Marketing Lessons Learned From a Google Party

Last April, I went to San Francisco, California for the Adtech show.  This is an exceptional trade show for marketers who are interested in learning about new technologies and the companies that drive them.  it was exciting and fresh.  I thought I kept up with all of the latest news and information being a devout reader of most industry magazines and books on the subject, but I was completely blown away by all of the new software and services that I had never even heard of. 
But do you know what ended up being the hit of the show for me and a lesson in marketing?

My two fellow travelers and I were invited to a private party hosted by DoubleClick who had just been acquired by the almighty Google.  Free cocktails and appetizers combined with great people and an incredible DJ mashing up 80's and classic rock tunes.  We met a trio of Canadian's who were launching a new and rather impressive mapping software tool and hung out with them as a six pack.  We had a blast all night.
The interesting thing was that they had installed two giant screens to the left and the right of the bar.  these screens projected what looked to be like a PowerPoint template.  Nothing was on the template other than some basic instructions that said something to the effect of "Text 'Doubleclick: your thoughts' to 25622" or something along those lines. 
After being at the party for about 25 minutes, the two screens went completely crazy in a dance of light and suddenly a message popped up; "go talk to her Brian."  My first reaction was 'What the heck did that mean?" I thought how strange and random it was.  Then another message popped up and then another.  I quickly realized that the screen was projecting whatever random message you text with your phone to it.  It started catching on like a frenzy.  People  became wide open with their messages and everybody started laughing and pounding at their key pads to get the next message projected.

Before I knew it, all six of us in our little clique and most of the party were adamantly texting humorous and irrelevant comments.  We even took pictures of the screen and danced under its glow.  That night, the screen must have displayed 5,000 messages over four hours.
So what does this mean to you when you think about marketing in North America?
American's, like many cultures may not catch on to the message you are conveying right away (much like that screen took some time for people to understand).  Once people see what's happening or understand the concept, momentum builds up and the adoption rate can go faster than you ever thought possible.
When you are crafting your message to Americans;  is it easy to understand?  Is it in any way fun or humorous?  If not, can you give some visual stimulation to help it along the way (perhaps the use of video or flash presentation to supplement what must be read). 
Whether you are selling business to business (b2b) or business to consumer (b2c), people respond very well to exciting, funny and/or personal.  These are key strategies when you consider selling and marketing in the US and its not easy to do.  At AmeriStart, we work with a few client's who don't necessarily understand this due to cultural differences, but it should be extremely important to you as you enter or operate in this tricky market.
Just like that giant projection board in San Francisco, your message has to stand out and create a response.  Get the buzz going and do something creative like this.