Less than a week ago a friend posted an interesting video on my Facebook wall.  The video featured “On the Rocks,” the official acappella group at the University of Oregon performing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga.

At the time the video had 3.8 million views and now has over 4 million! “On the Rocks” does not appear to be new. Videos of the group seem to date back as early as 2003 and can be found across several youtube channels featuring new students over the years.  But the recent exposure does seem to be new and the group has moved quickly to capitalize on their current fame. Today I noticed their youtube video now linked to their iTunes store featuring studio recorded versions of their favorite tracks and a single of Bad Romance.

“On the Rocks” is not the only example of Lady Gaga’s contagious effect. In the past few weeks there have been two other high profile examples of unknowns finding global recognition.

Another recent example is Greyson Michael Chance. On April 28 ( one month ago! ) Greyson uploaded his solo performance of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi.”  So far Greyson’s video has sung the tune of 21 million views.  If that wasn’t enough, he was recently featured on the Ellen Degeneres show and has since been signed by Ellen as her first contracted artist on her new record label.

Perhaps the most unexpected example is the “Telephone” remake by American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan which has received 4.7 million views to date.

The Takeaway:

Imitating popular trends or people is hardly a new concept, but social media has certainly created a new element. Above is three examples of people becoming overnight stars based on something that was already highly sought after – Lady Gaga.

Taking note of this can be very useful to your cause. During a recent lunch meeting, myself and a business associate discussed how his organization could benefit by developing interesting content that pertained to topics people were already searching for while making the overall content something that was truly unique to his organization.

Next time you’re trying to develop social media content take a moment and remember this blog article. We’re not suggesting you dress up like Lady Gaga, but if you do let us know and we’ll post it!

Your Comments:

Feel free comment below. How would YOU use these concepts to make your social media debut?