Gangnam Style - how to make a hit - Social Hallucinations

September 30, 2012

Gangnam Style - how to make a hit

I have stumbled upon Psy and his Gangnam Style two month ago and I was very entertained by the good beat and kitschy video. But it seems like there is more to "Gangnam Style" than just being a South Korean summer hit. Psy has taken the world by storm, got a lot of attention from the international media, got an American record deal and taught Britney Spears the moves.

Everybody loves a horse - riding dance, but there is more to Gangnam Style than just catchy tune and cheesy moves. "Gangnam Style" is a good example of how to create content that lives and breathes in digital, content that people wants to share and engage with. Psy has cracked the code of storytelling: the story is not what your tell but what others make out of it. His video not only generated over 300 mil. views but also a lot of parodies, remakes, mash-ups that bring even more attention and conversations.

Psy has planned from the very beginning not only for the distribution of his video, by choosing to remove copyright from his video, he gave people the right to redistribute his work, encourage them to create their own versions of the video...and there are plenty of those.

What is also interesting about the video and especially the horse-riding dance, Psy has asked the Korean dance community for their input when choreographing the dance. It has given him for sure a lot of credit in the community and helped to promote the video.

He has probably also touched some cultural tension with his mocking-up of the rich and those who pursue the dream of being like the rich. Blogger of My Dear Korea told The Atlantic, the video is an ironic look at “Gangnam itself but it’s also about how people outside of Gangnam pursue their dream to be one of those Gangnam residents without even realizing what it really means.”

Here is the original video and the funniest parodies