Mar
30
2009
Help people mash you up: it could be good for business
Author: Robin BrowneI saw the amazing film Rip: A Remix Manifesto last night here in Ottawa and was blown away by the film and by its central character, remix artist Girl Talk.
Rip is about mashups which are pieces of art made from mashing together existing pieces of art. Girl Talk works with music but any art is fair game. Many mashup artists use copyrighted material without permission and a central focus of the film is challenging the laws and industries that protect that copyright. I don’t want to talk about that, though. I want to focus on what ended the film: a mashup of comedian Stephen Colbert using video in which he threatens to sue anyone who uses it in a mashup.
This is another example of Colbert’s brilliant marketing skills. He knew exactly what would happen when he told the mashers not to mash and now he’s got a clip in a feature film.
So if your target audience includes young people, don’t just give them things to share: give them things to mashup. Give them your photos, videos, text whatever. Have a contest for the best mashup of your logo…and their ideas…
But be warned: you might end up going viral.
