A new unusual challenge is gaining popularity on the Web: challenging yourself and others. Social media users post videos under the hashtag #bottlecapchallenge of how they unscrew a bottle cap with one foot movement. Hundreds of people, including famous actors, musicians and athletes, have already participated in the bottle cap challenge.
The dexterity of their feet allows them to open the bottle with one blow. The new flash mob is spreading on social networks. According to its terms, you need to unscrew the cap on the bottle with a swing of one leg.
In this case, so that the container itself remained in place. Despite the apparent simplicity, this trick requires good coordination and physical fitness.
How to open a bottle by kicking it?
To unscrew the cap with your foot, you will need:
- Choose a bottle. Plastic utensils will last you much longer and will withstand at least 100 attempts. But it has its own drawback - it's too light, so it can fly off. Glass ones are much more stable, but they can break before you even do the trick. Here, everyone chooses what's closest to them and what's at hand.
- Put the cap on in the right position. If the bottle is tightly closed, even a professional can't unscrew it. To make it work, the cap must dangle on the neck, that is, it must be turned slightly - one or two turns.
- Coordination and manual dexterity. Without this you are unlikely to succeed in the Challenge. It's important to calculate the distance correctly. Doing the trick, you start the movement in one position and finish it as close to the bottle as possible. The main thing is not to catch the bottle itself, but only to lightly hit the cap.
- A few tries. It is unlikely that someone will succeed at the first attempt, because initially the person does not feel the distance and needs to ""shoot up"". So be patient and go ahead - become stars of social networks.
- Technique and again the technique. It is necessary to hit the cover with your foot precisely so that it began to whirl around the neck. That's it. That's it.
Collective instinct: Why flash mobs on social media are necessary
Someone takes a picture with a fish instead of a swimsuit, someone doused in ice water, someone writes heartbreaking personal stories. And these are not hobby groups, these are flash mobs on social networks. Over the past few years, this phenomenon has gathered hundreds of followers online.
"Instant Crowd"
A flash mob is a pre-planned mass action in which a group of people appear in a public place, perform prearranged actions and then disperse. Participants agree on the theme and location of the flash mob online.
The birth of flash mobs is associated with the publication in 2002 of a book by sociologist Howard Rheingold "Smart Crowds: The Next Social Revolution," where the author predicted that people would use new communication technologies for self-organization.
Ironically, the first flash mob (June 3, 2003 in New York City) never took place. People were prevented by the alerted police.
So far, the largest flash mob in its history is considered to be the action at the opening of the 24th season of the famous Oprah Winfrey show in Chicago, September 8, 2009. Then the mass gathering had about 21 thousand people.
Today, flash mobs are carried out not only on the streets, but also right on the computer monitor - in social networks. Thus, an online event in a matter of hours gathers hundreds or even millions of participants around the world.
Flash mobs as a way to conduct marketing activities
If you think about flash mob technology, why, who needs it and how it works, you can distinguish several things.
A successful flash mob requires emotion. The collective mind engages in action through rational or emotional motivation. A simple example is the soccer wave of fans at the stadium. The emotion of "let's support ours!" visually forms a chain of action, and gives the team on the field support and inspiration.
A successful flash mob must have a motivating purpose. Sometimes "for fun" is also the goal, but such actions are quiet, unnoticed and meaningless to others, fun only to participants.
There has to be a connection between the participants. Mass is the main principle of flash mobs, otherwise it will not be a flash mob, but a quiet get-together.
Flash mob action itself should be spectacular, impressive and short. Outside viewers film the action on their cell phones and post it online - so ensure viral publications. If there's nothing to film, there's nothing to see, so we have zero communicative effect. And it is clear that the 15-minute flash mob no one to shoot and watch.
Oddly enough, flash mobs do not always set a goal result. This is a case where the meaning of action - in the action itself. This rule is the most controversial, and can change if we want to use the movement as a tool for commercial or social marketing.
Flash mobs can and should be a marketing tool. After all, they have everything a marketer dreams of and a brand needs for promotion: mass involvement of the target audience, mass communication, and a relatively modest budget. And besides, the excitement and WOW-effect. But how is it practically possible - to run an effective flash mob?
Technologically, the flash mob scheme is very similar to a promotion. And even if the movement looks spontaneous, it is still someone who launches, directs and controls. As in the promo, the idea must match the interests and patterns of behavior of the CA. Initiators (this can be "enthusiasts" in a social project, or promotional staff in commercial marketing) "sway" the action, followers from the target audience join in.
The excitement of the initiators, the relevance of the action, and the appropriateness of the time/place greatly affect the outcome. Given that flash mobs are at the intersection of promotions and events, surely this tool is important and appropriate in any marketing plan. A flash mob becomes "real" when everyone plays it by joining the initiators. And they play with gusto, from the heart, and create a chain - pulling in those around them, for free and with pleasure.