Studio Rockstar

I just ran across an extraordinary site by R.I.M. (manufacturers of BlackBerry) and Sprint. The site illustrates of the key factors is doing viral right: don’t sell to your intended audience. Obviously, they’re not looking to actually sell to anyone terribly rich — but that’s exactly what the piece outlines.

Most of the time the most successful viral pieces are the ones that either ignore, or make fun of its intended audience. You see, Americans are pretty damn sarcastic. I’d say on average day, I probably only really mean about half of what I say — and the same goes for most the people I work and live with too. It’s a strange translation filter that’s built into our skulls — and unfortunately one that doesn’t translate too well into other languages.

But they key here is that we enjoy genuine sarcasm. We like being told the opposite of what you mean. It’s a messed up world, and pretty confusing: but the end result is the same — don’t sell to your intended audience. You’ll be sure to alienate them by being sincere about your message.

The best part about this particular piece is the detail they take it to — you can even check out with a $10.5 million dollar phone! Love it!