May 19, 2009 45 Comments

Props to Eminem for Local Promotions

I caught Marshall Mathers ( @eminem) tweeting out physical locations where people could go in Detroit and pick up tickets for an upcoming event. Look at this:

eminem rocks it

This is so damned clever. Some of you will chide Marshall for not following people back. Some will say he’s not using Twitter the right way.

I don’t care. I’m excited for the location-based idea he came up with (or some team, or whatever), and I’m excited that he is doing something to blend a web communications app (Twitter) with the real world. These are good first steps. Good on you, Marshall.

Point out the good in life, humans. It begets more.

Related posts:

  1. Timberlake Snoop Dogg and Eminem
  2. Eminem Watch Out!
  3. Can Social Media Save a Local Business?
  4. Marshall Kirkpatrick On New Media Consulting
  5. Social Networks are Your Local Pub

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  • http://brooklynbybike.com/ anita

    @theellenshow has been doing this for quite some time as well

  • http://businessontwitter.co.uk/twitter/2009/05/16-reasons-why-the-twitter-message-change-isnt-a-big-deal/ Nikki Pilkington

    Lily Allen (UK) is doing this too – not sure who started t though :)

  • http://otherlibrarian.wordpress.com/ Ryan Deschamps

    I love this campaign. Eminem's got a pretty smart team around him.

  • ice_mouton

    I seem to rememeber @britneyspears using a similar promotion while giving away tickets at her first passing here in montreal. Actually buzznet the company taking care of britney spears 2.0 aspects is just amazing. They have an option for sending in your own pics/videos after the show and they had some tweeps doing play by plays on certain shows. but yeah I love the way the companies are coming up with in order to user twitter efficiently!

  • Helen

    You might've already heard this….but we've got a great example of location based marketing using Twitter in LA actually. There's this bbq truck that goes around LA (the kogi bbq truck) that tweets where and when they're heading to another neighborbood during the night. I have not yet tried the food, but I know there's always like a 1-2 hour line/wait. Crazy.

  • http://apas.gr apas

    You are right, this his new geo-something promotion is a great idea, indeed. Kudos @eminem and his team (probably).

  • http://andinarvaez.wordpress.com/ Andi Narvaez

    Clever!

    It reminds me of the Receda Cube MMPG that Perplex City put on years ago and that I learned about years ago from my college professor, an expert in virtual reality games, etc.
    http://perplexcitywiki.com/wiki/Receda_Cube

    I actually like his stuff but in terms of social media, who would've known Eminem had it in him?

  • http://www.igomogul.com iGoMogul

    “Point out the good in life, humans. It begets more.”

    Good on you, Chris Brogan!

  • http://jasonkeath.com jakrose

    @ChrisBrogan You mean, NML does not run Eminem's Twitter stream? Has he not heard your Karaoke?

  • http://thelostjacket.com Stuartfoster

    That is pretty cool. Kind of like a massive scavenger hunt exclusive to Twitterers. I like.

  • http://pixelbits.wordpress.com/ Mona N.

    I truly don't understand why people are giving them props. Their marketing strategy was a fail. It's Eminem, the buzz should've been through the roof. John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston's break-up created more attention. :)

  • http://ariwriter.com Ari Herzog

    …but people still have to pay. @eminem should emulate @lennykravitz in the recession and give away tickets.

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  • http://www.themancuniancandidate.com/ Andy Etches

    Lily Allen was also doing this a few weeks throughout her US tour. It's a great way to connect with fans whilst promoting the tour.

  • http://strongcaster.com bizbox

    Tony Hawk has been doing this for awhile as well: tweeting out locations where he's left skateboard gear.

  • http://sjhalestorm.wordpress.com/ Scott Hale

    This falls under the “using Twitter the right way” category in my books. I agree that I simply don't care if Eminem is following people on Twitter. He still has the opportunity to see @ replies and with campaigns like this, he obviously knows how to engage fans.

    I honestly don't care if Eminem follows my Twitter account. I won't provide him with any value. I do care (despite not being a fan) if he is giving away free tickets in a location-based game. It reminds me of radio promotions.

    I love looking to traditional media for promotions that can be tweaked to fit social media.

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  • http://www.sonnygill.com sonnygill

    Bring Twitter into the real world has been popping up more and more. Tony Hawk was the most notable with giving away free skateboards with a treasure hunt across the nation, while tweeting out hints to where he/his friends hid them.

  • http://www.sonnygill.com sonnygill

    Pay for what? Isn't he giving away tickets?

  • http://eskapadez.com/ Mary

    Shaq does it sometimes too, but it is usually find him at the location for free tickets, which is cool since you get to meet him and get tickets. :)

  • http://thejeffbrown.me Jeff Brown

    I love this. I've been considering something similar at my radio station utilizing our morning talent and station vehicle, giving away tickets and the like. Good job for all involved and all who've done it before. Thanks for highlighting it Chris.

  • http://ariwriter.com Ari Herzog

    Is he? It's hard to tell. @eminem is announcing locations where his crew are stationed to give away tickets to people who throng upon them? It read to me as if the tickets have a cost. If the former, I see earlier message. If the latter, that's more like it.

  • http://www.ramseymohsen.com/ Ramsey Mohsen

    Actual words that came out of my mouth when read this blog post, “…damn, that's clever, I love it.”

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  • http://pimpyourmarketing.com/ Chris Donaldson

    Great post, Chris. I'm pretty sure Eminem doesn't care much what us social media 'experts' think about his use of Twitter. Its more often than not the people on the outside looking in that have the best ideas. So frickki' simple and effective.

    Encore.

    Chris Donaldson
    pimpyourmarketing.com

  • http://www.sonnygill.com sonnygill

    Well he's clearly stating that he's giving away these tickets and not all of them are handed by someone a part of his crew. If it had a cost, I'm pretty sure at least a few Twitterers would make mention of that.

  • http://www.transplant-1.com/blogorama Michael Calienes

    Marshall doesn't give a f* about following people back. It ain't in his brand's nature. Marshall doesn't give a f* about using twitter “properly.” It ain't in his brand's nature. If anyone “knew” Marshall, if anyone ever really listened, they shouldn't expect a follow back. All they should expect is a really intense ride. Whatever we do or don't do, whatever we feel or don't feel, he'll still be laughing all the way to the f*in bank, with a couple trailer park girls on each arm.

  • http://www.jeffrutherford.com jeffrutherford

    Regardless if Eminem was truly the first to do this, it's still a good use of the real-time nature of Twitter to drive a street campaign.

    And, the obsession with whether or not a celeb or brand is following others, is simply a preoccupation of early adopters who have tried to make arbitrary “rules” for the use of Twitter.

    Ultimately, users will determine whether or not they want to follow a brand/marketer/celeb based on the value, or perceived, value of the messages they're receiving.

  • http://www.reachpersonalbranding.com williamarruda

    Chris, I agree. What makes this great is the fat that it turns reality into virtual reality. I think the companies and people who get Web 2.0 know how to create connections between real world activities and their social networking plan. Right now, it seems that many see these as to separate routes to market. The power of social networking is in the connection to what's real.

    Best.
    William
    http://www.williamarruda.com

  • pjfaur

    @the_real_shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) has been doing this around Phoenix during basketball season. He tweets his location with an offer of a couple of free tickets, so fans get to meet him as well. He also posts candid twitpics from the team bus and other locations on the road.

  • http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown

    It's great use of Twitter, but is it Eminem himself that's doing it or his marketing team? That's who would deserve the kudos – it may be a junior somewhere in Eminem's empire that's doing the tweeting (you know these celebs! Heck, just check Kawasaki for ghost tweeting) so my congrats would go to the team that came up with it. And who's to say that's Eminem himself?

  • madalyn

    It doesn't matter who's doing it. The point is that it's smart marketing. I say hats off to Eminem and anyone else utilizing strategies like this.

  • http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown

    I agree, Madalyn, it IS smart marketing. But I think it does matter who's actually doing it and that they get the credit for it. To say it “doesn't matter” suggests that a marketing team comes up with an idea, but the CEO gets all the credit. Hardly conducive to a nice working atmosphere and a company that recognizes who's making the green for them.

    Jus' sayin' ;-)

  • Favshortie519

    I have to say this was a great way to get everyone involved and if they live in the suburbs. This was a great way to bring people into the city as well. Which we need more of plus all the positive press we can have too!

  • http://www.beyond.jobs/ Frank Di Lello

    Shaq was doing the same thing for most of the NBA season with Suns Tix. He would give a location where is was hanging out and tweet something like, “first two people to come up to me at location X get tix to tonight's game.”

    It's cool that Slim Shady is doing something similar.

  • johnhaydon

    I like how he added pics.

  • http://halobusiness.com/ Andy Chapman

    Chris Brogan: This type of gimmick could work with Dominoes Pizza. It's a great strategy to get people to interact. All of the social media buzz tends to forget that it's all about building and leveraging relationships. Of course it doesn't hurt to much to have people buzzing about it all over the place. But you could do that same strategy for a local beer and pizza joint.

  • http://sayreonline.com/ Brennan

    Good idea to get everyone involved. I bet the businesses that he placed a few tickets at also liked having swarms of people coming in all day. I would have hated to see if a group of fans all got to the place at the same time haha. Another great way to use Twitter either way.

  • marguerite

    I think Lilly Allen was doing it beforem she's a real Twitter user and really witty whether Eminen confessed recently he was computer illiterate. Still good though

  • marguerite

    I think Lilly Allen was doing it beforem she's a real Twitter user and really witty whether Eminen confessed recently he was computer illiterate. Still good though

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