matter how many you had seen because you didn't know what someone would do.

The key was that the basic idea was something anyone could do.

Young, old, parents, kids. Everyone got involved. It was simple, and yet, you could add your own spin to make it unique.

Businesses can use the key components that made the ALS ice bucket challenge successful for their own marketing efforts.

While they may never enjoy nationwide fame, they can attract the right audience that will engage with them.

As this challenge proved, marketing done right can provide an impressive return on investment.