The Hat

I've done enough social media audits to last me a lifetime and I've only been a college student for three years. So when I see a brand doing an A+ job on its social media account, I can't help but give endless amounts of praise.

So here I am offering a round of applause to Arby's for its genius Twitter performance during the 56th Grammy Awards on Sunday. Many of us in the PR world use Taco Bell an as a prime example of how to uniquely promote a food brand, but Arby's no doubt stepped it up drawing in a host of favorites and retweets from people everywhere.

It all started when singer-songwriter, music producer Pharrell Williams decided to make the fashion choice of the lifetime by wearing what I swear was the world's most largest and annoying hat to the Grammy’s. I was hoping he would have maybe checked Twitter backstage to see everyone’s confusion about the hat, and that perhaps the hat just wasn't working out. Yet every time he got back on stage he was still wearing that hat.

Here's a photo for reference. Anything look familiar?

Source: Billboard.com

The Twitter world was buzzing with talk about Pharrell's hat, which happens to look decently similar to the hat on the Arby's logo... So in the spirit of awards and celebrations, the team at Arby's decided to have a little fun with their social media and Tweet at Pharrell about his hat.

Arby's social media interaction was timed perfectly. They made use of a time window when everyone and their grandmother was on Twitter discussing the Grammy's. At any other time this interaction may not have gotten as much attention, but the timeliness of the Tweet gave it the social media push it needed. People were tweeting back at Arby's with "good job" and "I see what you did there!" and "haha good one." 

Arby's is a prime example of what other brands and companies should be doing. The point of social media is to be constantly active and relevant while starting a conversation with followers. Customers and followers will identify more with brands that keep up with pop culture. 

Twitter users tend to be generation x and millennials who do keep up with pop culture, and will appreciate brands that do the same. Arby's promoted its brand in a very unique way that other brands can definitely take notice of. Timeliness is a very important aspect of social media. A lot of companies and brands get lazy with social media and schedule posts to go out. While there is a time and place for that, it doesn’t always work out and can often backfire. It may take a little bit more man power to have someone tweeting while the Grammy’s are going on, but the benefits of getting some extra business far out way paying someone to work during the Grammy’s.

Good job Arby's. Well played.

Until next time, 

Nikki Darling