Silentó's track, "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)," was one of the biggest tracks of 2015. Although it seemed to go viral out of nowhere, there was some interesting marketing behind the track's success, mostly due to the Madonna co-founded company DanceOn.
Last year, "Watch Me," was one of the Top 10 most viewed videos of 2015, according to Business Insider article, racking up more than 640 million plays on YouTube.
The company, DanceOn, "...creates engaging programming, reaching a network of over 15 million users across their social channels." According to a more recent Business Insider article, essentially an artist will give DanceOn permission to use their content in return for a percentage of revenue DanceOn brings the artist. DanceOn, which works with more than 1,200 content creators, then creates promotions, ads and sales for the artist, which ultimately brings exponential exposure to that said artist.
For Silentó and "Watch Me," DanceOn had about 50 network members create alternate and different variations of the original music video. In roughly three months, that effort brought more than 500 million views to Silentó's track. The attention ultimately landed him a record deal with Capital Records and a spot on the Top 10 most watched videos of 2015.
DanceOn and other companies like it are perfectly legal and legitimate marketing outfit. However, promotions like these cast light on the reality that viral videos aren't always organic sensations that rise from buzz and fan chatter online, but rather the result of carefully calculated, professional, well-timed and placed campaigns.
