Arby’s Grammys Tweet will now become the poster child for RTM - appearing in marketing PowerPoint decks everywhere – much like its Oreo Super Bowl predecessor. I’ve already shared my opinion about this kind of RTM.
Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs
— Arby's (@Arbys) January 27, 2014
Arby’s and Oreo are unfortunately the exception, not the rule (by far) and both of these examples were unplanned responses. In between these very rare strikes of lightening are a bunch of horribly forced branded witticisms.
It’s not that brands shouldn’t monitor/listen for those (rare) serendipitous RTM moments in pop culture but at the same time they should show restraint in what they choose to publish. Just because something can be Tweeted at the click of a button doesn’t mean it should be. And its content should also be held accountable to the same kind of quality standards as the brand's other advertising content is. Brands need to stop publishing content in social media that isn't anything less than awesome.
Arby’s wasn’t “live-Tweeting” the Grammy’s last night and flooding Twitter with irrelevant nonsense. And neither was Oreo during last year’s Super Bowl. They each published a single tweet that was compelling, brand-relevant, timely, and again – not pre-fabricated.
The point in all of this is that the far and few places where this flavor of RTM has “worked” is when a lot was said with very little – but it was done elegantly…and with restraint.
