Never, ever, underestimate the power of social media. The larger companies never do because they realise just how powerful Twitter, Facebook and all the other social platforms can be. They’re quick to react to any far reaching news or information because although the exposure will be wide spread, it still has a limited shelf life of interest.
Take for instance the clash between Luis Suarez of Uruguay and the Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in the recent Group D match in this years World Cup. Suarez obviously decided that rather than wait until after the match, he’s going to sink his teeth into an Italian during the game to save time.
Now we know that Italian food can be extra hot, and this incident was no different. In fact it would be fair to say that Chiellini was positively incandescent. In retrospect, one wonders if Suarez would have been better off munching his way through a shoulder of lamb rather than a shoulder of Chiellini. Still, each to his own?
However, be that as it may, it offered a fantastic opportunity for any company that was on the ball, (See what I did there?) to promote themselves on the back of this by hitting social media. And hit it they did. Within an hour, this bite had been mentioned on Twitter almost 340,000 times. Some of the more savvy companies that scored a goal with this were,
McDonalds (who offered Suarez a Big Mac if he was still hungry).
Nandos
Trident Gum
Snickers
TGI Fridays
Whataburger
Even JC Penney got in on the act by advertising a kids Dracula outfit. Bet they scored a few extra sales with that one!
The fact is, if as a company, you can react quickly to anything that is in the news and going to be of interest to many people, then by commenting on social media and pitching your views with a bit of humour, your post is going to get noticed and hopefully, the net (Groan) result is, your brand will grow.
So, if you want to be ahead of the game, keep your eyes and ears open and take advantage of anything in the news or large event that’s going on and turbo charge your brand awareness.
