5 Secrets of a Celebrity Twitter Chat

Tom Boland, SVP, Social@OgilvyMarch 2013

Brands continue to look for new, interesting ways to reach consumers. Television remains a great medium for brands, but time-shifting

and multi-screening make in-show TV integrations an increasingly attractive way to

reach consumers. Brands want their agencies to extend the reach of in-show integrations.

Celebrity Twitter chats are a perfect solution, but since they are neither cheap nor easy,

make sure you’re prepared before your the first tweet goes out.

Five Secrets of a Celebrity Twitter Chat

Relevancy, Reach and Humor

Relevancy, Reach and Humor

Relevancy, Reach and Humor

;-);-) ;-);-)Relevancy is important—partner with a celebrity who has a logical connection to the show.

Comedians, for example, can seamlessly develop tweets that are relevant to the show, the product, other celebrities, and the general twittersphere. Strong content leads to powerful engagement, and that

generates valuable impressions. Search for a celebrity with an impressive social footprint and at least 1MM Twitter followers.

Five Secrets of a Celebrity Twitter Chat

Develop Your StrategyDevelop Your StrategyDevelop Your Strategy @@@@

The celebrity and the brand should have an exact understanding of what is expected of each party. Break the tweets down into the following three groups:

a) Live Tweets – Have the celebrity comment on the show in real-time. These comments are designed to enhance the fans’ viewing experience. Focus comments on the show’s content and express the celebrity’s opinion in his or her own voice. Send these tweets as the drama unfolds and not during the commercials. The brand should retweet the most entertaining messages, to alert their followers of the exclusive content.

b) Questions – Answer fan questions during commercials. That way, the flow of the show is not interrupted. Plus, this gives the celebrity time to select the most entertaining questions and develop creative responses. This approach makes fans feel appreciated and part of the action. The brand should encourage the celebrity to also ask questions to other relevant celebrities, furthering the reach of the campaign.

c) Advertiser Plugs – To avoid distracting consumers from the TV show, mix these messages before the start of the show, during TV commercials, and after the show ends. The timing of these messages is important—brands should avoid distracting viewers. The goal should be to enhance the experience by providing fans access to exclusive show content or special brand offers.

Five Secrets of a Celebrity Twitter Chat

####Simple, Relevant Hashtags

Simple, Relevant Hashtags

Simple, Relevant Hashtags

Integrate an advertiser into a TV show’s hashtag in an organic and natural way.

On NBC’s All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, viewers of the show would expect to use #Apprentice as the official show hashtag. However, adjusting the hashtag to include the brand being featured in each episode feels natural to the viewers and helps

to further integrate the advertiser into the second screen experience.

This simple change seemed natural to fans, but allowed the brand to extend its reach, and measure the social activity associated with the hashtag.

Five Secrets of a Celebrity Twitter Chat

Full DisclosuresFull DisclosuresFull Disclosures ****Let fans of the celebrity and the brand know exactly what is going on.

To avoid any confusion, the celebrity should adhere to the latest WOMMA Social Media Disclosure Guide . The purpose of this disclosure is to make it clear that celebrity is being paid as a sponsor. Before any live tweeting starts, one of the following statements should be sent out by the celebrity to their followers:

• Ireceived[productname]from[companyname]toreview.

• Iwaspaidby[companyname]toreview[productname].

• Ireceived[productname]from[companyname].

Additionally, any tweets associated with the partnership should have the #spon or #paid or #samp hashtag.

The brand and any agency partners should review the latest WOMMA documentation,-to ensure the campaign is following the latest documentation.

Five Secrets of a Celebrity Twitter Chat

Real-Time ApprovalsReal-Time ApprovalsReal-Time Approvals OK!OK!OK!OK!

Make sure a senior client is in the room.

Social media moves fast, and it is imperative that a senior member of the client brand team is there to review and approve content instantly.

In addition, prepare PR responses in advance, explaining why the brand decided to work with the celebrity and TV show. These short messages should always thank the

participant for the comment and focus the attention on the excitement of the show, rather than a particular moment or remark from the celebrity or even a character on the show.