What? Haven’t heard the expression World Wide Rave yet? It’s from “World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories.” 

You will soon hear “World Wide Rave” (see official website) echoing through circles of progressive marketers who say things like purple-cow, crowd sourcing, and tipping point. You see, we like secret codes that show we’re not “old school” marketers who carry warm bottles of Scotch, throw pitch boards out windows, and shout “reach, frequency and single-minded proposition” like Kottler still mattered.

The catch phrase is the child of David Meerman Scott, author of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR.” The subtitle is ambitious: “creating triggers that get millions of people to spread your ideas and share your stories.” I find that there are certain attributes that accelerate the viral spread of a thing, whether it’s an idea, cause, marketing message or video. Humor, shock, drama, controversy, sex, fallen heroes, bad news… But Scott offers some useful examples for brands. Here’s an example he attributes to HubSpot’s founder:

“People love tools that provide a grade or comparison and the potential for competition… you first get to own your score, and then naturally e-mail your friends to compare scores with them.”

That’s a nice example marketers may well consider in lieu of self-serving promotional content that gives me no reason to waste a friend’s attention — much less my own. Health website RealAge, as an example, allows you to calculate your actual age (which based on your habits may be decades younger or older than your chronological age). That’s good marketing for the concept of preventative health, which otherwise feels futile. Who wants to trade today’s tasty meal for a hypothetical extra week of life when we’re 90? 

Here’s a video about the book- it’s on Amazon, which ironically can’t be embedded (breaking at least 3 of Scott’s rules). No worries- the video is on YouTube, and Scott documents the “making of” on his free eBook. The actual WW Rave book is small, but the ideas are cool. I could hear myself debating these very issues over this past week… Here’s why:

1. Marketers tend to believe customers give a crap about their “positioning” (which, by the way, exists only in the mind of a customer. 
2. And agencies still hold on firmly to coercion (preroll ads and e-mail blasts). 
3. Corporations have a difficult time ceding control of the message. It’s why many sponsored videos suck. 
4. Heck, the mere fact that we call prospective customers “targets” is an indication of this sad reality. 

So here are some of the rules… rave away…

• Nobody cares about your products (except you)
• No coercion required
• Lose control
• Put down roots (join Twitter)
• Create triggers that encourage people to share
• Point the world to your virtual doorstep