Tucked away near the end of one of the best Slideshare’s I’ve come across, is this lil’ gem of UGC brilliance. Musicians C-Mon & Kypski need a little help with their music video, and it’s crowdsourcing that makes this video memorable (and affordable, I imagine). They’ll show you a frame from their video, and all you have to do is mimic it via webcam.

But before I tell you why I love this so much, let me share the Slideshare presentation with you – In “Stop Saying Viral – A Case For Spreadable Media,” Eva Hasson of Trendspotting makes an argument against “The Viral” strategy on which so many agencies and brands are stuck. If you’re a marketer, the best thing you could do today is open your mind to Hasson’s Wisdom Bombs.

Now, back to the More Is Less video and web site. It’s a compelling experience, and there are key elements that make it work.

More About More Is Less

(Oh — Check this out at oneframeoffame.com and you’ll understand what I’m about.)

The best parts about this experience:

1. The site is “plain.”

No Flash, no hyper-photoshopped background, no metaphorical copy to influence the mood of the user, because…

2. … It focuses on the instructions, not the “message.”

The most important element is the user’s involvement. Anything else on the page increases the chance of this involvement failing.

3. It’s a simple concept for the user.

People want to participate, but most people aren’t professional writers or movie makers.

4. It’s a work-in-progress.

“The video above is updated every hour and features the people who have participated until now.”

5. The brand and product remains strong.

(It’s their music, silly.)

6. It’s about the fans. The fans they had, but more, now, about the fans they’ve gained.

Do you want your users to engage? Make it about them and their community, and make it easy. Stop saying viral, and unleash the experience.

The only bad part of this experience? I don’t own a webcam.

Craig Ritchie
Follow @craigritchie on Twitter

P.S.: Testing the limits of irony, this display ad is running beside “Stop Saying Viral”