Marketers are always on the lookout for new ways to leverage new media, and brand new platforms like Twitter offer fertile ground for creativity.
Two days ago, I was informed that “PattyHewes” was following me on Twitter. I took a quick look, but didn’t recognize the photo of Glen Close.
I did, however, notice the hardass tweets, which included:
@gjkooijman That’s what Tom Shayes discovered. He thought he was ready to run the show after years of being in my shadow. How wrong he was.
Everyone thinks they want to be at the top. But most are just fooling themselves. Few have the stomach for it. Or the balls.
OK, that’s not someone I need to follow.
I forgot about it until the next day, when I was followed by another character who tweeted “If @PattyHewes is following you, you *should* be scared. You should be terrified.”
That got my attention.
A quick visit, then I put the pieces together – both were characters in a TV series called “Damages” and I’d been Twitterbaited (I thought I’d made that up myself until I googled it).
It’s a creative tactic, though a little unsettling to see TV characters crossing the digital divide into the “real” world (the “reality” of Twitter could probably be debated).
The characters are adding new tweets (about one per day), and the list of followed and followers continues to grow.
Will some consider this the Twitter equivalent of spam; a breach of etiquette that will outweigh the advertising aspect?
Keep writing, Tom Chandler
Comments 9
Hmm, not sure. Techies often get their digital panties in a bunch when them ugly marketing types get a hold of new technology.
On the other hand, blogging by fictitious characters abound. I’m a fan of HBO’s Big Love and one of the wives has a blog featured on the BL website.
So why wouldn’t fake people Twitter, too?
Very true. As for fake Twitterers, I thought the campaign was interesting for the one-two punch — the second character “warning” about the first (a nice touch).
I admit it feels a little creepy that TV characters are “alive” on the Internet, though the effect on the fan base is probably monstrous. And yes, I’m absolutely sure this is the first recorded opportunity of someone pretending to be something they’re not on the Internet…
I followed the Madmen characters for a day or so. They have been twittering for some time now. Thousands follow them.
Here is Peggy Olson:
https://twitter.com/peggyolson
Even David Ogilvy joined in:
https://twitter.com/David_Ogilvy
This is fun once or twice, but if this is the start of spamming, I fear for the quality of twitter. After all, people don’t join twitter to be troubled by virtual characters.
I’m not much of a twitterer, but don’t you need to “follow” someone in order to get their tweets? If so, it should only be a matter of unfollowing them to get rid of their messages, no?
(Although I suppose someone could keep creating new accounts and spamming you with follows…)
But doesn’t this fall neatly into the category of engagement marketing Tom? I would have thought you’d be all over this one! I could see a time in my life where I’d enjoy a post or two per day from some fictitious character.
Hmm, what about creating a fictitious character and building a whole Twitter story? Not like the 140 character stories, but a post per day that advanced the plot. Twitter might be a bit too limited to do this, but something similar might be interesting…
~Graham
Graham: You’re exactly right – this is an engagement marketing tactic (engaging with customers around shared passions and values, which in this case is a TV show).
That’s why it caught my eye, and ended up as a post.
I think this stuff is intriguing, and the kind of Twitter fictional character gig you mentioned is the mirror of a fictional, anonymous blog I pitched (but couldn’t sell) to a client who was perfect for it.
I’m holding the project in reserve, and I’ll sell it one day (damnit!).
I don’t watch Mad Men regularly, but for some reason I continue to follow Betty Draper.
I just can’t cut her loose.
And I don’t know why I just admitted that, either.
Admitting the problem is the first step. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I’m too busy mucking about with computers to follow much of anything on TV – I’m considering canceling our satellite service.
I’m haven’t used twitter (I know booo hooo)but I thought you needed to “follow” someone in order to get their tweets? So can’t you just not follow them anymore to get rid of their messages, no?
Sher; I receive an email when someone follows me. Naturally, you go look to see what they’re about, which is when you see their page. This is how Twitter spammer types work; they follow people, who go to their twitter pages, where there are links to spam/phishing/annoying sites.
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