Ever wondered "how did Gangnam Style go viral"? We at 10 Yetis believe that we are the first agency to take an indepth look at how Psy, YG Entertainment and Gangnam Style became such an online viral hit. We even include the golden tips to securing a great viral campaign.

1. How Did Gangnam Style Go Viral?
The Gangnam Viral-Marketing Style Playbook
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2. Agenda
 Caveats & Key People
 Pre launch recipe
 Execution of the campaign
 Keeping it alive
 Dying with Dignity
 The Viral Recipe
 Stats
 Golden Rules For Going Viral
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

3. Caveats
 First to review viral aspect of Gangnam Style in such
depth
 We had to make a number of assumptions
 Time may reveal a few errors in our assumptions!
 If so, let us know!
 @10Yetis, andy@10yetis.co.uk, Facebook.com/10Yetis
 Key people: Psy (singer), YG Entertainment (Korean
record label), Scooter Braun (USA Music Manager)
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

4. Pre Launch Recipe
 YG had a clear goal
 Wanted a foothold in USA music industry
 Set up USA Division in 2011 http://bit.ly/UGsXA6
 Had developed a large platform on which to seed a
campaign
 2.5m subscribers on YouTube channels
 Unknown number in email database but likely to be millions
 Multiple high profile Twitter profiles courtesy of artists under
management
 Psy himself is established artist, American educated
 Seeding platforms were ORGANICALLY grown – not gamed
 Video was catchy, shareable, crossed social, economic and
language boundaries (humour, colourful etc)
 Video had topical people alongside Psy. Dancing kid from
Korea’s Got Talent and two comedians/entertainers. Gave it
“home appeal’ in South Korea.
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

5. Execution of the Campaign
 Teased the campaign to key media before launch
 2x Tweets from @AllKPop teasing video
 Placed video online and seeded via their own
established and engaged audiences
 High impact first day – 500k of video views
 Immediate number one in home charts (South
Korean)
 This brought it to Western audiences via people who look
for Eastern trends to report on, e.g. Billboard.com
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

6. Keeping it Alive
 Organic media pick up started to grow one month
after launch
 Gizmodo first to run
 Gawker pick up
 Billboard made it mainstream (controversial write up caused
debate and a rise in awareness)
 Celebrity tweets had minimal initial impact,
contrasts with previous explanation about reasons
for success
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

7. Keeping it Alive… cont 1
 Huff Post ran a story, little visual impact on search
and tweet volumes but may have triggered CNN TV
piece - http://huff.to/UGJdkB & http://bit.ly/UGJJzh
 CNN caused huge spike & this triggered YouTube
Trends to write story on Gangnam Style being
video of the month http://bit.ly/RI6spX
 Triggered multiple broadcast news pick up, the
most high profile being (probably) SkyNews
 Daily Mail demonstrated its ability to spot emerging
search trends and piggy back by writing 9 (nine)
articles about Psy/Gangnam Style
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

8. Keeping it Alive… cont 2
 This is the time (relatively late stage) that Celeb
tweets came in e.g. Katy Perry (13k RTs)
 Mainstream media got on board: Mashable, Time
Mag, Economist. I believe Washington Post piece
(http://wapo.st/VqRGUZ ) triggered Associated
Press article (http://bit.ly/TCJe9B) that got global
pick up.
 Tweet and search volumes then slowed BUT, there
was clearly a plan!
 Major news – Psy signed to Scooter Braun, Justin
Bieber’s manager! Major shot in the campaign
arm… http://bit.ly/VqS5GQ
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

9. Keeping it Alive… cont 3
 Scooters influence and marketing database triggers
the biggest spike of the campaign
 Scooter accelerated the campaign (see what I did
there) via: Britney tweets, Ellen TV show
appearances, MTV Award appearances and his
wider portfolio of artists promoting Psy via their
twitter platforms
 Growth slowed and Scooter got Psy on NBC Today
show – Boom!
 Guinness was the final push, as Gangnam video
breaks world records for views/likes
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

10. Dying With Dignity
 As search and tweet volumes declined, media
appearance requests for Psy increased, showing
how many media were late to the story
 Psy travelled around the world servicing media
requests and handled each one expertly
 He has secured deals with several high profile
companies
 YG Entertainment has strong foothold in USA and
great contact database (via Scooter Braun etc)
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

11. It’s Stat Time Bitches
 1,191,235 Twitter comments, 25,490,717
Facebook shares, 7,012 Google Blogger Platform
mentions
120
Google Search Volumes Graph
100
80
60
40
20
0
Jul Jul Jul Aug Aug Aug Aug Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Oct Oct Oct Oct
15, 2012 22, 2012 29, 2012 05, 2012 12, 2012 19, 2012 26, 2012 02, 2012 09, 2012 16, 2012 23, 2012 30, 2012 07, 2012 14, 2012 21, 2012 28, 2012
00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00
(UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC)
Twitter Mentions Graph
2000000
1500000
1000000
500000
0
Jul Jul Jul Aug Aug Aug Aug Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Oct Oct Oct Oct
15, 2012 22, 2012 29, 2012 05, 2012 12, 2012 19, 2012 26, 2012 02, 2012 09, 2012 16, 2012 23, 2012 30, 2012 07, 2012 14, 2012 21, 2012 28, 2012
00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00
(UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC) (UTC)
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

12. The 6 Golden Rules for “Going Viral”
1. Have a final goal in mind (likes, shares, sales leads, entering new territory)
2. Organically grow a large seeding platform of engaged followers (online and
database driven)
3. Create content that is engaging & shareable and crosses
social/economic/language boundaries
4. Tease to known fanatics and early adopters
5. Have a plan to reignite the campaign along the way (media)
6. Have an exit strategy/cease the campaign, leaving people wanting more
@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis

13. Thanks
 I used the following services to help with this
work:
 Topsy (pro), Twitter, Google News, Google Insight
for Search, Google Blog
Search, ViralVideoNetwork.com, AllKPop.com, YouT
ube and YouTubeTrends, Facebook
 Any corrections, please send to
andy@10yetis.co.uk or @10Yetis or
www.Facebook.com/10Yetis
 Useful resources:
Strategy: www.aSocialMediaAgency.com
Video: www.Online-Video-Company.co.uk
Seeding/Media: www.10Yetis.co.uk

@10Yetis www.10Yetis.co.uk +441452 348211 http://www.Facebook.com/10Yetis