Building for viral impact - the story of two dice

Luke Sullivan, an acclaimed copywriter, spoke about his approach to advertising on a recent episode of Dorm Room Tycoon.

Around 13:20 in he mentions an approach which fellow advertising luminary Alex Bogusky used with his creative teams.

Bogusky tells them to explain their ideas in terms of the press release which would be written.

This outside-in thinking is really powerful, and is critical for creating newsworthy projects.

One example he gives is a company which was about to open a new casino. The way they decided to promote it was by building two giant dice, each the size of a car, and rolling them down a mountain. People could bet on the dice roll online.

It was interesting and attracted plenty of attention. Which is why Luke Sullivan mentioned it on the podcast and I’m writing about it now. I don’t think a few banners or money-off coupons would have had the same effect.