Why The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Is Brilliant - And How To Go Viral

Everyone on social media has seen countless videos of people dumping ice water on their heads over the past week. Along with the video, the post says something like this: "I've been nominated to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS. I nominate <Friend 1>, <Friend 2> and <Friend 3> to take the challenge or donate $100. You have 24 hours!"

Critics say it's pointless, because dumping the ice water on your head and posting the video means you chose not to donate. Critics say this does NOTHING to help ALS. I disagree. I think it's brilliant, and the numbers prove it. In this recent article, the ALS Association announces that it's raised $10 Million in ADDITIONAL funds due to the Ice Bucket Challenge. Last year, the association raised $1.7 Million in funds between July 29th and August 16th. This year, it raised $11.4 Million and added an additional 220,255 new donors to The Association during the very same time period!

How can this be if so many people are opting to dump a bucket of water on their heads, rather than donate? The answer is simple. In the beginning of July, a large percentage of people had never heard of ALS. Now, zillions of people are dumping ice water over their heads to raise awareness for the disease. The social media posts have also morphed to encourage more donations - some ask people to dump ice water AND donate, while others offer to donate a certain amount of money for every "Like" their video receives.

The Ice Bucket Challenge has gone viral, and I'm seeing people who typically never even post on social media doing the Ice Bucket Challenge. Singers, athletes and other famous people, like Jennifer Lopez and LeBron James are participating. You can't login to Facebook without seeing videos of people dumping ice water on their heads, and millions of NEW people are now aware of ALS, significantly increasing the chance that they might become a donor.

Marketing professionals from around the world are constantly searching for the secret sauce for "going viral." It's an elusive state of being that's not easy to duplicate and often very difficult to predict. In this case, I think the following factors helped the Ice Bucket Challenge to go viral:

• Fun Factor: Dumping ice water on your head is a fun and funny thing to do in the middle of the summer. The "Fun Factor" increases an idea's chance of being shared with friends on social media.
• Quick & Easy: You can get a bucket of ice water anywhere, and smartphones make it very simple to take a quick video and post it on social media within minutes in just the click of a button.
• Relatable: Who wouldn't enjoy seeing their friend get brain freeze from a bucket of ice water (or trying it themselves?) Everyone can easily relate to this. My 8-year-old son saw his first Ice Bucket Challenge video last night and is dying to try it!
• Public Recognition: When people receive public recognition from a friend (e.g. a friend tagging them on Facebook and challenging them to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge,) they are more apt to take action. This article shows a link between publicly recognizing people and an increase in donations. People are more apt to donate (and donate more money) when there's a possibility that their name will be published recognizing their donation. Similarly, calling people out on social media increases the likelihood that they will respond, especially if it's a "challenge." 

All in all, the factors above for "How to Go Viral" are just my opinion on how the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge gained momentum and went viral. So, for those who say dumping ice water on people's heads is doing nothing for the cause, I would ask them to explain how The ALS Association raised $10 Million in ADDITIONAL DONATIONS and 220,255 new donors in just a couple of weeks?