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Just the other day I asked Kina Grannis for an interview about her recent viral marketing piece “Gotta Digg” which hit the front page of Digg in 72 minutes and has received 6575 votes total.  Her video was published on two weeks for kina  and Youtube to promote her entry for the Crash the Super Bowl contest.  Congratulations to Kina for making the top 3 finalist.

It really sparked my SEO/SEM interest because of the overwhelming popularity it received.   Using an equal medium like a social network to gain popularity through a contest or such is just marketing genius in my opinion. 

On a further note, I would like to thank Kina for taking the time to respond.  We had a little trouble getting our schedules together, but we were able to finally collaborate on some questions.  I personally am not a Myspace fan, but I signed up so I could vote for her everyday..

For those who are not Grannis fans yet, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Sure!  I’m a 22 year old singer/songwriter from Orange County, California.  I’ve been playing and writing now for about 6 years, but have been hooked on singing since forever.  I graduated from the University of Southern California in May of 2007 and for the past 6 months I  have been pursuing music in Austin, TX.

Did have any specific inspirations for writing the gotta digg song and what other social networks do you participate in?

Being a frequent Digg visitor and simply observing the community and trends on the site gave me all the inspiration I needed.  My sisters are also active diggers, so between the three of us, there was much to be said.  Other sites I spend a lot of time on are the basics, facebook, myspace, youtube… If I got involved in any more I might have to stop writing music.  I must have my limits

In one of your follow up post “dear fellow diggers” you mentioned the “substantial power” of a social network like digg and youtube.  Did you honestly expect the infamous response you have received so far?

Haha.  Honestly… no.  Not even close.  I was hoping I might reach a few new people.  After I was told the article was posted my sisters and I sat around all night watching the Digg count.  We were completely ecstatic when it reached 50.  Then all of a sudden it just started going crazy…. 100… 300… 3,000.  It was quite a shocking and amazing night for us!

How did you hear about the Crash the Super Bowl contest and what made you decide to enter?

A friend of mine who is into advertising had read about the contest on an advertising blog in August.  He sent on the information to me in case I was interested.  I remember reading about it and thinking it sounded really interesting, but you couldn’t even submit a song for another 2 months or so.  So then come November it all of a sudden pops into my head again– ON the last submission date!  I had recently made my first youtube video of my song “Message From Your Heart” so I decided why NOT submit it?  Couldn’t hurt…

Your submission piece for the Crash the Super Bowl contest is a song you wrote when you first moved to Austin called message from your heart.  Did you have any trouble deciding which song to submit?

Refer to previous question.  Haha.  Due to my poor timing, it was my only choice.  But I guess it worked out okay.

Can we expect more internet releases after crash the super bowl is over?

Oh, many many more.  A small community has begun to develop around my video blog (http://www.twoweeksforkina.com/blog/index.html ) and my youtube (http://www.youtube.com/kinagrannis) and I love it!  There’s no way I could abandon this.

Posted in Marketing, Social Media •