This Time it's Personal

My mate Kate sent me a link to this news report, warning me that a serial killer had chosen me as his next victim.

That sort of thing tends to grab your attention.

The personalised video is a lovely little viral to promote the new FX series Dexter - the story of a charming serial killer.

The viral video you can personalise has been around for a while but I think it's still a great tactic to encourage propagation. Glue's Aveaword for Mini is probably the most famous example [sadly the site has gone down but you can get a presentation about the project here.]

By allowing someone to personalise the content, you give them a sense of ownership and the chance to make it more relevant, making them more likely to spread your message for you.

Which, by a remarkable coincidence, just happens to be the topic of my chapter of the Age of Conversation:

So people are already primed to propagate ideas. However, the mechanisms that created this urge to pass things on are set up to favour our own ideas, not other people’s ideas and certainly not brand ideas, unless people have been given, in some way, ownership of them.

But if you want anymore, you'll have to BUY THE BOOK.

With all proceeds going to Variety, The Children's Charity, this is one of those purchases that will generate a warm, glowing, warming glow inside you and is guaranteed to keep you safe from fictional serial killers.