Flash Mobs gaining momentum

Flash mobs – informal gatherings organised by large numbers of individuals tweeting or sending sms messages to each other – have become one of the hottest tools in the marketing arsenal of companies and brands.

Ronen Aires, CEO and co-founder of Student Village, this country’s leading youth marketing and career development solutions provider, said flash mobs held the potential of becoming one of the most powerful tools in mobilising entire communities.

“We have used flash mob tactics in a number of campaigns we have launched for clients, the most recent being Coca Cola when they introduced their Beat soft drink and the results were spectacular.

“Students participated in their hundreds and the brand became an overnight success on campuses across the country.”
The true spirit of the flash mob, however was to spread love and this was never more true when Student Village staff member Tarren Markman was overwhelmed by a flash mob singing love songs while her fiancé came strolling down the escalator at Sandton City eventually proposing to her on his knees surrounded by dozens of singing friends and fellow employees of Student Village.

The video of the event was posted and went viral within minutes and has been watched by hundreds of thousands world-wide on YouTube
As part of the Coke Beat campaign, flash mob events were staged on campuses across the country where students were invited to perform a range of actions – ranging from engaging in pillow fights to dressing up in green costumes with green body paint (green being the brand colour of Beat) to be eligible to win a range of prizes including Apple Ipods and Ipads.

“An example of how powerful flash mobs have become became evident when the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University choir descended on the Greenacres shopping mall In Port Elizabeth recently to entertain a Saturday morning crowd of shoppers. Video of the event posted on YouTube went viral and was watched by millions of viewers world-wide. Dressed in working clothes, some with hard hats and overalls and one chorister carrying a ladder, they wowed the crowd with their wonderful music and eventually brought the entire mall to a halt with thousands of shoppers watching them in awe.