The night the lights went out during the Super Bowl, Oreo was ready, sending out the now-famous “dunk in the dark” tweet just four minutes later. Light bulbs went on for marketers, and since then, brands have tried to have their own “Oreo Moment” with every major media event from the Oscars to the Royal Baby with widely varying degrees of success. Recent real-time brand activations around the sci-fi Sharknado phenomenon produced a sea of sameness: image + clever wording = RTM. So has the idea of brands attaching themselves to trending stories jumped the shark, or the #Sharknado in this case? During Social Media Week in Chicago, the GolinHarris team took a look at the best and worst of RTM (ours and others) and explored the next generation of integrated engagement that delivers real results for brands. See how we backed up our insights with analytics and learn the value in making RTM a daily part of PR and marking plans.