As the whistle-blower de nos jours, Julian Assange, ponders his imminent release from the “Dickensian” conditions of Wandsworth prison, he can take comfort from the fact that he’s made his point. Wikileaks has proved that we are indeed living in a viral age.
Look at the evidence – information was drip-fed to carefully chosen media outlets. This doubled the coverage as half the media reported the evidence and the other half attacked them for being spoon-fed.
Supporters then conducted a successful cyber-attack on the major financial institutions who’d decided Wikileaks was illegal. How did they do it? A viral campaign mobilised supporters all over the globe in about a nano-second.
Once hobbled by massive shutdowns of the Wikileaks site, activists ‘went analogue’ and plan to plaster the streets of major cities with posters. But Operation Paperstorm as it’s known is not an old-fashioned leaflet drop campaign. It’s only made possible…yes you’ve guessed it….by a viral campaign mobilising thousands of people all over Europe with passion in their heads, time on their hands and ready access to a pot of glue. PR and media gurus have known this for some time. But manufacturers, producers of goods who desperately rely on a stampede of customers, here is a lesson for you. People can’t be shouted at any more (sorry, advertisers.) The things they’ll buy will come from the companies that make them feel involved. Get on to the media, put your case, generate debate…and the profits will flow your way. It also helps if you look directly out of your prison van window at the cameras and remember to make a victory sign for tomorrow’s papers. Clever Julian!
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