Puma uses Twitter’s ‘flock-to-unlock’ ad tool to drum up excitement for global ad
Puma has become one of the first brands to use Twitter’s ‘Flock to Unlock’ advertising tool that incentivises followers to drive awareness by sharing a post to unlock exclusive content.
The sports brand is using the promotional mechanic to drum up interest in its “Forever Faster” global campaign ahead of the launch later this week (7 August). Users who help reach the critical mass of tweets are treated to a sneak preview of the advert, which stars Olympic champion Usain Bolt alongside footballers Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero.
The featured athletes are tweeting calls to action from their own profiles, which have a combined reach of over 19 million fans, to accelerate the take-up. Puma is not revealing the number of tweets needed to reveal the ad but a gauge on its Twitter feed says 2 per cent has been unlocked since launching earlier today (4 August).
The ‘Flock to Unlock’ technique has been used by brands in the past as a way to push content to of non-followers. While the social network has been advising brands on how to yield the best results from their own attempts, it did not have a tool to provide a standard way of activating the promotion.
The tool is one of several Twitter plans to launch this year and comes under its Cards feature, which was introduced in 2012 to allow brands to enhance tweets with multimedia content.
Puma has flooded its social media channels with teaser content for the DigitasLBi-developed digital campaign in the hope of gaining cut-through a week before the start of the football season. The sportswear maker wants the campaign to re-establish its performance credentials after losing ground to larger rivals Nike and Adidas as well as coming under pressure from new players Under Armour and Warrior Sports.