Branded fun and games on Twitter

Image via PSFK

I'm still at the stage where stumbling across a brand's involvement in Twitter piques my curiosity.

Agencies haven't yet been struck down by the Twitter version of an affliction that hit them not so long ago called 'the answer to everything is a Facebook application'.

Maybe it's not far off but I'm still really interested in how people are utilising it in campaigns and otherwise.

Currently the @Ispylevis initiative is surprising smooth urban-y types on Australian city streets with free pairs of Levis - they've using Twitter to both post winner pics and announce their geographical location in real time (a bit like a digital version of the Black Thunders only cooler).

Last week Adage reported on Twitter's role in launching Eminem's new album Relapse. The magazine observed (with just a hint of hyperbole) that since first releasing the new album artwork on Twitter in April, @eminem has generated some impressive results:

By using Twitter to dispense short, often disturbing thoughts and links to multimedia components revolving around a mental institution, they've helped make the album the most highly anticipated hip-hop release of the year -- and set it up for a sequel in the second half of 2009.

Then today I saw this via @PSFK, a puzzle style Twitter game to help launch Sony's new Terminator film. You can check our their article here, or get involved yourself by following @resistance2018.

Twitter is encouraging an unhealthy obsession with 'the numbers'

I can't help but be slightly irritated by people on Twitter obsessing and boasting about their followers. The old 'Gee, I can't believe I've got 4,000 followers already' or the more annoying 'help @person get to 1,000 followers'. It's like turning up to a party saying 'Gosh, what a surprise I can't believe how tantalisingly fabulous I look in my Diane Furstenburg high waisted pant suit' or 'Please help @Corey Delaney attract more than 100 people to his party'.

(For a great post on the emphasis on raw numbers see this one from Mack Collier on authority).

So why are we actively promoting a meaningless view of metrics - the kind we're often trying to steer our clients away from? 

It's not that numbers aren't important in the right context. 

But an obsession with reach (vs impact) has been one of the barriers to marketers genuinely engaging with disciplines like social media, brand entertainment, experiential marketing and other 'softer' disciplines which are seen as not capable of delivering 'hard numbers' (either in terms of sales or people).

Too much emphasis on the body count diverts attention from the effect communication has on behaviour. It's much more about the what and when and less about the why. 

And in the case of Twitter, it's not even always about who.

If we're asking our clients to recalibrate their concept of metrics, we should do the same. 

p.s happy new year to my many followers.

Mad Men and Twitter: it's a great story

I just can't get enough of the conversation around Mad Men and Twitter.

It's not just that I happen to be watching the show myself right now. Or even that I work in the industry.

It's just that what's unfolded has all the hallmarks of a great story.

Great stories change the landscape.

They create new ways of looking at the world. They spawn copycat followers. Give birth to new genres and hybrids. Invent different ways for us to watch and engage. And generate legions of hungry new fans intent on gobbling them up.

I think the Mad Men and Twitter story falls into this category (it also has exciting implications for the way brands can interact with their audiences through an entertainment vehicle).

David and Goliath style legal wrangles (AMC vs fans). Characters cut down in their prime (@PeggyOlson). The triumph of the 'little people' over the establishment (@Peggy_Olson).

There is a report you can download at We are Sterling Cooper which provides a fantastically detailed overview of the whole thing.

And look out for Ben Cooper's upcoming article in Inside Film.

Ben, any relation to the Cooper in Sterling?

Twitter, TV and social consumption

Over the last few weeks, my television viewing has become much more social.

Rather than being due to an influx of visitors, it's because I’ve been watching with one eye on Twitter and the other on the remote.

Monday night I was just getting into Dexter (and discussing the merits of the opening credits with Stan, and series bingeing with Zac) when MadeinMelbourne started her inimitable Twitter ‘ticker’ commentary on ABC series The Howard Years.

After a fleeting moment of indecision, I stayed with Dexter, and continued checking on MadeinMelbourne’s suitably outraged observations. I felt genuinely connected to both series at the same time, but in very different ways.

 Twitter is influencing the way we involve ourselves in entertainment. For recent discussions on this, check out Ben's conversion to Mad Men and  Fallon's work with the Sci Fi Channel and Eureka.

Importantly, Twitter is also changing the way we physically consume entertainment, as my Monday night experience showed.

MTV recently took this a little further when they launched The Hills Back Channel, where fans can simultaneously watch the show and comment in realtime. 

All this has got me thinking about the potential of the Twitter TV combo. About how it will help redefine the concept of the attention span. 

From mass consumption to multiple consumption.