May 9, 2013
With social media being a hub for news stories and updates brands and companies are ever increasingly jumping on popular stories to engage with wider audiences. This is known as newsjacking.
When done correctly newsjacking can be an amazing asset for a brand, however, if done badly the backlash can be instant and severe. Getting the balance right can be tricky, but these three brands consistently hit the right tone:
1) Nandos:
The restaurant chain has a history of newsjacking. When the news broke that Sir Alex Ferguson was to retire as Manchester United boss, this brand was first off the mark to capitalise on the news.
To mark the manager’s retirement, restaurants in Manchester stayed open for an extra 5 minutes, causing the hashtag #NandosFergieTime to instantly start trending on Twitter. This is not the first time that Nandos has jumped on football stories either, last month they used Liverpool striker Luis Suarez’s biting misdemeanour as the centre of an online advert.
2) Charmin:
The brand has always been good at displaying its sense of humour on Twitter, and their newjacking of the Oscars was no exception. The tweets that Charmin used for the event were pre-written showing that real-time marketing can be pre-planned.
3) Oreo:
One of the most notable moments at this year’s Superbowl (other than Beyonce’s performance) was the 35 minute power outage at the game. Within minutes of the power loss brands started to newsjack the moment. But the cookie company came out on top with this clever Twitter post.
Great newsjacking can show a brand to be topical, clever and relevant as well as displaying the brand’s personality and relevancy to large audiences. Just take care that the news you piggyback onto is in keeping with the message that the brand would like to promote!