I know the debate rages on about the worth of Twitter but, if used in the right context, it really can deliver!
We supported Skoda UK and their driver Guy Wilks recently at the Rally of Scotland in November. Given that we literally only had two weeks to secure as much coverage out of the Rally, we decided that social media and the internet should be heavily used. And yes, Twitter would be a key component of our strategy.
Twitter allowed us to give rally fans (enthusiastic to say the least!) direct access to Guy’s preparations for the rally, during the recce stages and lead up to the race and then providing real time live updates during the rally itself. Tuning into Rally Radio which broadcasts on the internet, we were able to hear Guy’s thoughts after each stage and then Twitter these within seconds. We’d already invited key journalists to follow us on twitter so they were able to turn our live tweets into copy for their web pages. We also used Twitpic to provide visual interest to follows – again allowing them to get up close to the action.
The response from true rally fans was extremely positive, with loads of people coming up to Guy in the service areas saying that they were loving his tweets. I accept that there is too much cyber-waffle on Twitter but for certain live sport and a captive audience, it really is hard to beat! Check out twitter.com/guywilks
January 4th, 2010
