Case Study
How I helped establish Twitter’s marketing strategy.
My Role
Deliverables
Contributors
Overview
For years, Twitter struggled to define its unique brand position in a crowded social media landscape.
The breakthrough came when we leaned fully into our users. Twitter is a collective, unfiltered expression of people, perspectives, and ideas.
The new strategy was to let them do the talking for us.
The Big Question
How do we position Twitter?
What truly sets it apart from the competition?
What truly sets it apart from the competition?
Our Solution
Let our users do the talking for us.
Unique & Organic Behavior
Unique & Organic Behavior
Strategic Approach
A Repeatable, 3 Part System
Test the system with the first
“Me on Twitter” campaign.
We kicked things off with a billboard-only campaign that used real Tweets from real people, letting their voices define what makes Twitter unique.
The work took over subway stations in both SF and NYC, tapping into the familiar Twitter meme of how people present themselves on Twitter versus other platforms.
Phase 1
Before
Unfollow everyone from @Twitter.
Kick off
Follow people fatured in the campaign. Slide into their DMs with a photo of their billboard.
During
Engage with any Tweeted screenshots of our DMs.“Now, let’s do it again...”
Repeat the system with a second campaign “Twitter is...”, but this time on a much bigger scale.
Building on the success of “Me on Twitter,” the “Twitter is…” campaign highlighted the countless ways people define the platform. And this time, we put Tweets everywhere.
“and again, and again!”
“Black Lives Matter”
“COVID-19 Safety”
“Tweet It Into Existence”
“Anti-2020”
“Valentines Day”
The Results
The work became one of Twitter’s most effective and enduring marketing approaches. By centering real users and building a system powered by their voices, we created a strategy that consistently delivered high engagement, ongoing earned media, and a brand position that felt unmistakably Twitter. The system proved scalable, evergreen, and strong enough to guide the company’s marketing long beyond the initial campaigns.