Tweeting Is More Than Just Bleating

27/11/2009

By John Thompson, CEO, US Operations, Kognitio

Okay...let's all take a deep breath. Now exhale. And for just a moment, let's get this Twitter-mania out of our system.

Don't get me wrong...I appreciate Twitter. I use Twitter. Yes, I've even tweeted and re-tweeted several times about stuff that really isn't all that important. Yet there's a growing realisation that the true value of Twitter - the value that will make it a vital business tool, and will help us as professionals - has absolutely nothing to do about Twitter's ubiquitous question: "what are you doing?"

We've already seen...

...signs of where it's heading. When Captain Sullenberger landed his Airbus A320 in New York's Hudson River last January, Twitter had the news ahead of any other medium. Faster than Fox News, more timely than The Times - Twitter users were blasting out the news, first-hand, literally as it happened.

Which, of course, caught the eye of trend-seeking reporters, who used that and other incidents as proof that Twitter was the wave of the future. But I'd point you to something that happened more recently: when Pepsi put out a controversial, suggestive iPhone application for its Amp soft drink, the reaction was immediate.

Twitter exploded, and from Pepsi's perspective, it may not have been an explosion of joy. Thousands of messages like, "Pepsi's iPhone AMP App Is Mobile Trash--Good Riddance," and "Pepsi, you tools!" were posted. These weren't reporters posting this stuff online. These were consumers, some of whom said they'd buy Coca-Cola in protest.

How those consumers react is of paramount importance to companies everywhere. Increasingly, how quickly their attitudes can be monitored and analysed is at the heart of companies' marketing efforts. Or it should be. ... continued on page two >

 

 

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