After reading Darryl Parker’s blog on why Pepsi should buy Twitter earlier today, I linked to the post on Twitter itself and asked whether the soft drinks giant should indeed buy Twitter. There were some interesting responses that came back:
Going by these responses and others that came up, it’s obvious that this could be a serious consideration for Pepsi. In their battle against Coke, having a handle with social media users would be a huge asset. As long as they weren’t intrusive, Pepsi could even stream new adverts or promotions through Twitter conversations.
For Twitter, it’s a win-win situation. They receive the funding that their infrastructure so obviously needs, and they’re also linked in to the hip brand of Pepsi. For any Pepsi drinker that isn’t aware of Twitter, the little blue bird icon on a can of Pepsi would get the social media tool in front of millions.
What started out as an interesting question by Darryl turns into a coming together of two ideally-suited brands. Although that shouldn’t be a surprise – Darryl has been tracking Pepsi’s social media experiment and also coined the meme “The Pepsi 25”.
It also raises the question of who else would be suited to Twitter. Although the service crosses all age groups, it definitely seems suited to a particular type of company. As Chris Brogan mentions in his latest blog, certain brands don’t sit well with certain products. So who’d be well-suited to Twitter?
How about Apple or Microsoft? They could incorporate Twitter into their systems as the standard Instant Messenger application. Microsoft could also incorporate it into its Xbox Live service, for example (as could Sony with its Playstation network).
Facebook could get rid of its flawed chat service and use Twitter instead. This would see the social network take another giant stride in overtaking MySpace for users.
Twitter definitely seems the ideal social media tool for any forward-thinking company to tap into. Its users are tech-smart, savvy and up-to-date with what’s happening online and offline.
They’re also very aware of brands and how companies promote theirs online. For any company smart enough to really connect with the Generation Y audience, it’s almost a given that Twitter would offer an instant advantage over their competitors.
So, who’s the smart money on?