1. Prepare for every outcome possible.
It’s hard to predict that one day a rogue raccoon is going to scale your 25-story building, but once it happens, you should prepare a response for every possible outcome. While it would have been risky for UBS to get involved during the event in the case of a negative result, there is now an opening for them to celebrate the raccoon’s success.
For example, if UBS created and shared a video today that told the story of the raccoon’s journey to the top of the tower, it would be very popular and associate their brand with positive emotions.
2. People want someone to root for (even if it’s a raccoon).
Everyone loves an underdog story. We immediately felt empathy for the raccoon, who was up against the amazing feat of scaling a 25-story building. People connect with stories about underdogs, even if they’re raccoons. This event is a reminder that if you want people to care about the stories your brand tells, the stories have to be about people for whom we care.
3. The key to attention-grabbing live video is curiosity and unpredictability.
The empathy created by the raccoon’s situation created curiosity about the raccoon’s fate. This caring, combined with the raccoon’s unknown future, kept the attention of the internet.