Twitter Revolution

Here is a link to an interesting article by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker on the passivity of the Twitter Revolution.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell

As usual Gladwell illustrates his opinion with colourful examples. I've always been a fan of Gladwell, but I don't agree with him on this one.

Corporates Using Social Media

This article in Marketing Magazine regarding research conducted by Burson-Marsteller on corporate enterprises using social media across US, EMEA and Asia Pacific makes for some good reading:

http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/17999

Key points include:

- Almost 80% of the Fortune Global 100 companies are using at least one of the top social media platforms
- About 65% of the Fortune Global 100 have active accounts on Twitter, 54% have a Facebook fan page, 50% a YouTube channel, and 33% employ corporate blogs
- Corporate Twitter accounts averaged 1,489 followers, while each Facebook fan page averaged 40,884 fans

So, it's plain to see that many corporates are fully on the bandwagon and using social media tactics. The question now is, how many have a strategy?

PR in 140 characters (or less)

Below is a short article I recently wrote for the Weber Shandwick Asia Pacific newsletter:

No longer can brands bask in page-long text rich press releases, now, thanks to Twitter, brands need to communicate their messages succinctly in 140 characters or less. Although there are no official user numbers, it is rumoured that Twitter, the micro-blogging social media tool, has amassed around nine million users in its short existence.

The broadcasting of short messages to global followers is the latest explosion on the social media scene, attracting everyone from the tech savvy digerati to celebrities and government officials. It has pushed the boundaries of internet conversation, allowing you to interact with celebrities as if they were your best friend (I recently engaged with Will Carling and Stephen Fry!).

But beware, the darker side of Twitter enables viral word of mouth to spread faster than ever before – a crisis can now be communicated to a global audience in the time it takes to type 140 characters.

As a result, the communications industry has quickly pounced on the potential of Twitter as a tool for broadcasting company messages, creating communities of advocates, engaging with consumers and even an avenue for crisis communications. To bring this to life, here is one recent example of crisis communications involving PepsiCo and an ill-thought-out advertising campaign.

Huw Gilbert, communications manager for PepsiCo International, approved a Pepsi Max advertisement, which depicted a cartoon calorie committing suicide. Twitter users condemned the advertisement as insensitive to those affected by suicide and a raft of criticisms were posted. Gilbert soon caught on that Pepsi’s online reputation was taking a beating and “tweeted” the following public apology:

“We agree this creative is totally inappropriate; we apologise and please know it won’t run again.”

Several critics saw Gilbert’s tweet and one user responded:

“Thank you...for having the guts to get on Twitter on behalf of Pepsi and give us an update on the suicide ad.”

This example highlights how companies that have a Twitter account are better prepared to respond when something goes wrong. In an era where authenticity and transparency are vital to combat skepticism, this type of direct engagement can preserve online corporate reputation.

Other well known brands on Twitter include Starbucks, Amazon, Gartner and Dell. There are a growing number of brands using Twitter to communicate messages, promote products and provide customer service.

Another example is Bob Pearson, head of communities and conversations for Dell, who recently stated that his company had generated US$1 million in computer-related sales through alerts posted to Twitter alone.

The wonders of Twitter do not stop there. We, as communications professionals, can leverage Twitter as a news monitoring tool, a crisis early warning system, a sales channel, a broadcast channel and an audience engagement tool. I consider Twitter as a vital tool in my job and make it my first port of call on my journey to work. We should be ready to identify potential problems and opportunities to effectively counsel our clients in a way that may be outside of our comfort zone.

TwestivalHK a great success...see the video here

A great night was had by all at TwestivalHK on February 12. I, for one, was impressed to see the number of Twitterati come along to support Charity: Water.

HK Twestival - join the unique event

I am proud to be helping out in the Hong Kong Twestival on February 12. It feels great to be part of a unique event that raises money for a great cause.

Hong Kong has proudly joined the ranks of more than 175+ cities worldwide to participate in the world’s largest Tweetup for Charity: Water. You can see great promo videos and find out more information about the cause here.

Hong Kong’s Twestival will be held at the Yumla Bar (just off the top of Pottinger Street) on Thursday February 12. It kicks off at 8pm and will feature live music from N™ and a DJ. There is information on the Hong Kong event here.

Tickets are just HK$100 and include a free drink. All proceeds go to Charity: Water. To ensure that none of the money gets “lost”, tickets must be purchased from the Twestival charity website in advance. Space is limited, so get your tickets early online. (You need to have a Twitter account, so sign up and experience the joys of Twitter too!)

I hope readers in Hong Kong can make it along on the night and join in the fun.

See you there

Rockin Robin, Tweet Tweet..

I’ve been using Twitter a lot recently and explored a number of applications that have been recommended to me. Here are my top five, in no particular order:

1. Twitter Grader (http://twitter.grader.com/): This is great to see who the ‘influential’ Twitterati are, or who just spends way too much time on Twitter. Incidentally, I’m 35th in the Hong Kong rankings…

2. Twitter Vision (http://twittervision.com/): I can see in near real time what people are Tweeting and where they are from. I can spend hours watching this and am trying to convince my company to have this running in the reception. Much more exciting than CNN!

3. Qwitter (http://useqwitter.com/): Sign up to this to see who stops following you. You can then send them rude messages!

4. Twit Scoop (http://www.twitscoop.com/): See what the hot topics on Twitter are at any given time. Also, use the search function to search for particular terms and see who is talking about it.

5. People Browsr (http://www.peoplebrowsr.com/): I’m still testing this out, but initial signs look good. It essentially allows you to manage Twitter in different ways and link to other tools.
Have any others you would recommend?

I am loving Twitter and all its uses at the moment, though I am worried when it stops becoming a free service. Somewhere along the line, the guys at Twitter are going to have to start making money from the platform – my guess is that once they have enough loyal customers, they will start charging a nominal fee to use it.

So to do the maths, let’s say the Twitter population reaches 20million. 10% of this 20million are loyal users and will pay a nominal fee to continue using it. Let’s then say, Twitter charges US$10 a month – which most loyal users will probably be happy to pay. That’s US$20m per month….that’s a good business model!