Is that all you got, Twitter? Most Brits I know who know anything about the Interwebs are talking about Stephen Fry. Why? Well, because he went on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and mentioned Twitter. And then late last night, he got stuck in a lift (that's an elevator, y'all), and it made the fcuking news. Fry tweets his way to safety after getting trapped in liftIndependent, UK
This is mad, I'm stuck in a lift: Stephen Fry Twitters live from ...Daily Mail, UK
Stephen Fry tweets from stuck liftDigital Spy, UK
Stuck Fry gets a lift from TwitterThe Sun, UK
Stephen Fry Was Trapped In an ElevatorGizmodo AustraliaStephen Fry Is Stuck In A Lift In CentrepointLondonist, UKShafted. Poor Stephen FryIT PRO, UKIs that it? Really? Is that all you got, Twitter?  There are 122,863 people following Stephen Fry waiting to hear about being stuck in a lift, complaints about flight schedules, and taking walks on slippery roads. (3,000 people more since I started writing this post.) The press is fawning and bloggers are blogging ... about a British society icon and all-around nice guy who got stuck in an elevator. Twitter isn't about giving everyone a voice. It isn't about you. I don't think it is really about social networking, either. Sure, it is about sharing, but I think it is more one-way than people make it out to be. It is about celebrity. It is about A-lists ... and their followers. It isn't "What are you doing?" ... It is "What are they doing?" I'm not surprised that Stephen Fry has over 120K followers. Heck, I bet it will be 250K in a month or so. He's sought after. He's popular. He makes the top table when people in the UK are asked who they'd most like to have at their ultimate dinner party. But Stephen Fry follows 32,058 people. Do you really think he reads their "tweets"? If not, what does that mean? That Fry doesn't care? Actually, no, I'm sure he does on some level. I'm not sure what it means, yet. But I know that it isn't a conversation, and that's one of the things I like the most about the web. So now, everyone will want in. I can hear it in the boardrooms and see it in the planners' powerpoints. There are plenty of musings about brands starting to tweet and companies wanting to inject inter-tweet advertising between people's messages. Oh yes, more of that, please. That's what we really need. If you're a brand or product marketer, and you want my advice on how to use Twitter for marketing and PR, this is all you need to know: http://www.howtousetwitterformarketingandpr.com
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
 Comments:
Hey there, enjoyed the post. I think that we have an example of how a brand can use Twitter brilliantly.
Compare The Meerkat...
This was the ad that started the whole thing off,
http://ameliatorode.typepad.com/life_moves_pretty_fast/2009/01/compare-the-meerkat.html
But its been in the Social Media space, mainly Facebook and Twitter that it has come to life in a way that we couldn't have hoped for.
http://ameliatorode.typepad.com/life_moves_pretty_fast/2009/02/compare-the-market-meerkat-when-social-media-takes-off.html
Its only been live for a month, but I've included as many stats as I can!
Would love to know your thoughts.
# posted by Amelia : 8:38 AM, February 05, 2009
Hi Amelia,
Thanks thanks for stopping by!
Pretty clear that "Compare the Meerkat" has been a successful campaign. The ads are all over the TV, and furry little Alex is hard to miss. It is funny, breaks through the clutter, and helps to position the brand's identity, all of which is good. :-)
That said, I'm not so sure about the value of Twitter in all of this.
What value are these "tweets"? Of the 2,159 followers, have any tried compare the market or become customers? Is there any way to know?
Alex's number of followers is a tiny fraction of the "A-list" personalities on Twitter (and I'd bet it won't grow at any significant rate), so this activity can't be about reach or branding, right?
Sure, Twitter is "new" and there are a ton less people on it than Facebook, but that cannot be used as a justification of the choice of Twitter as a channel in the comms mix. It is up to the people who plan this stuff to make sure that the activity will reaches the right number of people.
Is it possible that Alex's group on Facebook has 80,065 because there is an inherently lower level of commitment/engagement required? In other words, people won't sign up to follow Alex on Twitter, because all that Alex is doing is increasing the noise rather than focusing the signal.
Your turn. ;-)
~G~
# posted by George Nimeh : 12:13 PM, February 05, 2009
Loved the site, George - are you tracking click-throughs?
PS. The word verification word for this comment was 'bandwagon'
# posted by Hayes Thompson : 1:29 PM, February 05, 2009
Hello, just wanted to drop a note on one of the latest twitter developments: Twestival: http://twestival.com/
It is a global festival in order to raise money for charity. Not sure if it does get as big as the organizers hope but it does get people twittering, raise money and get awareness for their charity.
Hmm is Twitter ideal for celebrities & charities? As both seem to do well on Twitter...
# posted by Florry : 4:29 PM, February 05, 2009
|
