Twitter Campaign Uses Followers To Lead Newcomers To Promised Social Media Land
Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 06:50PM By Barry Janoff
December 13, 2017: In its 2Q 2018 report, Twitter said that it has 328 million monthly users. That’s 143 million more than in 2012, but just 32 million more than in 2015 and 9 million more than in 2016.
A new humorous campaign from the social media platform is seeking to spur growth by addressing some of the major obstacles that people face: How to navigate and explore, who to follow and, perhaps most important, what does it all mean (and why does anyone actually need to have a Twitter account in the first place)?
The effort is anchored by two spots under the umbrella theme, “Let’s Go Twitter.”
Seeking a mass audience, they will break during in-cinema shows of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as well as TV, Internet and, yes, social media. They will air in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
The campaign was handled in-house.
British comic Romesh Ranganathan (259,000 Twitter followers) fronts both spots, “Signing Up For Twitter” and “Explore.”
According to Ranganathan, “Twitter recognized my greatness and asked me to show newbies the ropes. I said I'd do it if they put me in a movie. So they did!”
In “Signing Up,” he is seen as a crisis manager, called in to help a young man who is overwhelmed by the Twitter process. The spot has a full cast of characters, including Lonzo Ball of the Los Angeles Lakers, (573,000 followers), music group K-Pop (5 million followers) and Joe Bruin, mascot for UCLA (1,200 followers).
“I don’t know what to do,” the man, Kevin, anguishes as he tries to access Twitter on his cell phone. “I’ll never leave this house,” which has so much stuff in it that he appears to be a horder.
Ranganathan is outside, alongside police, neighbors and others, seeking to calm Kevin. “I’m here to help. Don’t worry. Do not panic. Just push the ‘Get Started’ button and pick a name.”
Kenny G is taken, so they settle on Notorious Kenny G. It also turns out Kevin has a love for Zambonis, comic books, science and movies.
His next problem: Who to follow? He starts with Joe Bruin, K-Pop (“Thanks for the follow,” they yell from the street) and Ball (who appears in Kenny’s window).
“There’s so many people to follow,” Kenny sighs.
“Follow everyone. Press the ‘Follow all’ button,” says Ranganathan as the crowd chants, “Follow! Follow!”
As Ranganathan leaves, Kenny asks, “Will I ever see you again?”
Of course — by following him on Twitter.
The second spot finds a man named Julio running on a long stretch of road. “How do I explore?”
Ranganathan arrives to help, as do WNBA star Candace Parker (273,000 followers), a ninja, soccer players, competitive bike riders, a clarinet player and “other things I really enjoy.”
“Julio, you just mastered Twitter,” says Ranganathan. “It’s constantly changing and evolving . . . just like you.”
Text offers, “Let’s explore. Let’s discover. Let’s Twitter.”
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