Chicago-based ad agency Leo Burnett Worldwide wanted to see if it could create an instant hit on Twitter, delivering a year’s worth of traffic and followers in less a week. The bottom line? The effort – some call it a stunt – worked.
To support a Leo Burnett-sponsored seminar at a June advertising festival in Cannes, France, agency recruiter David Perez agreed to have his every move streamed live over the Internet and to try to follow commands sent via Twitter for six days. He wore a camera on his head and a backpack to help stream his movements. Plus, he tried to comply with as many tweeted requests as he could, no matter how outrageous. That included staging a pillow fight to driving a Bentley to getting a tattoo—all of which Mr. Perez fulfilled, along with thousands of others.
According to a case study on ChicagoBusiness.com, Perez succeeded in capturing the imagination of festival-goers (he attracted 45% of festival buzz, according to a study by New York public relations firm Porter Novelli) as well as the attention of Internet users worldwide. The “David on Demand” campaign elicited 3.5 million Tweets and more than 1 million views from people in 132 countries.
While the ad agency says it still believes in marathon-style social media, it says this effort proves there’s also room for the occasional 100-meter dash.
As for David Perez? He’s happy to get the camera off his head and away from the media spotlight. But he still has 4,000 followers on Twitter. And that new tattoo!
