The true emergence of social media in the mid-2000s meant that brand messages could spread farther and wider for dimes than traditional media dollars could deliver. Brands had a new holy grail: the viral video.

Achieving genuine content virality is easier said than done. However, it can be encouraged. To help a client raise brand awareness, we launched a video contest that would not only incentivize users to create branded content, but also to widely share it. The site we developed let people vote on user-submitted videos, ultimately crowning and rewarding a winner.

Not long after our first viral video contest, another client showed interest in the concept. With the basic functionality already built, we launched the social contesting platform that would become Brightkit. At launch, it was called Memelabs. With Memelabs, contests did not have to be built from scratch each and every time. Instead, assets were customized and entries were seeded, then the contests were launched. The ease and speed with which these contests could enter the marketplace made it an appealing move for brands looking to raise awareness.

While video remained a crucial aspect of the platform, Memelabs became more than a viral video platform. Soon, users could submit a variety of content types, emerging networks like Twitter and Instagram drove full social integration, and flexible contesting rules were introduced. Continual development of robust features like this helped scale the platform and make it suitable for larger brands. This led to Memelabs launching contests for the likes of Levi’s, Wells Fargo, KFC, American Express, Ben & Jerry’s, Snapple, the NHL, and more, generating millions of touchpoints with consumers.

In June 2013, Memelabs was officially rebranded as Brightkit. It was more than a contesting platform, it was a complete way to manage social campaigns. With increased growth, Brightkit raised a seed round and was spun out of Invoke in 2014. Later that year, it was acquired by Hootsuite. In September 2014, the platform known as Brightkit became Hootsuite Campaigns, an essential facet of the billion-dollar company.