After a monster snowstorm pummeled much of the country last night, Punxsutawney Phil tweeted out his annual prognostication at around 7:30 a.m. EST this morning:
The tweet—which was retweeted more than 100 times within the first hour it was posted—is one of a daily stream the celebrity rodent has been sending out over the past month in buildup to today’s Groundhog Day event. Punxsutawney Phil has been on Twitter since 2009, entertaining followers with his stream of snarky Twitter updates from his personal handle, @GroundhogPhil. Now, with 1,250 followers, more than 372 tweets and a spot on @ScottMonty’s “Humor” Twitter List, Punxsutawney is becoming quite the social media star.
Following up on our post last week about using brand mascots in social media, Fresh Influence talked to the creator of @GroundhogPhil, Greg Swan, a digital strategist in Minneapolis, who started the handle for fun and continues to run it, he said, until an official representative of Punxsutawney requests to take it over.
In 2009, Swan said he saw a missed opportunity for promoting Groundhog Day in social media and decided to start the handle. A year later in 2010, when @GroundhogPhil received more than 1,300 retweets and major news pick-up by The Huffington Post, National Geographic, Urlesque, and Good Morning America, he said, “I knew I had something special here.”
“What surprised me most,” Swan said over e-mail, “is how easy it was for me to brandjack a beloved, historic character from halfway across the country with hardly any effort. It’s a key lesson for any company or brand who hasn’t yet secured their social media channels and started engaging with advocates in their preferred environs (in this case, Twitter users who like Punxsutawney Phil).”
However, Swan’s experience tweeting for @GroundhogPhil does not necessarily make him an advocate for using brand characters in social media. Explaining his advice over e-mail, Swan elaborated:
“I’m not the biggest fan of brand mascots in social media, mainly because few companies have the predilection for the amount of investment it takes (research, strategy, writing, monitoring, reporting, etc.) and high-level of risk in social media. A good social character is engaged with its followers, is dedicated to updating content for the long-term and most importantly, provides value. If a brand is committed to all of these things, they will be successful.”
For Punxsutawney Phil’s take on using Twitter, however, Fresh Influence decided to ask him personally—read on for a Q&A with the famous tweeting groundhog himself:
Fresh Influence: How and why did you get started on Twitter?
Punxsutawney Phil: I was on Twitter before all the egotistical social media gurus and Justin Bieber-loving pre-adolescents. That makes me 85 years old in groundhog years.
FI: What are some of your favorite responses you’ve received from your fans via Twitter?
PP: I’m continually surprised how violent and mentally imbalanced humans are when it comes to my responsibility to end winter. I get all kinds of tweets with threats of physical harm, kidnapping and even eating me (apparently I would taste like chicken).
FI: Are you a mobile user?
PP: Mobile? I live in a burrow and sleep all winter.
FI: I see in addition to Twitter, you also have a Foursquare badge in your honor. What’s your favorite aspect of social media?
PP: I can’t tell you how excited I am for 2011. This year people can check in at my burrow, enjoy some delicious grasshoppers and watch me defecate in the corner. Who wouldn’t want a badge for that?
FI: Forget the weather. What are your social media predictions?
PP: Mainstream media reporters will continue to struggle with using “Tweet” as a verb. Katie Couric will finally learn what an @ sign means. Newspapers will think putting Facebook Like buttons on their articles is a social media strategy. Oh, and the TSA will start live-tweeting those porno-scans, much to the horror of Jesse Ventura.
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