Tech and Entertainment Brands Embrace Twitter Promoted Trends

The likes of HBO, RockstarGames, Dell, and Siemens have purchased the ads.

Auto brands, restaurants, and even financial services firms have dabbled with Twitter’s Promoted Trends, but tech and entertainment brands are embracing the platform. Since February, brands including HBO, RockstarGames, Dell, and Siemens have purchased the ads, which are displayed at the top of the trending topics list on the site.

Verizon is a repeat user in the tech category. The telecom ran a series of at least six Promoted Trends in March and April in conjunction with the NCAA Basketball championships, a.k.a. March Madness. Verizon created a Tournament of Tweets, a bracket style contest that chose winning teams based on the number of times people mentioned them on Twitter using the “messaging mania” hashtag #MM2001. The Promoted Trends series drove NCAA fans to a Tournament of Tweets page on ESPN.com.

Verizon Wireless USA also attempted to engage Twitter users for Father’s Day, asking them “What’s your favorite #dadism?” or dad-disseminated advice.

Meanwhile, most other tech brands like AT&T, Sprint, Microsoft, and HP – many of which pushed mobile devices and services – took a more direct approach, promoting new products and linking to those product pages on their sites.

The other advertiser vertical that appears to be especially prolific in the Promoted Trends arena is entertainment. Film and TV brands looking to build buzz for new shows and movies have flocked to the Promoted Trends format in recent months, most featuring links to sneak peeks and trailers from tweets associated with the paid trends.

In some cases, however, marketers hoped to generate excitement without click-throughs. For instance, HBO added to the hype around its “Game Of Thrones” saga by posting a snippet of a review. “Epic television…inordinately rewarding drama -@Variety #gameofthrones,” stated a tweet from HBO’s @GameOfThrones account.

A&E’s “Breakout Kings” and TLC Network’s “Sister Wives” also got the Promoted Trend treatment.

According to Twitter, the flat-fee based Promoted Trend ad unit is priced at $120,000 per day.

Promo Trends for 2K Games’ “Duke Nukem Forever,” “Fight Night Champion” from EA Sports, and Rockstar Games’ L.A. Noire were also spotted. EA and 2K had some fun with it, interacting with gamers – and hoping to do so. Using the hashtag #TysonsBack, EA asked fans which fighter they were using while playing the #FightNightChampion game, while 2K prompted Duke Nukem players to post photos of ads for the game.

“Seen a Duke Nukem Forever ad around town? Tweet the picture to us like @BetaChris did!” noted a tweet linking to a photo.

Months before the June release of Paramount Pictures’ “Super 8,” marketers for the alien invasion flick linked to the film trailer in March. Then, days before the June 10 release, Paramount encouraged people to purchase tickets online for a June 9 “Tweet Movie Sneak Preview.”

Even concert events Coachella and Outside Lands have used Promoted Trends. In the case of Coachella, the format was used to advertise a live webcast of the music festival, while Outside Lands, a San Francisco music fest pushed its lineup of artists.

Select Entertainment Brands/Promoted Trends on Twitter
Date Brand Account HashTag/Trend Phrase Tweet/s Landing Page Description
2/25/2011 Warner Bros Pictures @wbpictures #HallPass RT @Alyssa_Milano And the beautiful @1capplegate is wonderful and needless to say, hysterically funny. #HallPass No link
3/10/2011 Battle LA @BattleLA #BattleLosAngeles Shocking #BattleLosAngeles news coverage – Watch the Invasion http://bit.ly/hlqVPG This is only the beginning… #BattleLosAngeles FRIDAY. Link to movie trailer on YouTube.com
4/10/2011 The Comedy Awards @TheComedyAwards #ComedyAwards Jon Cryer gets dirty launching his hip hop career. http://bit.ly/TCAWeb #ComedyAwards Link to webcast on TheComedy
Awards.com
4/13/2011 ABC @HappyEndingsABC #HappyEndings Can you handle two #HappyEndings in one night? Find out tonight with back-to-back episodes starting at 9:30|
8:30c on ABC!
No link
5/31/2011 True Blood @TrueBloodHBO #TBwithdrawal You know you’re hooked. [LINK] #TBwithdrawal #trueblood Link to a Twitpic featuring poster image “We Know you’re hooked,” also includes #TBwithdrawal tag.
Data compiled by ClickZ News

 

Select Tech Brands/Promoted Trends on Twitter
Date Brand Account HashTag/Trend Phrase Tweet/s Landing Page Description
3/26/2011 Verizon Wireless USA @VZWOffers #MM2011 Every second counts. So does every Tweet. Join the messaging mania now in a competition like no other. #MM2011 [LINK] 2011 NCAA Basketball Tournament of Tweets on ESPN.go.com – encouraging people to tweet with their team’s hashtag in “messaging mania”
4/19/2011 RadioShack @RadioShack #IWouldTrade Fill in the blank: #IWouldTrade ____ for a chance to win a @NissanLEAF from @RadioShack. Get to clicking: [LINK] Link to RadioShack Trade & Save page: with Nissan LEAF contest offer.
4/27/2011 DroidLanding @DroidLanding #WinaDroid4G Looking to #WinaDroid4G? Join the search at http://
chargelanding
.com for your chance. #chargelanding
Landing page says “Scan the area on m.chargelanding.com on your smartphone, laptop or desktop. Share your findings. Return every day to check the map at chargelanding
.com.”
6/25/2011 SiemensUSA @SiemensUSA #GreenCity What’s a green city to you, how is your city green, how can it be more sustainable? Use #GreenCity & share your thoughts [LINK] Link to sustainable cities page on Siemens USA site.
Data compiled by ClickZ News

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