Issued by: Vega School, By: Georg Knoke
13 Oct 2011 12:03

It's sometimes amazing how one small action can lead to an unexpected 'tsunami' of events! Suegnet van der Spuy, one of Vega Durban's Brand Building third-year students, suggested to Max Cluer Sports Marketing that they post a video of her brother, Evan, onto YouTube after showing it to her Vega lecturer and classmates. This was the video of 'The mountain biker that got hit by a red hartebeest buck' that has now become an overnight YouTube sensation!

Her brother participated in a mountain bike race at Albert Falls Dam and got accidently run over by a hartebeest buck. A friend, wearing a helmet with a camera in it, recorded the entire event. Evan was knocked unconscious, but luckily by wearing his helmet his injuries were minor. The company took her advice and after a bit of editing posted the recording onto YouTube on Monday afternoon. By Tuesday evening they had over 2.4 million hits and the video made news headlines across the country; it even caught the attention of international news (such as Europe, America and Russia to name a few). Evan has been interviewed, with more interviews lined up by news agents such as ABC News, Sky News, CNN, National Geographic and various local news agents!

Naretha Pretorius, Vega Durban Campus Co-Navigator: Academic, says: "We often hear from students that as part of their brand communications strategy they will do a viral campaign, and often we tell students that viral has no guarantee that it will be effective. I think this 'case study' is a prime example of the unexpected power of viral, and also that there is no one clear strategy for what could work. More than my fascination with this overnight phenomenon, what I find most interesting, is our fascination with accidents, the ridiculous comments posted on YouTube from all over the world and also how brands quickly jump to the opportunity to latch onto the situation. Already Evan is receiving all sorts of 'sponsorship' from various brands, whether their intention is ethical and sincere can be questioned, although we want to be hopeful that they end up contributing to his career."

Vega would like to wish Evan all the best in this overnight sensation. We trust that he is OK considering what he experienced, and that he did not get seriously injured.

Have a look for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2oymHHyV1M

Source: BizCommunity (http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/98/65628.html)