Tweet for Tat: Kellogg's and Marc Jacobs Pave the Way in the Use of Social Currency

Kellogg's

A couple of years ago Kellogg's tried a different spin on social media marketing by opening the worlds first 'Tweet Shop' in Soho, Central London. The shop didn't accept any traditional currencies, instead customers had to pay with social currency by tweeting something positive about the brand in exchange for the product.

Image Credit: Shanyon (2012)

 Shanyon (2012) explains how Special K's London pop-up, sought tweets with the Twitter hashtag #TweetShop in exchage for a box of their new Special K Cracker Crisps that were being launched into the UK. Tweets were verified by staff on a large monitor that was on display before the product was handed over, which would have made it difficult for anything negative to be said. Sarah Case, brand manager for Special K stated "The value of positive endorsements on social media sites is beyond compare, so we're excited to be the first company to literally use social currency instead of financial currency to launch this new product in our bespoke Special K shop".

Image Credit: Huysman (2012)

Huysman (2012) explains that in order to receive the product, customers must either tweet their own thoughts about the product or choose from a 'menu' of tweets available, as pictured above, effectively promoting the product themselves. Nielson's Global Trust in Advertising Report finds 92% of people are likely to trust a personal recommendation and 70% are likely to trust on online review so this is a great way of spreading positive sentiment about your brand.

Image Credit: Chaney (2012)

Chaney (2012) states that these results bode well for social commerce. Kellogg's Tweet Shop campaign will have encouraged thousands of individuals to tweet their praise of the product, which will have a positive effect on those in their social circles. According to Hall (2012) the initial response to Kellogg's Tweet Shop initiative was overwhelmingly positive and created a huge amount of social buzz for Kellogg's.

Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs took a leaf out of Kellogg's book and set up a store in a similar fasion to Kellogg's for three days this February. Mulshine (2014) explains that Marc Jacobs set up a three day Tweet Shop in New York City's Soho district, effectively mirroring Kellogg's effort across the pond a couple of years previously. Like Kellogg's the store used hashtags for currency, in exchange for miniatures of their Daisy line of perfume.

Image Credit: Kelly (2014)

Marc Jacob's had a slight twist compared to Kellogg's which was more encouragement to share photographs, instead of just tweets, with Kelly (2014) explaining that visitor's were encouraged to share Instagram photos with the hashtag #MJDaisyChain, with the best Instagram photo each day winning a handbag. Customers who visit the Tweet Shop can also receive free manicures, take selfies in the Daisy photo booth and check out the new line of Daisy products.


Considering the amount of capital that is spent on advertising campaigns by large corporations nowadays, the Tweet Shop initiative is a great way to get a huge social buzz about your brand going, enable your message to reach a lot of people through the positive sentiments of individuals, and all at a much lower cost than a full scale advertising campaign. By doing something out of the ordinary in city centres they are more likely to encourage curious passers by to come and have a look at what is going on. Expect to see more Tweet Shops and uses of social currency emerging in the near future.


Works Cited

Chaney, P. (2012) "Word of Mouth Still Most Trusted Resource, Says Neilson; Implications For Social Commerce". Digital Intelligence Today (Online) Available at <http://digitalintelligencetoday.com/word-of-mouth-still-most-trusted-resource-says-nielsen-implications-for-social-commerce/>#

Hall, E. (2012) "In London, Kellogg's Swaps Snacks for Tweets to #tweetshop". Advertising Age (Online) Available at <http://adage.com/article/global-news/london-kellogg-s-swaps-snacks-tweets-tweetshop/237448/>

Huysman, M. (2012) "World's First Tweet Shop Open in London". International Business Times (Online) Available at <http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tweet-shop-london-soho-special-k-social-387814>

Kelly, S.M. (2014) "Marc Jacobs Pop-Up Shop Takes Tweets, Instagrams for Payment" Mashable (Online) Available at <http://mashable.com/2014/02/06/marc-jacobs-tweet-store/>

Mulshine, M. (2014) "Tweet For Tat: Marc Jacobs Store Uses Hashtags As Currency". New York Observer. (Online) Available at <http://observer.com/2014/02/tweet-for-tat-marc-jacobs-store-uses-hashtags-as-currency/>

Nielson (2012) "Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages" The Nielson Company (Online) Available at <http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/reports/2012/global-trust-in-advertising-and-brand-messages.html>

Shanyon, S. (2012) "Kellogg's Opens Tweet Shop in London, Charms Twitter". Brand Channel (Online) Available at <http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/Kelloggs-Special-K-Tweet-Shop-092712.aspx>