Brands having a bit of fun on the old Twitters

[Colossal Squid]

Saw a story today about how the social media agency (yes they have those now) that Tesco Mobile have employed to handle their Twitter were having a bit of fun this week, with a bunch of other brands and their social output teams (in house or otherwise):

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/...arketingDailyBulletin&bulletin=marketingdaily

But do you think this is all good fun and makes the companies involved feel more human and "fun" or do you consider it a colossal waste of time and money?

Here's a sample segment of this Twitter conversation:

 

[Colossal Squid]

They're still at it today...

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

 

[Colossal Squid]

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Yes, sound isn't a concept, it's a scientifically proven principle

 

[mikeyjh]

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Yes

 

[Puppet Master]

I really don't get this thread. Anyone wanna talk about tits and football and stuff?

 

[Colossal Squid]

I really don't get this thread. Anyone wanna talk about tits and football and stuff?

I wanted to engage in a serious debate about the merits of brand engagement across social media channels!

 

[brighton_girl87]

I saw this on Buzzfeed we've been talking a lot about it in the office today. I'd love it if some of the brands I worked for had a similar sort of approach!

 

[brighton_girl87]

I really don't get this thread. Anyone wanna talk about tits and football and stuff?

You're just upset people are talking about Tesco. If it was Asda Mobile you'd be all over this thread!

 

[Colossal Squid]

I saw this on Buzzfeed we've been talking a lot about it in the office today. I'd love it if some of the brands I worked for had a similar sort of approach!

I'm inclined to agree. Although it's obviously a lot easier for big recognisable brands to pull it off than it would be for more local businesses with a rather more dry set of products or services. I'd love to know what a social media agency would come up with to "boost engagement" for a local accountant or a traffic cone manufacturer.

Ultimately however, how much actual involvement is there for the companies in question? Do they have a brief for their social agency which they leave them to get on with, or are they going to be more hands on, vetoing the tweets they can't reply to, for instance?

 

[Boris Yeltsin]

We're all talking about Tesco and discussing their tweets.

Mission accomplished by Tesco, no?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Opened the thread thinking it was something to do with Russell Brand

 

[Telscombe Seagull]

Opened the thread thinking it was something to do with Russell Brand

Glad i wasn't the only one!

 

[Colossal Squid]

We're all talking about Tesco and discussing their tweets.

Mission accomplished by Tesco, no?

Oh absolutely. There's no such thing as bad publicity and all that. I'm just genuinely interested to know whether the general consensus is that this is a welcome bit of fun or if it just annoys people that there is a whole industry attached to such offerings. I mean there are teams of people in fancy London office suites sat in beanbag filled creative spaces discussing how they best retort via Twitter to a rival company's own nonsense ramblings. Is that REALLY a proper job?

 

[Biscuit]

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Yes, it does. Sound exists whether there is someone to hear it or not. Sound is defined as vibrations "capable of" being heard audibly. Elephants and dogs can hear sounds that we cannot. Because we cannot hear them does not mean they do not exist.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Oh absolutely. There's no such thing as bad publicity and all that. I'm just genuinely interested to know whether the general consensus is that this is a welcome bit of fun or if it just annoys people that there is a whole industry attached to such offerings. I mean there are teams of people in fancy London office suites sat in beanbag filled creative spaces discussing how they best retort via Twitter to a rival company's own nonsense ramblings. Is that REALLY a proper job?

Tesco are JCL's (112k)....EVERYONE is following the lead of ASOS (575k followers)...If you see how they are spreading the word & literally taking over the fashion World with some staggering growth numbers it's very clear how it IS working (nb @ just £57 their shares are CHEAP!)

 

[Eksman]

Well this is boring, isn't there anymore?

 

[Colossal Squid]

Well this is boring, isn't there anymore?

Well there's quite a lot of it actually. And it seems to be ongoing

https://twitter.com/tescomobile/status/401316786676563968

 

[Buzzer]

Yes, sound isn't a concept, it's a scientifically proven principle

Not so sure. It crashes, it causes waves but they don't possess any intrinsic noise. That's something your brain creates, isn't it?

 

[Dub-67]

Mustafa and Buzzer are right.

Until a sound is 'heard' by a consciously aware entity, it is just a pressure wave.