SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter, the messaging service used by more than 300m people around the world, is launching a major global marketing campaign to clarify what the brand stands for.
The initiative will feature a series of video and digital ads aimed at challenging two main misconceptions that Twitter's own research unearthed among people who know the brand but don't use it.
Writing in a blog post, Twitter's relatively new CMO Leslie Berland, explained that a full 90% of people globally recognise the Twitter brand and those who use it "know exactly what Twitter is for".
However, the research also found that those who don't use the platform do not fully understand how it should be used or how often.
"Most didn't know or simply misunderstood what Twitter was for – many thought of Twitter primarily as a social network, a place to find and connect with friends and family members," Berland said.
"Second, they thought if they wanted to use Twitter, they were 'supposed to Tweet every day' and didn't think they would have that much to say. We realized we had some explaining and clarifying to do."
That clarification will take the form of a public awareness campaign that will use the strapline, "See what's happening" – the concept being that Twitter is the place to go to find out what's happening anywhere in the world at any moment.
That could include everything from breaking news about political events, such as the US presidential election, to entertainment, sport and everyday interests.
"In the coming days and weeks, we'll be rolling out marketing including videos and digital ads that center around seeing what's happening on Twitter," Berland said.
She went on to say that, in addition to the digital campaign, Twitter will introduce a new look to its marketing to better reflect the "diversity and expressiveness" of its users.
She told AdNews this could include changes to Twitter's traditional blue colour palette as well as adding some vibrant colours to its iconic bird logo.
The initiative will feature a series of video and digital ads aimed at challenging two main misconceptions that Twitter's own research unearthed among people who know the brand but don't use it.
Writing in a blog post, Twitter's relatively new CMO Leslie Berland, explained that a full 90% of people globally recognise the Twitter brand and those who use it "know exactly what Twitter is for".
However, the research also found that those who don't use the platform do not fully understand how it should be used or how often.
"Most didn't know or simply misunderstood what Twitter was for – many thought of Twitter primarily as a social network, a place to find and connect with friends and family members," Berland said.
"Second, they thought if they wanted to use Twitter, they were 'supposed to Tweet every day' and didn't think they would have that much to say. We realized we had some explaining and clarifying to do."
That clarification will take the form of a public awareness campaign that will use the strapline, "See what's happening" – the concept being that Twitter is the place to go to find out what's happening anywhere in the world at any moment.
That could include everything from breaking news about political events, such as the US presidential election, to entertainment, sport and everyday interests.
"In the coming days and weeks, we'll be rolling out marketing including videos and digital ads that center around seeing what's happening on Twitter," Berland said.
She went on to say that, in addition to the digital campaign, Twitter will introduce a new look to its marketing to better reflect the "diversity and expressiveness" of its users.
She told AdNews this could include changes to Twitter's traditional blue colour palette as well as adding some vibrant colours to its iconic bird logo.
Data sourced from Twitter, AdNews; additional content by Warc staff
