Guide to Transparency in Marketing

Open Brands is building the case for transparency in marketing through our blog and @openbrands on Twitter. Leave a comment, we'd like to hear from you.

 

Brandjacked!

It's a phenomenon, and like it or not, people are grabbing up usernames like they're domains of the 90's.

twitter @art, funny

I'm noticing that even though brands should protect their identity, it's not the end of days if someone grabbed your username on Twitter, or YouTube. In fact I see a lot of company's on Twitter, opting in for the personal touch. For example, the recent launch of ExecTweets shows there are many executives representing themselves and their prospective brands. The executive has a certain degree of privacy, as they are a bit more difficult to find through Twitter, yet what they present is a more personal representation of the brand then tweeting through a brand seal.

YOUR-NAME-HERE_at_YOUR-COMPANY-HERE.

The personal touch also allows you to create a larger breadth of communication, as you may have several people tweeting for a brand. In a recent article from Mashable.com, they laid out the 40 Best Twitter Brands, and while many of them are real brands like the famous @JetBlue and @TheHomeDepot, some were personal accounts such as Chevrolet's @AdamDenison and @Alicia_at_Honda. I like the personal touch, because I like hearing the inside scoop and making personal connections, but I also follow a lot a name brands, because they do create a lot of value through their Tweets.

What's your best bet as a business?

In the words of Ice Cube, "You'd better check yourself before you wreck yourself." And it is in that spirit that I invite you to checkout your brands username availability and see if other people are out there representing you.

 

 

Twitter 1 Year Growth: 1382%

Amazing growth in Twitter over the last year makes it the fastest growing online community according to Nielsen's Wire Blog:

"Unique visitors to Twitter increased 1,382 percent year-over-year, from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009, making it the fastest growing site in the Member Communities category for the month."

Also interesting is their note about using social media in an unstable economy:

"It will be interesting to watch the evolution of Twitter as it continues to gain momentum. In an unstable economy, it might prove to be an economical and important part of an employer’s marketing strategy that helps to keep consumers aware of and connected to their brand."

 

   

Okay, Who's The REAL McCoy?

The NY Times just released a story about phony celebrity twitter accounts titled, When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking. The article calls out the fact that there are brand managers controlling many celebrity's identity on twitter. Excuse me, What? You mean that really isn't @50cent sending me all those links to thisis50? Okay, so if you use twitter then you probably know that there are fakes out there, but when you use that identity for shady pursposes beware the community will sniff you out!

In the words of @the_real_shaq: “It’s 140 characters. It’s so few characters. If you need a ghostwriter for that, I feel sorry for you.”

shaqShaq has embraced the twitter and uses it in interesting ways that fit his personality and lifestyle. One of my favorite examples for Shaq is the tweet, "RT @The_Real_Shaq I'm n the mia on the beach whoever touches me gets 2 ticket (update: between 15th and 1st)." Bravo Shaq!

 

   

Thinking differently about naming your brand

target not the brandNeed a name for a new product or service? Here's my advise, be unique. It a world where Target can be interpretated in 31 ways you need to make your product stand out differently. The days of brands being called Method, Dove, or Apple are limited, so differentiate yourself and go by #64332J, no please don't. We'll settle for Patagonia or Bic.

 

 

   
   

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