Major brands signing up to CoTweet

Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Microsoft are amongst a host of major brands signing up to 'CoTweet', a new company offering services to manage brands on Twitter.

(image via revolutionmagazine.com)

CoTweet has announced mega brands like Ford, Whole Foods and others has signed up to its CoTweet Enterprise Innovators Programme.

Customers pay $1,500 a month for the programme's service which includes providing analytics of how far Twitter messages are reaching, click-through rates on links and can report on different message types, such as direct messages, replies and mentions, as well as the most active users.

Companies get access to a number of tools as well as an account manager to provide feedback and analysis, product support and training. CoTweet has a partnership with bit.ly, the URL shortening site, to provide analytics to the brands.

Jesse Engle, chief executive of CoTweet, said:

"Companies must monitor their brands, provide customer service and measure the impact of outbound marketing".

CoTweet earlier in the year managed to raise $1.1 million in funding from a number of key investors.

Coca-Cola to send 'Happiness Ambassadors' around the world

Coca-Cola are planning to send three bloggers around the world to find out what makes people happy, as part of their "Open Happiness" campaign.

These bloggers will visit 206 countries, spend just one or two days in each one. The project is being dubbed "Expedition 206". Expedition 206 adds another major-brand to the social media venture. Currently there are 3 teams of 3, battling for the chance to go on this wonderful journey. At the moment it is very close, you can vote who goes on this trip via the Expedition 206 website here.

The travelers will meet with locals, and document their stories on the Expedition 206 website. They will even get a chance to be part of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Adam Brown, director of Coca-Cola's Office of Digital Communications and Social Media explains why they have decided to take on this project.

"It's not about having the Coca-Cola brand first and foremost, center of the screen... It's about telling the story that involves Coca-Cola, that involves the attributes of what Coca-Cola is about, optimism and joy."

The trip begins on the 1st January and begins in Madrid, and finishes on December 31st at the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta.

I think this is a great idea by Coca-Cola, it is exciting and although the concept of sending bloggers off on their travels is not new, the enormality of sending bloggers around the entire world is new. Coca-Cola is the perfect brand for this type of trip as they have held a global presence for years and years. You will find someone drinking Coca-Cola is any country in the world most likely.

The one problem with this task is whether or not they will be able to keep people interested in the travelers blogs across an entire year. The content that they post will need to be extremely strong. I think pictures will play a huge part. Photographs of different cultures and scenery is always interesting and if the bloggers can add interesting stories to the imagery, Coca-Cola could offer something truely original and appealing, whilst stealthily promoting the brand.

Voting ends November 6th, so start voting!