Social Media is a large part of everyone’s daily lives. Twitter, specifically, has roughly 336 million users (statista.com 2018), so it makes sense that companies would use this site to interact with their customers. Almost every company has a twitter to do this, but some companies are better at it than others. Twitter is a great place for companies to form their brand identity because of the freedom of the platform. Certain companies stand out because of a few things; one of these is their timeliness. They talk about things that are happening now and that would only be relevant to the consumer during a certain time period.
These are examples of timeliness on twitter from Charmin and Taco Bell. Both posts are fall and Halloween related which only happen during a certain time. If these posts had been posted in the middle of summer, people would have been confused, and they would not have been as effective. The brands use humor in their posts to indirectly communicate with their consumers in a unique way, defining their brand identity.
Another way brands stand out on twitter is the relevance of their tweets. They know the appropriate time to interact with consumers and the appropriate thing to say. Brands interact with consumers directly in humorous ways to draw attention to their company while creating an atmosphere on twitter where consumers feel close to their favorite companies. Consumers feel as if they are part of the brand and marketing because brands are humanizing themselves to become more relatable.
These are examples of interactions between consumers and brands. Taco Bell found a humorous tweet about a couple who loves taco bell. The original tweet did not even @ Taco Bell, but the company was still able to find this indirect mention and respond to it humorously. It’s a simple response, but got people’s attention. This tweet got a lot of engagement because of the humor of the original tweet and because of the acknowledgment Twitter gave it. Wendy’s found a direct mention where a consumer got a Moana shaped chicken nugget. They took more of a dry humor approach by simply saying “you’re welcome”. These brands took these chances to respond to consumers appropriately according to their brand identity. They were timely and relevant responses that brought attention to their company.
Brands use twitter as a platform define who they are and what they are about. It is a comfortable and free place to interact with consumers and bring humor in a different way to their advertising. They can define their voice and their brand personality easily through conversations with their consumers. Social media has become a large part of all of our lives but along with this has changed company advertising forever.
– Lauren Delavigne
IMC Hawks Blog 
Lauren,
I completely agree that Twitter has changed the advertising field significantly. I liked how you touched on the fact that, by responding to customer tweets and comments, brands make themselves more “human” and can easily form a more personal connection with consumers. Also, I think bringing a little humor to the situation gives brands a more relatable aspect by showing that they’re not just boring corporations.
This new world of Social Media has brought out the best and worst in companies. I think that what these companies are doing is great for their brand and it gets them more interactions with a younger audience. If I saw a funny tweet from Wendy’s about how the dropped a mixtape and we need to check it out, I checked it out. It wasn’t like it was bad listening experience either. They actually went out a made an effort so they could boost their brand. On the mixtape, they even dissed McDonalds and Burger King. They knew how to reach the audience they were marketing for.
I have noticed that Wendy’s has played a major role in using social media, especially Twitter, to connect with consumers and also give themselves a personality if you will. They even made a commercial completely around the tweet of someone who suggested putting their new sauce on a burger, and they now have a burger that satisfies the wants of that one particular customer. Although, I am sure they had it in their minds to do something like that with the menu, they used Twitter to make a connection with its customers and show that they really are there to satisfy every customer. I believe it is a pretty great idea in the eyes of advertising.
I also find this marketing strategy extremely interesting. I follow some of these accounts as a twitter user and find them hilarious. I believe that is the aim of the company, to reach target audiences, much like myself, of the younger generation to promote sales at their restaurants/stores. It is incredible the amount of energy these companies are using to target Millenials and Gen X. By humanizing these companies with comedy on the social media platform, they have effectively gained a massive youth following.
In the past couple of years, social media has become a huge platform for companies to not only advertise what they are selling, but to interact with their customers as well. Twitter is a great social media app to connect with people and companies, but Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat are also great ways to connect with people as well. Most companies have all of these social media apps and they use them in different ways. I think Twitter is definitely the most effective app to use because people are scrolling through their feed constantly and many people will “retweet” posts to get the word out or to share something they think is worth reading. I love how certain companies will use humor to connect with their customers and to get their name out there as well. When I see a company reply to a Twitter user in a humorous way, I retweet it because I think it’s funny and I want others to see it. When I’m doing this, I don’t even realize that I’m helping them advertise because I’m getting their name out there for all my friends and followers to see.
Hi Lauren,
Twitter and other social media has absolutely changed the world in advertising and how brands interact with their customers. I agree that is is a great way for them to get more buzz for their business/brand. It shows us as consumers that they are making an effort to get better as a brand, and that they appreciate us. It’s a great way for them to expand their communication with their customers and the country in general.
-Scott
I love this! It seems so smart to me for a company to use twitter and other social media outlets for marketing. Almost everyone I know has a twitter and most use it daily. So for companies to take advantage of this platform is just another way to brand themselves and control this market. My favorite strategy is the interaction with other users in a humorous way. I am always looking at those post considering they stand out the most to me. These are the post that always get the most retweets and favorites making the brands page more popular. Wendy’s does the best with this and its known all across twitter. Great way to advertise!
I agree with all you said about the positivity to branding yourself on twitter. Sometimes the hardest demographic to reach can be 18-22 year olds, due to cord cutting and other factors. A great way to engage with that audience is via social media Wendy’s and Moon Pie are the first that come to mind that have revamped there brand by being comical and active on twitter.
This blog hit the nail on the head, with platform’s essentially being a place for companies to make their identity. Social media has become such an everyday thing for people around the world, it is almost impossible for companies such as Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and Charmin to not use this trendy app to market their brand and appeal to their consumers. I am even guilty of seeing a funny tweet from a brand and then wanting to go out and buy what they were marketing. I believe that with the growth of social media, brands will only become more present on these apps.
Lauren,
I really enjoyed your post. This is a topic i enjoy discussing amongst my friends in finding how brands of all forms are trying to stay relevant, or get relevance by being on social media. It is utterly fascinating and amusing at the same time. I’ve seen brands such as jiffy lube get “hip” by commenting back to their customers on twitter and how these companies are almost displaying a sense of personality through social media is brilliant, in my opinion. You added further eye opening points that I will look further into next time I read another taco-bell tweet. I strongly believe humor wins and is a great way of staying relevant as a brand.
In regards to the four P’s of marketing becoming the modern day four C’s, Twitter is a great example of this phenomena. Twitter allows companies to not just simply promote their products, but communicate directly with their customers and have a two-way conversation. I agree with you Lauren that platforms like Twitter help organizations express their brand personalities in a new way. I also find it impressive that brands are able to find tweets that involve their organization without being tagged in the post. I think social media is a good marketing platform because it allows companies to interact with their consumers directly. Niche marketing is partially taking off because of social media as well.
Wendy’s especially has one of the greatest social media experts in there company. Every post I see is so funny and filled with great one liners for interacting with there customers. They also make fun of the competition in a humorous way, for example “Ronald McDonald looks like the clown from the movie IT”. Something along the lines of that keeps us engaged and nice to see them comment on everyday people like us to give us a few laughs. It does go along way when picking something as simple as a fast food restaurant for lunch.
I agree with the fact that social media has changed advertising and quite frankly I love it. I think it is an extremely smart marketing decision to have a someone in charge of making humorous and witty remarks to people on social media in order to better the company because I, along with a lot of other people enjoy them. It’s great way to get your brand in the public eye of a generally more youthful crowd while establishing a brand identity or enhancing it. Due to things like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video, there is a large amount of people who don’t watch regular T.V as often or sometimes even, not at all. This means that those people are less likely to see commercials that establish a brands identity. By using Twitter and Instagram to it allows that large amount of people not watching regular T.V, to have a chance to see your brand and maybe even have a laugh or two.
This article perfectly explains the importance social media has on marketing. Many companies such as the listed above in the article use social media as a tool in order to effectively market a large audience by retweets and reposts which is a grapevine effect by just spreading from person to person. The person in charge of social media for large companies such as Wendy’s truly play a vital role within the company because if good content is posted by them the more retweets and or reposts they receive which ultimately equals larger audience reached. Social media is a very effective marketing platform and should be utilized by all companies.
This article truly perfectly explains the importance social media has on marketing. Many companies such as the listed above in the article use social media as a tool in order to effectively market a large audience by retweets and reposts which is a grapevine effect by just spreading from person to person. The person in charge of social media for large companies such as Wendy’s truly play a vital role within the company because if good content is posted by them the more retweets and or reposts they receive which ultimately equals larger audience reached. Social media is a very effective marketing platform and should be utilized by all companies.
Twitter always gives great examples of companies branding themselves like humans. Wendy’s has almost perfected this compared to other companies. Its easier to relate to and remember brands when they post the same kinds of things you are thinking. Brands typically don’t joke around with other brands and “burn” them in the public eye. Wendy’s marketing and Twitter teams have found a great balance in this. It nice to see companies looking through post about them on social media and even responding to some people on a personal level. People seem to really relate to the wittier, and less cautious companies, as it makes them more human. I believe that the trends being set in social media by brands relating more to humans will drastically change the Communication principles between brands and consumers in the future.
I love that companies like these are involved with social media. That’s the best way to get the attention of our generation nowadays. I don’t eat at Wendy’s but seeing their tweets like that do push me to go there rather than another fast food joint, solely because of their interaction with their customers and their humorous stance on things. I thinks funny when the “rivalry” fast food places like Wendy’s, McDonalds and Burger King tweet at or about each other. It’s all light hearted but its entertaining to see companies interact on the internet for the satisfaction of their consumer base.
Lauren,
Your post is very well written. I totally agree that social media platforms such as twitter has completely changed the way company’s advertise. I find great humor in Wendy’s twitter post. I actually wanted to go eat at Wendy’s after they dropped that mix tape a few months ago. The way companies such as Wendy’s goes about advertising on twitter does not even feel like advertising. It feels as though they are just another friend of mine on the social platform, making jokes and roasting other company’s. Overall it is a great way for company’s to get attention and bring people into their stores.
I very much agree that the use of twitter in the correct way is a very efficient way to advertise in the 21st century. I personally notice timeliness is a very important aspect as well. People in my life and family always love to buy all the pumpkin spice “limited edition” versions of every product. As well as peppermint flavor or anything else that is advertised in this way. Humor is also a very good way to relate to your consumers and make big corporations seem small and personable. Everything you say about this is spot on and lot of companies are missing out because they are not utilizing twitter in this way.