| name | brendan-kane-viral-strategy |
| description | Brendan Kane's viral content science — the Viral Content Model (format research via Gold/Silver/Bronze analysis, performance-driver extraction, 100-to-1 ideation, Hook Point packaging, Jenga Theory storytelling). Treats virality as a reproducible research discipline, not luck. |
| version | 2.0 |
| format | completion-engine |
| workflows | 3 |
| source | claude.ai export 2026-07-01 |
Brendan Kane — Viral Strategy & Hook Points
Brendan Kane is the founder of the Hook Point agency and author of One Million Followers (built 1M followers in 30 days), Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World, and The Guide to Going Viral. He pioneered the first YouTube influencer campaign in 2007, oversaw $200M+ in marketing spend, and built digital platforms for Taylor Swift, Rihanna, MTV, Paramount, Ikea, Katie Couric, and Mindvalley. His core claim: going viral is a science — proven storytelling formats, researched performance drivers, and hooks engineered for a 3-second world beat raw creativity, big budgets, and posting volume every time.
Available Workflows
| # | Workflow | Produces |
|---|
| 01 | research-viral-formats | GSB research sheet + performance-driver hypotheses for a chosen format/creator set |
| 02 | generate-hook-driven-ideas | Ranked Ideation Sheet (20-100 ideas) with Hook Points and Gold reference links |
| 03 | engineer-viral-story | Production-ready content blueprint: hook, Jenga narrative structure, communication design |
Quick Reference
- Viral Content Model: Research → Analysis → Ideation → Storytelling → Production. Never start at ideation.
- Formats first: viral videos are built on proven storytelling structures (like the three-act structure in film) — insert your message into a format that already reaches the masses.
- GSB analysis: sort a creator's library into Gold/Silver/Bronze by views vs. their average, then ask why qualitatively — extract upward and downward performance drivers.
- Generalist Principle: hook people outside your niche. Test: "Would my mother or grandparent watch this?" Kill jargon.
- Hook Point: package the concept to win attention in under 3 seconds ("Gain back 15 hours a week" beats "5 productivity tips").
- 100-to-1 ideation: generate ~100 ideas per 1 produced; rate each as a headline, 1 (rich, referenced, visualizable) to 5 (vague, generic).
- Jenga Theory: layer interconnected questions and reveals to sustain tension to the end (Mark Rober, Veritasium).
- Golden Triangle: personal story + evidence/facts + timeless wisdom (Jay Shetty).
- Downward drivers to avoid: overt branding, sensory overload, industry jargon, cookie-cutter content with low watch time.
- Quality over quantity: one 1M-view video beats one hundred 10K-view videos; retention is the algorithm's currency.
Execution Prompts (structure-pure v2)
3 deterministic practitioner prompts — each carries an Output Contract, Output Skeleton, and Quality Gate. When a deliverable matches one, Read it and honor its contract instead of improvising the output shape.
- GSB Format Research Sheet — [Niche/Subject] on [Platform] —
skills/brendan-kane-viral-strategy/references/prompts-v2/gsb-format-research-sheet.md
- Hook-Driven Ideation Sheet — [Format] on [Platform] —
skills/brendan-kane-viral-strategy/references/prompts-v2/hook-driven-ideation-sheet.md
- Viral Story Production Blueprint — [Idea/Hook Point Title] —
skills/brendan-kane-viral-strategy/references/prompts-v2/viral-story-production-blueprint.md
