How Lawyers Kill Viral
Posted on August 4, 2008 - Filed Under ideaDRUNK's ideas
A successful viral campaign is never guaranteed. You try to create good content, make it easily accessible and hope that its interesting enough to get passed around. It’s hard to predict how the internet masses will react. But there are things that you can do to improve your odds of success. Like creating unique content. Like honing in on an insight. Like making a hilarious interactive experience.
A Drive Thru Lawyer?
And then there are things that can hurt your odds. Like lawyers. Lawyers can kill an idea with a thousand little paper cuts. They can change the most minute details over and over again until the core of the idea is lost. All for fear of being sued. All to do what they’re paid to do – cover the company’s ass.
To create a successful viral campaign, you have to break through. You can’t accomplish this by following rules and industry precedent, which is the exact thing that lawyers are taught to do. So, I have an idea. I propose that you don’t let lawyers tell you what you can’t do. You inform them what you are going to do and they prep response plans. It’s a calculated risk. If you do, indeed get a negative legal response, your team is ready for action. (In fact, a negative legal response can even draw more attention and press to your viral effort.)
It’s the small, nimble companies that WANT to stir things up that will win in the viral realm. So, if you want to play there, you need to be willing to do what it takes to succeed. Otherwise you are just pissing your money down the drain.
- Christian
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