Peggy Olson, a character from AMC’s popular series “Mad Men,” twittered last month, “Preparing for a big client presentation. Had to work all weekend. People think advertising is glamorous, and it is, but it’s also hard work.“
Since she is a fictional character, it was actually Big Deal PR’s Carri Bugbee who was channeling Peggy, and several other characters from the TV series, on Twitter. In the process, she established a national reputation and discovered a new revenue source. Her success holds lessons for journalists.
Bugbee won a “Shorty Award” for her “Mad Men” campaign. Shorty Awards, sponsored by the Knight Foundation and Sawhorse Media, go to people who excel on Twitter at covering particular “beats.”
Bugbee had no official or commercial ties to AMC or the series. No one was paying her for the ad campaign, which consisted of creating an original extension of the series with her twittering as various characters from the series.
In fact, in 2008, AMC filed DMCA take down actions and Twitter removed any messages posted in the names of “Mad Men” characters. A ripple in the blogosphere and many tweets later, AMC realized that there was no business logic in trying to stop free publicity and lots of fan attention, and so the cable network relented.
In a video report for AdAge, AMC President and General Manager Charlie Collier tells interviewer Abbey Klaassen, that he was “thrilled” to see Bugbee’s campaign develop, and that AMC appreciates this kind of relationship between viewers and its show.
The “Mad Men” Twitter campaign was effective because each tweet goes to a group of followers, who in turn are connected to many more followers, extending the audience for the 140 character messages. In Bugbee’s case, “Peggy Olson” has more than 12,000 followers, which is quite a reach.
Olson worked for free on the “Mad Men” project because it established her reputation. She plans to offer a cast of Twitter characters who will write tweets for entertainment companies that want to build buzz around any TV or movie property. Those services won’t be free.
Bugbee’s strategy isn’t regular Econ 101, but is a standard part of “gift economies,” and trust and reputation systems, which explain commerce in an information economy, where exchanges aren’t based on buying and selling physical things.
In the AdAge video, Bugbee talks about how she went from the idea of doing an advertising “white paper” about Twitter as an advertising tool, to “becoming” Peggy Olson, and figuring out a way to create a Twitter ad agency.
The takeaway for journalists? Bugbee really gets Twitter and its use. Watching the video will help anyone who is still wondering exactly what Twitter really is and how to use its power as a conversation-enabling, “sticky” social tool. Furthermore, her description of Twitter as a research tool to get into the mind of an audience can be adapted by reporters to cover trends, develop a beat, or find experts and others for interviews.
While taking on a fictional persona won’t work for journalists, any freelancer or new journalist might explore Twitter using an authentic voice to direct followers to longer versions of a story, based on an effective 140 character lead.
