Ben Kaplan will show you how the same principles that cause a cat video to go viral, a social cause to spread like wildfire, or an unknown startup to accumulate billions of users, can help you get far greater marketing results in less time. Learn how to simplify complex ideas and increase their viral velocity, seed content with influencers who will spread it, and activate emotions to trigger immediate action in your audience. Designed for both B2C and B2B brands, this presentation will show how any company can create rapid thought leadership and accelerate the way they reach their target audience. Ben has conducted PR and publicity campaigns for the world's largest consumer, financial, and education brands. He has obtained media coverage for his clients on more than 5,000 media outlets and has personally appeared on over 2,000 TV and radio programs, including interviews on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, Nightline, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Fox News, NPR, and the BBC.

1. How to Build Buzz at Record Speed
PRESENTED BY BEN KAPLAN
VIRAL
VELOCITY
CEO, PR HACKER

2. 2018

3. 2018
$30.8 BILLION IN SALES

4. 2014

5. 2014
$115 MILLION RAISED

6. 2012

7. 2012
REACHES 1 BILLION VIEWS

8. 1999

9. 1999
2.5 MILLION
COPIES SOLD

10. SAN FRANCISCO NEW YORK AUSTIN LONDON
Data driven. Growth focused. Viral optimized.
@benjaminkaplan

11. HOW CAN WE SPREAD OUR
MESSAGE AT LIGHTNING SPEED?
@benjaminkaplan
VIRAL VELOCITY

12. CONTEXT
VIRAL
IS
@benjaminkaplan

13. WHY IS THIS VIRAL?
@benjaminkaplan

14. LOOK AT
THE BIG
PICTURE
COUPLE KISSING DURING 2011 VANCOUVER RIOTS
@benjaminkaplan

15. PRODUCT
LAUNCH
YOUR PRODUCT
@benjaminkaplan

16. PRODUCT
GOES VIRAL
VIRAL PRODUCT
STRATEGIC
CONTEXT
@benjaminkaplan

17. STRATEGIC CONTEXT
MAKES YOUR PRODUCT
MORE VIRAL
@benjaminkaplan

18. REAL-WORLD
EXAMPLE
KLOOFF
@benjaminkaplan

19. CONTEXT = ROMANCE
@benjaminkaplan

20. WE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF
2,000 PEOPLE TO DETERMINE
WHAT YOUR DOG’S BREED
REVEALS ABOUT YOU
@benjaminkaplan

21. 200+ MEDIA OUTLETS
COVERED OUR STORY
@benjaminkaplan

22. ALL TOP U.S. MORNING SHOWS
@benjaminkaplan

23. MAJOR U.S. PRINT + ONLINE MEDIA
@benjaminkaplan

24. 21 COUNTRIES (JAPAN, CHINA, RUSSIA)
@benjaminkaplan

25. NEW USERS DOWNLOADED
THE APP WITHIN 24 HOURS
20,000
@benjaminkaplan

26. IDEAS
VIRAL
ARE
@benjaminkaplan

27. WHAT MAKES AN IDEA
EASY TO SPREAD?
@benjaminkaplan

28. WHAT MAKES AN IDEA
EASY TO SPREAD?
SIMPLE
@benjaminkaplan

29. WHAT MAKES AN IDEA
EASY TO SPREAD?
SIMPLE SURPRISING
@benjaminkaplan

30. WHAT MAKES AN IDEA
EASY TO SPREAD?
SIMPLE SURPRISING SIGNIFICANT
@benjaminkaplan

31. “YOUR DOG’S BREED
REVEALS YOUR
ROMANCE POTENTIAL”
SIMPLE
DOGS MATCH
THEIR OWNER
SURPRISING
MY DOG EQUALS
MY LOVE LIFE
SIGNIFICANT
WE WANT TO BE
MORE ATTRACTIVE
@benjaminkaplan

32. “A BIRD IN HAND IS
WORTH TWO IN
THE BUSH.”
SIMPLE
IT’S ABOUT
BIRDS AND HANDS
SURPRISING
ONE IS BETTER
THAN TWO?
SIGNIFICANT
WIDELY APPLICABLE
BIT OF WISDOM
@benjaminkaplan

33. THIS PROVERB HAS LASTED FOR
2,500 YEARS AND TRANSCENDS
ALL CULTURES AND LANGUAGES
@benjaminkaplan

34. SIMPLE
IT’S A WALL
SURPRISING
NOT NORMAL
FOR POLITICIAN
THE GREAT
WALL OF TRUMP
SIGNIFICANT
HE’S TOUGH ON
IMMIGRATION
@benjaminkaplan

35. THE VIRAL LITMUS TEST
SIMPLE CAN YOU UNDERSTAND IT IN < 7 SECONDS?
SURPRISING DOES IT DEFY YOUR EXPECTATIONS?
SIGNIFICANT DOES IT CONVEY A DEEPER TRUTH?
@benjaminkaplan

36. EMOTIONS
VIRAL
ARE
@benjaminkaplan

37. TARGET EMOTIONS THAT
CAUSE IMMEDIATE ACTION
@benjaminkaplan

38. WHAT IS THE MOST SHARED SECTION
OF THE NEW YORK TIMES?
@benjaminkaplan

39. WHAT IS THE MOST SHARED SECTION
OF THE NEW YORK TIMES?
SCIENCE SECTION
(BECAUSE IT ACTIVATES “AWE”)
@benjaminkaplan

40. 9Lives wanted to reboot ‘Morris the Cat’ as the
original cat celebrity. How could we dramatically
increase the audience and sharing?
CHALLENGE
@benjaminkaplan

41. Let’s adjust Morris content to focus on activating
emotions — such as “awe” that cause fans and
followers to take desired actions and share our
content organically.
SOLUTION
@benjaminkaplan

42. CUTE CAT CONTENT THAT ACTIVATES “AWE”
@benjaminkaplan

43. CUTE CAT CONTENT THAT ACTIVATES “AWE”
@benjaminkaplan

44. NUMBER OF SHARES
BASIC POSTS ACTIVATING “AWE” EMOTION
83000 SHARES
BY 58600 USERS
7500 SHARES
BY 6600 USERS
11X
@benjaminkaplan

45. ORGANIC AUDIENCE REACH
BASIC POSTS ACTIVATING “AWE” EMOTION
10X
25335
AVERAGE2634
AVERAGE
@benjaminkaplan

46. NUMBER OF LIKES
BASIC POSTS ACTIVATING “AWE” EMOTION
11X
1872
AVERAGE
174
AVERAGE
@benjaminkaplan

47. NUMBER OF COMMENTS 7X
BASIC POSTS ACTIVATING “AWE” EMOTION
94
AVERAGE
15
AVERAGE
@benjaminkaplan

48. GOING VIRAL IS THE SUM OF
MULTIPLE CONTAGIOUS EMOTIONS
@benjaminkaplan

49. HOW TO SELL
$30 BILLION
NEW CASE STUDY

50. ben.kaplan@prhacker.com
Get the case study
@benjaminkaplan

51. @benjaminkaplan
What is the one thing?

52. linkedin.com/in/kaplanben/

53. CONTEXT IS VIRAL
IDEAS ARE VIRAL
EMOTIONS ARE VIRAL
@benjaminkaplan