But not for others! Twitter finds itself celebrating a major coming of age this week and popular fashion houses have fully embraced the social buzz in conjunction with London Fashion week. However, not everyone managed to survive the week unscathed.
500m and counting…
Twitter celebrated its 500 millionth user on Wednesday, one month before its sixth birthday. It’s an impressive milestone, but many have been quick to point out the number of inactive and bot accounts, particularly as Twitter reported it had reached 100m monthly active users in September 2011. No one can doubt the impact Twitter has had on the world, providing breaking news as it happens from, from Whitney Houston’s death to the Arab Spring. Of course the figures aren’t official, but we can’t help but feel impressed at the rapid growth, especially as the billionth user is predicted to sign up in just a year and a half.
What a load of waffle
Twitter is no stranger to brands attempting to hi-jack popular hashtags for self-serving needs; however this week took the biscuit after a US-based waffle house decided to jump on the trending funeral of Whitney Houston to tout its waffly inappropriate wares. Unsurprisingly, Twitter users were less than happy to see a tragic occasion being used as a marketing gimmick and took to the Twitter to say as much. Unfortunately, however, these shameless attempts to gain attention on Twitter have shown no signs of abating and as a result raise a lot of ethical questions on using highly emotive events as marketing opportunites.
Social Tatters
Claire’s Accessories came under fire this week, as it was discovered the jewellery and accessories store was guilty of copying the designs of an independent designer named Tatty Devine. The striking comparisons were brought to light on Tatty Devine’s blog post, which attracted 204 comments before it was advised to close the comment feature. Angry users took to social, complaining about the behavior of the high street store. Claire’s has since deleted Facebook posts, while also banning The Drum’s Ishabel Macleod in three minutes, and they are also ignoring matters on Twitter. The brand has since trended on Twitter and locked its Facebook wall, rather than dealing with the issue head-on.
You’ve been served
Think you’re safe from the law online? Think again! In a landmark ruling earlier this week lawyers were granted permission to serve papers to a defendant via Facebook. Due to difficulties in contacting the accused, solicitors sought an unprecedented legal coup to do so on the popular social networking site. The move opens up a lot of questions over just how powerful social sites have become in the eyes of the law. Expect your next parking ticket to come to you via Twitter.
It’s a man’s world
Google+ has made a lot of progress when it comes to catching up with its social media rivals; however one area where the company finds itself greatly differing is in its demographics. According to figures released this week, two thirds of all Google+ users are male – this stands in marked contrast to the Facebook statistics whereby the majority of users are women (in the US around 55%). Perhaps the figures aren’t that surprising considering the platform’s relatively tech-savvy focus and the persisting gender skew in these industries. The gap has led to concerns that the male-heavy focus may act as a deterrent for women joining in the future.
And finally...
The book of fashion
Burberry, a pioneer of social and a brand we looked at in November, has been at the cutting edge of social fashion for a while, and this month’s London Fashion Week was no different. The British brand broadcast Twitter’s first animated #tweetwalk using gifs to showcase the Autumn/Winter 2012 collection. Burberry also introduced the show to Facebook, allowing users to post links to the show on their wall. Alexander McQueen followed suit, broadcasting its show at 8pm on the same day via Facebook. Topshop took things a step further, live streaming its seven catwalk shows through its iPhone app, which launched in December. Take a look at the Burberry show below and check out its Twitter to view the images from the tweetwalk.
This week our Brand Barometer piece focusses on Mercedes-Benz, a brand looking to reach a young audience through social. Find out its plans and SMR score on Marketing Magazine.
Sam MacLeod, Account Manager, Yomego (www.yomego.com)
#YomegoSocial @YomegoSocial @cooltweetbro
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