Talk about the power of the internet – have you heard the crazy story of Matt and Brother Orange? If not, it’s right here: I Followed My Stolen iPhone Across The World, Became a Celebrity in China, and Found a Friend for Life.
With millions in America reading about it, and tens of millions in China raving about it, it’s another global viral sensation that you can’t miss out on.
It’s pretty long though, so I’ll sum it up for you:
A guy (Matt) gets his phone stolen in NYC. Months later, pictures of some guy in China standing next to an orange tree (Bro Orange) show up on his iCloud. Matt writes this blog about it (How I Became a Minor Celebrity in China…), which gets picked up in China, igniting an online rally to search for the man with the orange tree.
Well, they find the guy, and all of China stays tuned-in to social media as Matt and Bro Orange are brought together. Matt visits Bro Orange in China and they are swept through an amazing experience as instant celebrities – paparazzi and press conferences included. At the same time, these two men from opposite sides of the world become the best of friends in a way that couldn’t have happened until this century.
If that doesn’t give you a warm, fuzzy navel I don’t know what will. I mean really, it’s like they’ve become blood orange brothers. A lot of fans think they’re total cuties, too.
Ok, alright, orange puns are done. But the story isn’t over! Really, do you realize – does anyone realize how incredibly powerful the internet is? And when I say internet, I don’t mean the vague notion of a bunch of wires and Wifi signals and computer bits going bloop bloop and making pixels happen. I’m talking about the community, the level of society, that we often refer to unwittingly as The Internet.
What if The Internet elected presidents? Could we call Grumpy Cat the former president of The Internet? Can we consider Matt and Bro Orange the presiding party of The Internet of China?
But with all that power, where’s the responsibility? Who is responsible? Google? Ok, yeah, kind of. Google is like that really awesome parent who lets its kids do whatever but if they actually want something, like a puppy, or great page ranking, they’ve gotta earn it. But Google is still just a business, as any other, that has to balance on a tight rope of continual improvement to stay in control.
Truly, there is no single entity that is in charge. And that’s one reason why it’s such a challenge for many businesses to use the internet for marketing. The Internet controls the internet, and no one else.
You want your company’s post to go viral? Hah, good luck. They’ll see right through it.
You just want to tell a few friends about your phone getting stolen, or your dress being a weird color? HEY GUESS WHAT, YOU’RE A CELEBRITY! Instant famous! Endorse some stuff, NOW!
And that’s why companies need a good advertising agency that knows what they’re doing when it comes to SEO, online ads and the like. And hey, look, you’re reading a blog written by an agency, so you know it’s true. You don’t have to do this alone.
Contact Convergent1, we’ll help you harness the elusive power of the internet.
