5 Secrets of a Celebrity Twitter Chat by Tom Boland, SVP, Social@Ogilvy

1. 5 Secrets
of a
Celebrity
Twitter
Chat
Tom Boland, SVP, Social@Ogilvy
March 2013

2. Brands continue to look for new, interesting
ways to reach consumers. Television remains
a great medium for brands, but time-shifting
and multi-screening make in-show TV
integrations an increasingly attractive way to
reach consumers. Brands want their agencies
to extend the reach of in-show integrations.
Celebrity Twitter chats are a perfect solution,
but since they are neither cheap nor easy,
make sure you’re prepared before your the
first tweet goes out.

3. F i v e S e c r e t s o f a C e l e b r i t y T w i t t e r C h at
Relevancy,
Reach and
Humor
Relevancy,
Reach and
Humor
Relevancy,
Reach and
Humor
;-);-);-);-)
Relevancy is important—partner with a
celebrity who has a logical connection to
the show.
Comedians, for example, can
seamlessly develop tweets that are
relevant to the show, the product,
other celebrities, and the general
twittersphere. Strong content leads
to powerful engagement, and that
generates valuable impressions.
Search for a celebrity with an
impressive social footprint and at least
1MM Twitter followers.

4. F i v e S e c r e t s o f a C e l e b r i t y T w i t t e r C h at
Develop Your
Strategy
Develop Your
Strategy
Develop Your
Strategy @@@@
The celebrity and the brand should have an exact
understanding of what is expected of each party. Break
the tweets down into the following three groups:
a) Live Tweets – Have the celebrity comment on the
show in real-time. These comments are designed
to enhance the fans’ viewing experience. Focus
comments on the show’s content and express the
celebrity’s opinion in his or her own voice. Send
these tweets as the drama unfolds and not during
the commercials. The brand should retweet the
most entertaining messages, to alert their followers
of the exclusive content.
b) Questions – Answer fan questions during
commercials. That way, the flow of the show is not
interrupted. Plus, this gives the celebrity time to
select the most entertaining questions and develop
creative responses. This approach makes fans feel
appreciated and part of the action. The brand should
encourage the celebrity to also ask questions to
other relevant celebrities, furthering the reach of the
campaign.
c) Advertiser Plugs – To avoid distracting consumers
from the TV show, mix these messages before the
start of the show, during TV commercials, and after
the show ends. The timing of these messages is
important—brands should avoid distracting viewers.
The goal should be to enhance the experience by
providing fans access to exclusive show content or
special brand offers.

5. F i v e S e c r e t s o f a C e l e b r i t y T w i t t e r C h at
####
Simple,
Relevant
Hashtags
Simple,
Relevant
Hashtags
Simple,
Relevant
Hashtags
Integrate an advertiser into a TV
show’s hashtag in an organic and
natural way.
On NBC’s All-Star Celebrity
Apprentice, viewers of the show
would expect to use #Apprentice as
the official show hashtag. However,
adjusting the hashtag to include the
brand being featured in each episode
feels natural to the viewers and helps
to further integrate the advertiser into
the second screen experience.
This simple change seemed natural to
fans, but allowed the brand to extend
its reach, and measure the social
activity associated with the hashtag.

6. F i v e S e c r e t s o f a C e l e b r i t y T w i t t e r C h at
Full
Disclosures
Full
Disclosures
Full
Disclosures ****
Let fans of the celebrity and the brand
know exactly what is going on.
To avoid any confusion, the celebrity
should adhere to the latest WOMMA
Social Media Disclosure Guide . The
purpose of this disclosure is to make
it clear that celebrity is being paid as
a sponsor. Before any live tweeting
starts, one of the following statements
should be sent out by the celebrity to
their followers:
• I received [product name] from
[company name] to review.
• I was paid by [company name] to
review [product name].
• I received [product name] from
[company name].
Additionally, any tweets associated with
the partnership should have the #spon
or #paid or #samp hashtag.
The brand and any agency partners
should review the latest WOMMA
documentation,-to ensure the
campaign is following the latest
documentation.

7. F i v e S e c r e t s o f a C e l e b r i t y T w i t t e r C h at
Real-Time
Approvals
Real-Time
Approvals
Real-Time
Approvals OK!OK!OK!OK!
Make sure a senior client is in
the room.
Social media moves fast, and it is
imperative that a senior member
of the client brand team is there to
review and approve content instantly.
In addition, prepare PR responses
in advance, explaining why the
brand decided to work with the
celebrity and TV show. These short
messages should always thank the
participant for the comment and
focus the attention on the excitement
of the show, rather than a particular
moment or remark from the celebrity
or even a character on the show.