Let's face it, everybody loves to watch good cat videos every once in a while! I do! And YouTube is one of the best places to do it. There are quite a few famous internet cats such as Snoopy Cat, Maru, Grumpy Cat, Nala Cat, Lil BUB, Hamilton, Oskar&Klaus and even a cartoon Simon's Cat! Each of them is unique in a certain way and has a vivid personality.
I'm sure you recognize at least some of them unless you've been living under a rock!
Besides entertaining videos these lovely creatures participate in commercials and cooperate with famous brands. Right before Christmas 2013 Friskies aired a music video called "Hard To Be a Cat at Christmas" on its YouTube channel starring some internet-famous cats - Oskar the blind cat, Nala Cat, Colonel Meow, Hamilton the hipster cat and Grumpy Cat. The commercial claimed that Friskies will donate a can of wet food to cats in need for every video view starting after 500,000 views. The video has over 3 million views. BTW Grumpy Cat is featured in at least 13 videos on this channel and has a separate playlist Grumpy Cat & Friskies®! And this isn't a coincidence - Grumpy Cat got Lifetime Achievment Award at The Friskies in 2013 for the best cat video. Since then Friskies and Grumpy Cat started their partnership. She was also named 2012's most influential cat by MSNBC.
Hands down Grumpy Cat is probably the most popular and richest cats in the world. Grumpy cat - a.k.a Tardar Sauce - known for her grumpy facial expression, has a fortune worth $120 million which is more than some Hollywood's biggest celebrity humans have. Tardar Sauce became Grumpy cat over two years ago when her picture was posted to the social news website Reddit on September 22, 2012. Since that time her popularity hasn't stop growing. Internet is full of memes with her pictures and funny sayings. She is everywhere!
Of course there is an owner behind each of these cats whom we not necessarily know by sight, but who started all of THESE and boosted the popularity of their beloved pets. They started their involvement in the groundswell and it looks like there is no way back.
These felines prove that the groundswell is not only for humans.
With this kind of involvement in the groundswell with millions of views and thousands of followers there is a whole market waiting for the buyers. You can find any kind of things featuring famous internet cats from wall calendars and look-a-like plush toys on out to books and films.
Maybe someday these cats will have stars on Hollywood Boulevard or monuments to perpetuate their names.
We can draw a conclusion that owners can use their cats to help other animals via the groundswell. Cats are a good tool to attract and engage people.
Even a cat can swim like a fish in the groundswell so why can't anybody?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumpy_Cat
https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/new-idea/real-life/a/25713506/grumpy-cat-worth-a-whopping-120-million/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2864212/Not-grumpy-Cat-internet-star-owner-64million.html
oh my:) I started to watch this Christmas video.... and then one more and it took me about 15 minutes to realize what I wanted actually to do... I think that besides this fire, water and starry sky stuff we have the fourth thing to watch non-stop - cats video. :)
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you, that cats are a great source for markets in terms of Groundswell. They are a magic wand, if someone doesn't like your product, show them a cat!:) and everyone's happy.;)
What's kinda upset me... is that there are hardworking people out there, years by years building their path to fame... and there are cats and Groundswell with its unpredictable nature.
thank you for this good and cute example, I really enjoyed.:)
I think that before these cats, there's a famous Hollywood one called Garfield.
ReplyDeleteYour post has mentioned a typical example of the way one thing can become popular in the groundswell. As long as it is interesting or... shocking, it will "swim like a fish" haha. From the grumpy cat to the winning baby or even the funny face of Yao Ming can be a source for the groundswell's creativity :D