Comments on: Rage Against The Machine: The Case Study In Spreadability vs Reach

By: If it doesn’t Spread, it’s Dead – Scott Gould and Friends

If it doesn’t Spread, it’s Dead – Scott Gould and Friends — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:23:02 +0000

[...] heard me bang on before about spreadability vs reach. I arrogantly thought that I had come up with the concept, but I found out in the middle of last [...]

By: My Like Minds Slides on Spreadability at WOM UK – scottgould.me

My Like Minds Slides on Spreadability at WOM UK – scottgould.me — Fri, 14 May 2010 09:27:36 +0000

[...] analysis of the Rage Against The Machine vs X-Factor example that I talk about, I wrote the top ranked case study on it at the end of last [...]

By: ‘Social’ as a Consumer Mindset – scottgould.me

‘Social’ as a Consumer Mindset – scottgould.me — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 07:45:37 +0000

[...] about Spreadability vs Reach (there’s a Slideshare here, a framework here, and a case study here). The way I see it, a social mindset and Social Media thrive under a spreadability model. A [...]

By: What Nestlé Should Do, In 4 Steps – scottgould.me

What Nestlé Should Do, In 4 Steps – scottgould.me — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:27:37 +0000

[...] spread organically from eyeball to eyeball, based on the nature of the message (exemplified in this case study on the Rage Against The Machine vs [...]

By: kingColon

kingColon — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:39:13 +0000

Some interesting thoughts and food for thought. Makes for interesting reading.=]

By: Paul Whaley

Paul Whaley — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:17:13 +0000

Don't see why a brand couldn't, in principle, replicate something like this. Wasn't the move to fake Joe Schmoes endorsing a Product X part of a marketing strategy to at least make it seem to other Joes that their peers approved of the product? It works, even when people know it's fake.I'm wondering if social media isn't just way of upping the ante a bit – one has to secure genuine endorsement, but the social media marketing world is already trying to do this, no?I guess this really is a question about relationships – will anyone ever really like the next X Factor song enough to form a facebook group to promote it? I don't see why not. Let's wait and see what Cowell gets up to next year – we could have a “how corporates learned from RATM how to make social media marketing work for them, too” case study.While I'm banging on, it seems to me that since the social media campaign did, basically, jigger the outcome by allowing a small group to organise themselves to beat the system (plus my bet is the papers picking this up made a big difference) I don't think it's totally straightforward to conclude that social media makes for effective marketing, as much as it shows how much power a social network has – and therefore how empowering social media can be for groups with an agenda.As more of a campaigner than someone selling large numbers of records, I think the important observation here is how a small number of people can make one heck of a lot of noise. Especially if you can secure “reach” for your “spreadable” message.Is that enough? I think so.

By: Paul Whaley

Paul Whaley — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:03:58 +0000

sorry to be so hostile, but the I found the post above to be provocative of emotional response.ahem.

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:44:03 +0000

Hey Gareth – thanks for the ocmment. Yes, Jon and Tracy attempted the same stunt last year (with Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up) – and so the song did make a big difference and created a fight that provoked stronger emotion. I pointed this out as a key contributor – and it's also important to note that Social Media has more power now than it did a year ago – which is most true of Twitter.Whether or not people did buy multiple tracks or not doesn't, in my opinion, detract from the powerful display that has been made. I really don't think that many people would be purchasing lots of copies of the single when most people only considered this to be a pipe dream of sorts – from what I can tell.

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:39:43 +0000

Thanks Jed. I'm just trying to illustrate what made this work in what is a huge demonstration of the power of Social Media in comparison to main stream media.Whether or not, as Gareth above writes, there was manipulation, the point still stands that Social Media has been used to orchestrate this.

By: Gareth Harris

Gareth Harris — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:29:18 +0000

The reason the campaign worked for me was the choice of song. The same people tried to dethrone X Factor the previous year with Rick Astley as the chosen challenger but failed to make any dent on the chart. The choice of RATM and Killing In The Name allowed many people to create their own reasons for backing the campaign (at various stages we had a bit of fun, supporting the charity Shelter, a fight for real music) so it became a nebulously hard target for media commentators to cynic against.One thing that should be pointed out though is that 500k didn't buy RATM – it was carefully explained how to buy from multiple accounts from different retailers to ensure each sale counted, and then when it looked like RATM might lose out the free Nokia offer suddenly appeared on the Facebook group allowing users to “buy” multiple versions of the song, whose sales would all be chart eligible and collated towards the final total, without “campaigners” spending a penny.