Internet going crazy with #MannequinChallenge

Why is everyone freezing?

The Mannequin Challenge, one of the most viral Internet campaigns currently was started by a bunch of bored teenagers. It took off through teenagers, athletes, football teams to celebrities, politicians and brands. Everyone has been hit by the huge wave that’s getting people to freeze.

To kill all the myths, the Mannequin Challenge is not associated with any cause or disease, and neither is it owned by Rae Sremmurd’s song, ‘Black Beatles.’ It made its way through a teenager’s boredom and has been doing the rounds ever since.

Started by students of a University in USA, celebrities likeAdele, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Blac Chyna, Rob Kardashian, DJ Marshmellow, Sara Foster, Kate Hudson, Courteney Cox, Nina Dobrev, Hilary Clinton and many more famous personalities have been a part of this trend. Celebrities took it to the next level; from doing it in the gym while doing intense exercises to the delivery room before going in labour. To beat them all, Hillary Clinton took the challenge up on the day of her elections to reach out to the young voters.

Brands around have been taking up this challenge and doing it to connect with the millennials, trying to be a part of the big trend in order to showcase that they are updated and also because it’s a fun activity to do at work. With every brand getting quirkier than the other, the trend has taken over the internet.

When notified of the latest trend to take over the internet, the team at MindShift Interactivewas quick to get excited and act upon taking up the challenge, setting an example for other agencies and brands to adopt the same. Simple and fun are the two words to describe the MindShift #MannequinChallenge, which was aimed at portraying the chaos, excitement and quirky side of the MindShifters.

The challenge was passed on to digital marketing agencies and clients, with a few who dared to take it up, Schbang, JW Marriott Juhu and JW Marriott Sahar, each giving a personalized spin to the challenge. The video by MindShift Interactive garnered 7000 organic views within the first five days of being put up.

Who did what?

The JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar video highlights the most popular Sunday Brunch in Mumbai, showcasing the preparations and the spread. The video garnered more than 10,000 views in its initial days.

The JW Marriott Juhu Mumbai, on the other hand, took an alternate spin towards highlighting their Associates, showing how what goes on behind the scenes to making an experience wonderful at the hotel.

Universal Music India too decided to show the world what an average day at work looks like, with a spin. The video received 7.1k views.

Brands must capitalize on such trends due to the outstanding outreach and recall it delivers! It’s important to remember that the Mannequin Challenge isn’t one piece of viral content like a heart wrenching video or a funny meme, it’s a global phenomenon that encourages mass user generated content – like the ice bucket challenge or Harlem shake were, and allows brands to be found faster. Creation of this content is extremely easy with everyone aided with smartphones, and the success of such content is in the simplicity and timeliness of the execution.

Marketers need to understand and implement that when creating their content stories if they truly wish to embrace the digital world.

So, have you draped your mannequins yet?