Climbing 2.0
Summit on the Summit Celebrity Team
When looking to gain awareness in younger audiences, it is important that you go to where they are. Often times people do not seek out information, so it can be an effective strategy to seek out the mediums where your audiences are already engaged, and start there. In effort to raise awareness in younger generations of Americans about the clean water crisis in Africa, Summit on the Summit launched a campaign that could not be ignored.
To give a little background information, Summit on the Summit consisted of a group of celebrities and experienced climbers attempting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania hoping to bring over 2.5 million liters of water to those who need it and to further raise awareness of the lack of clean water in African countries. In order to get their message out, Summit on the Summit (SOTS) turned to television and social media.
During the entire climb, the participating team was filmed for a documentary series scheduled to air on MTV. Accompanying the television exposure, SOTS took to the web via social media sites. Throughout the climb, the celebrities blogged and tweeted about their journey as well as uploaded pictures and video to the interactive SOTS website.
The SOTS interactive webpage includes a dashboard linking to the SOTS Facebook and MySpace pages as well as a realtime scroll of post on the SOTS Kilimanjaro twitter page. There is also a link to the SOTS “Climber Blog” on Tumblr where the climbers post pictures,videos and write about everything from their climbing progress to facts about the water crisis.
SOTS seems to have taken all the right steps to put their cause right in front of their target publics. This campaign seems to have the potential to generate a lot of buzz in both the online and television worlds.
I have heard a lot about this Summit on the Summit by watching TV recently however I did not realize that they were using social media to accompany this event. In my opinion these blogs and tweets could be really beneficial but I think that most people do not know that is there. I know that I was not aware of this. I think that traditional media could definitely act as a gateway to get people to search the Internet to find these twitter and blog posts. That way people would be able to engage in a dialogue about what they think of the climb and their views on the cause. It could also help generate more buzz on how to help with the water crisis in Africa. I think that TV specials that use social media should make it more known so people have a chance to get interactive.
I think the approach that Summit on the Summit took to get there message out there hit the nail on the head. Using celebrities as well as experienced climbers was a great idea. Our younger generation is enthralled by the lives of celebrities and that was just another way to draw the generation in. Seeing the struggles celebrities conquered throughout the show is enough so catch this audience. However, using social media networks like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter just enhances the pulling in of the younger generation. We are all part of at least one of these networks, so it is no surprise that Summit to the Summit took this approach as well. Being able to see pictures, read celebs comments, and read what they are tweeting probably created enormous interest in the show itself.
I would agree. Anything novel that can be documented and broadcast in an outlet like MTV tends to gain a following and the support of the viewers, especially when it includes celebrities! I think that it is so awesome that so many people are using different outlets to share the message that we as a global community need to mobilize to make steps toward solving the world’s water problem. It is so encouraging when people come together to use their personal fortes to make a change.
It is really amazing what the power of celebrities and social media can do together. Fans can follow their favorite celebrities on the way up the mountain as if they were right there with them. Not only can they see them on TV, but also they can read about their daily experiences that may not be seen on TV. The more the celebrities keep their fans connected, the more the fans will be motivated to join the Summit Facebook Cause Page. It’s a good idea that they decided to air the adventure on MTV since that appeals to a younger audience who are using social media just as much.